Non-profit groups using the Burnaby Heights Community Resource Centre will be forced to relocate after city council voted to close the centre….

Acquired by the city from the Burnaby school district in 1990, the building has been used as a community resource centre for 17 years. The city gave non-profit organizations half off their rent but advised them a recreation centre would be built on the property….

Five of the agencies that use the centre … will be moved to a new community space in Brentwood Town Centre, gained by the city through a density bonus.

But the Burnaby Supported Child Development Program, which provides books and reading materials for special needs children, faces an uncertain future.

Andrea James, spokesperson for the group, says she was surprised to learn the non-profit wasn't picked for the Brentwood space.

The agency has more than 200 clients, including parents whose children have autism, cerebral palsy and Down syndrome, and several child-care centres.

"I don't know what we would do," James said in an interview."

"We're a non-profit organization. We couldn't afford to pay for a commercial space."

Many of those who borrow books and toys cannot afford to buy them for their children, James said, adding she was "shocked" to hear the news.

According to the report, the Burnaby Supported Child Care Development Program was not picked because it has been using the centre for less than two years while other tenants have been there for at least 12 years.

The report also notes that the society that operates the program is a provincial organization and "does not have as close an affiliation with local service providers and the Burnaby community as other societies."…