There is something important and impactful about looking back. It gives us time to pause and reflect on the year that was: we can celebrate the partnerships forged, relationships deepened and impact made.
At United Way, it also helps reaffirm our commitment to tackling the unignorable issues we see in our communities – issues like child vulnerability and seniors’ isolation. It’s what drives our work to address inequality and to create tangible and sustainable positive change.
It’s why we’re committed to engaging with people in every community to show their local love.
Throughout 2018 we’ve seen how local love has the power to mobilize our communities to address social problems in a concrete way. We’ve seen it drive collaboration between people and organizations to build solutions to long-term issues.
We’ve see in foster life-saving connections for both seniors and kids across the Lower Mainland and Fraser Valley.
This year, it has been our honour sharing these stories with you. Here are five inspiring examples of local love from 2018 that are building strong, safe and empowered communities for everyone – today, tomorrow and for years to come.
Food as a powerful community builder
Kevin Huang is the executive director and co-founder of the Hua Foundation, a youth-driven non-profit organization based in Vancouver’s Chinatown. As a graduating member of the 2018 Untied Way Public Policy Institute, his policy project addressed the disappearance of traditional Chinese stores and retailers in Vancouver’s Chinatown neighbourhood.
“Food is about dignity,” says Kevin. “Food keeps us alive. It connects us socially and culturally to our families and the places we call home. We want to make sure there is acknowledgment of culturally specific foods and spaces that are integral to the health and success of the many Vancouver residents – residents in neighbourhoods like Chinatown.”
Local love in the cards
Trisha Dulku is passionate about empowering the community she calls home. Earlier this year she completed the Acts of Local Love challenge, documenting her journey along the way.
“I am so much more self-aware of the tiny things that I can do to make a big impact on someone else’s day,” she says. And that’s the thing about local love – it’s a little act – however small – that makes a real difference in the lives of the people around you.”
A story of hope
Trinity has lived with her Grandma, Ramona since she was four because her mother and father struggle with addiction. On a typical day after school, nine-year-old Trinity would go to do homework, watch some TV and play with her dog. That changed when she enrolled in a United Way’s School’s Out Program at a Richmond elementary school.
Now, she and other students spend their after school hours drumming, doing art, playing hockey and soccer and making friends. This School’s Out Program is about much more than recreation – it’s about learning how to interact with peers and communicate with others while developing healthy coping skills.
“Believing in yourself is important because it makes other people feel good and yourself feel good,” says Trinity.
Good thymes build connections
Run by community members, for community members, and supported by a donor-powered United Way Active Aging grant, the Sharing Farm connects volunteers – many of whom are retirement age – and provides fresh, healthy, local produce for the Richmond Food Bank and other meal programs in nearby neighbourhoods.
Leveraging the time and skills of a diverse group older adults, the program tackles the issue of community food security, with the farm’s vegetables and produce feeding up to 2,000 Richmond residents every week.
Hard talks made easier
Conversations about housing, finances and health care can be hard. These subjects can be even more difficult to broach with an aging parent.
Many of us struggle, asking ourselves: When is the right time to have these conversations? Can I tell my mum that I worry about her falling? How do I talk about my parents’ drivers licenses without overstepping their autonomy? How do I talk to them about their wishes if they die?
Grace Hann, Supervisor and Trainer of Volunteers with the Jewish Seniors Alliance shares her advice on how to have open, empathetic conversations with the older adults in your lives.
Are you ready to show your local love? Energized to give back to your own community? We can help. Show us that you’re one in a million here.