Recovery and Resilience
BRVCA 2024 Presidents Report
Annual General Meeting, October 28 2024
In 2023, the Bridge River Valley Community Association went through a lengthy process which ended with the organization being awarded 3 years of funding from the Vancouver Foundation Resiliency Fund. The organization then went through a significant process with committees, volunteers, staff, contractors to identify the key needs in the area of resiliency. Putting a manager in place was the key and top priority that surfaced. At that point we developed a job description and began advertising for a manager. We are very happy to welcome Bralorne resident Robert Blount as our new Operations Manager.
As you all know the Bridge River Valley was in an unprecedented emergency situation as a result of the Downton Lake Fire in 2023. Not only was it a devastating situation then, but it will be long into the future before we are fully recovered. The impacts of this fire will be felt in every part of the area and in every community sector for years to come.
As a response to requests by donors, we set up the BRV Preservation and Conservation Fund, a charitable fund, to allow donors to contribute in a way that will directly benefit the community in as simple a fashion as possible.
The funding priorities are to provide funding when it is not available through other sources, to provide immediate funds when response is critical and to leverage funds when required for other funding requests.
In 2024, priority was given to immediate needs resulting from the Downton Lake Wildfire. Overall disbursements will aim to support all sectors and all areas of the Valley.
Donations and fundraising to date totals: $70,112 Disbursements and Commitments are: $42,291 Surplus to date: $27,721
We are now working hard to raise additional needed funding to augment the grasses seeding program for burned properties and debris removal for a group of 9 uninsured/underinsured properties.
Thanks to the BRVCA relationship with the Vancouver Foundation, we were connected to the United Way Emergency Response program for Wildfires and the BRVCA was awarded $43,000 which along with $2,500 from the BRV Preservation and Conservation Fund, has provided a source of funds to support charitable and recovery needs of people in the
community.
The program started late in September 2023 and ran through, with a requested extension to the end of May 2024.
The program has provided:
● Food Replacement Support for Fridges/Freezers lost during the power outages of the Downton Lake Wildfire. 100 Residents and Property Owners were provided support
● Fuel, Food and Incidental Support for Full Time Residents in Financial Strain in the Upper Bridge River Valley with 17 full time community members served.
● Wildfire Counselling Program is being offered free of charge, with 3 different therapists to property owners and immediate families who lost structures, and to volunteer firefighters in formal organizations or who were assisting informally. This program served 21 different people over 7 months and was very well appreciated.
● Housing financial support to those full time residents who lost their homes, housing supports were provided to 3 different people over 3 months.
● Event support for bringing people together in the community
● Direct administrative support to help people complete forms and applications, and significant support to coordinating and communicating with those people that lost structures.
2024 also saw many accomplishments by the various committees operating under the BRVCA umbrella.
A new committee was formalized and joined under the BRVCA umbrella. We welcomed the Gold Bridge Group in Sept 2024 and the group is ready to move forward with their initiatives.
This year was a pivotal year for the Economic Development Committee, bouncing back from the 2023 Downton Lake wildfire that gave us much to discuss and work through. This year we took the time to discuss Wildfire Recovery, post wildfire business assessment, tourism marketing with BC local tourism organizations (CCCTA, MBTA), digital media showcasing the resilience of our community, hiring Clear Course Consulting to help develop a sustainable economic development plan, the return of the BRV trade show and a few small community endeavours to highlight businesses in the Bridge River Valley.
The Heritage Committee continued to oversee the progression of work on the the Bralorne-Pioneer Mines Office. The project has suffered a few setbacks in
2023 including the major wildfires in the area, change of general contractor and
an unauthorized occupancy in the building, much work has been accomplished on the rehabilitation. Unfortunately, late in 2023, we also ran up against budget/funding issues. Much time has been spent in 2024 assessing the current status of the renovation and planning around completion. It is estimated that the renovation is 85% complete overall and the Museum/Apartments are closer than that.
The Training Committee is a partnership with the Gold Bridge Fire Protection Society, Gun Lake Fire Protection Society, Bralorne Fire Department Society, Tyaughton Lake Ratepayer’s Assoc., the Trails Committee, Marshall Valley Community Committee, and the Bralorne Recreation Area Committee. In 2024 they provided a very robust training program that put on a total of 9 courses with 1,526 hours of training provided.
In 2024, the Bridge River Valley Trail Committee (BRVTC) cataloged trails affected by the 2023 Downton Wildfire. Throughout the year, the committee engaged with Interwest Timber to advocate for the preservation of trails that then fell within proposed salvage cut blocks and committee proactively flagged trails that intersected proposed cut blocks, ensuring trails were visible by forestry equipment operators and preserved during logging. Unfortunately, several trails were inevitably affected by salvage logging activities. The BRVTC is working with Interwest to restore these trails.
I would like to recognize the committee volunteers, staff, contractors, and board members for their continuing commitment to the BRVCA. We want to extend a huge thank you to them for their positive efforts and contributions to our community. Volunteers are our lifeblood and we have over 50 people who volunteer regularly in some way. Thank you, thank you.
Al Moritz
President
