This week marks the completion of our work at the Inasmuch Refugee Claimants house. Each year the MIRA Floors team picks a project we can contribute free flooring to. We recognize that adequate funding is a huge challenge for many non-profit societies. With other day-to-day operational costs taking priority, there often isn’t room in the budget for much needed building improvements. For our 2015 project, we worked with Inasmuch Refugee Claimants to install new flooring in their home for refugees.

Inasmuch Refugee Claimants houses and cares for refugees and refugee claimants. “The people that enter the doors of Inasmuch will have witnessed torture, war, and will have experienced great trauma in their lives. Our desire is to surround them with safety, clothing, food, and direction as they manoeuvre their way through the maze of emigration,” explains Dawn-Lynn, who founded Inasmuch with her husband Peter. For more information about Inasmuch, read the recent Abbotsford News article about renovating the refugee home.

The old flooring was a vintage flooring lover’s dream. Classic vinyl patterns paired with blood red and bright pink carpets.

George and Zac posing for a photo

Zac installing carpet

Tom and Steve working together to install vinyl plank

For this project we installed new flooring throughout the entire house. We picked a durable click together vinyl plank for much of the main floor. For the lower kitchen and basement we choose a sheet vinyl with a more contemporary pattern than the existing. A long-lasting nylon carpet in a neutral tone was installed on the upper floors and staircase.

Living room before

Living room after with Shaw Floorte vinyl plank installed

Basement Kitchen before. The contractor involved built an entire kitchen in this empty room

Basement Kitchen after with Armstrong Initiator vinyl installed

Family room before

Family room after with Shaw Sweet Something carpet installed

James Alisch will be ceasing his involvement in day-to-day sales operations at MIRA Floors & Interiors as of January 31, 2014. He will remain a silent co-owner of the company.

“I’m proud of everything the MIRA team has accomplished since I started here five years ago,” said James Alisch. “Together we have achieved tremendous growth – 272% from 2008-2013. Given the current strong, cohesive team and dedication to providing an exceptional customer service experience, I am excited for a future of continued success at MIRA.”

“We thank James for his commitment to MIRA over the years. His leadership of the sales team and commitment to growth was appreciated.” said Kevin Bergstresser, co-owner of MIRA Floors & Interiors. “The ownership team had been planning this transition since early Fall 2013 and decided that the start of the new year was best time for this change. We wish him the best in his future endeavours outside of the flooring industry and are excited to have him still involved as a partner.”

Business will continue as usual at MIRA Floors & Interiors. Co-owners Kevin Bergstresser and Lyndon Friesen will continue managing day-to-day operations. To ease the transition, other members of the sales team will be following up with customers about any upcoming projects, jobs in production or any other outstanding requests.

If you have any questions about this leadership change, please contact the MIRA office at 604.856.4799.

Looking for a worthwhile cause to partner with? Here’s one we just helped out with!

Servants Anonymous Society is a local society designed as an original self-help approach to recovery for female youth who have been or are at risk of being homeless or sexually exploited. The program is run by a team of just two office staff and a group of dedicated volunteers. Their hard work and commitment each day changes the lives of young women.

The society had been donated new vinyl flooring to replace the carpet in the Arts and Crafts room at the ASK Centre of Learning  but lacked the skilled labour to install it. When the Mira team found out about their need for flooring install, we were happy to donate our time to help out. We had a vinyl install crew come in to remove the carpet, prep the subfloor, and install the vinyl – all in a day

How you can help too!
SAS does not receive any money from the government. All their support is from private donors, businesses, and their two annual fundraisers. There are two ways you can help SAS reach their fundraising goals:

1. In-kind donations
   The SAS is currently in need of computers for the ASK Centre. Their website has a full list of items needed.
2. Monetary Donations
   Donations can be easily given on the SAS website. Since SAS is a registered charity, donations are tax-deductible.

On September 30, the MIRA team participated in the CIBC Run for the Cure in Abbotsford. In the days leading up to and following the run the MIRA team was fundraising to support the Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation. Thanks to your generous support, MIRA was able to raise a total of $5645, exceeding our team goal of $5000.

Thank you to everyone who donated to our team! Your donations support the Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation’s vision of creating a future with breast cancer.

MIRA Floors is dedicated to giving back to the communities we live and do business in. Our three part community involvement strategy focuses on impacting others in addition to our day-to-day customers.

CIBC Run for the Cure
During September and October, our focus is raising awareness and money for breast cancer research. We are excited to participate in the CIBC Run for the Cure on September 30th in Abbotsford. The MIRA team is proud to be raising funds to help the Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation achieve its vision of creating a future without breast cancer.

October marks National Breast Cancer Awareness Month. To show our continued commitment to the cause we will be matching all donations made, up to one percent of October sales. Fundraising will continue after the run, into the month of October.

How to Donate
Donating is easy! Click here to visit the MIRA Floors Run for the Cure donation page.

All donations over $20 will be issued a tax receipt. We thank you in advance for supporting the MIRA Floors team and breast cancer research. Every donation counts.

Future Events
Each year MIRA takes part in a non-profit flooring project. Our most recent project was for Sereena’s House, a women’s shelter in downtown Vancouver. We provided flooring as part of a renovation makeover that revitalized the common areas in the shelter. This fall, we look forward to sharing with you another non-profit flooring project we will be starting soon.