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United Way BC releases new edition of Social Sector Activation Guide

(United Way BC)

With the Province currently being in the midst of another Wildfire season, United Way BC decided that it would be a good time for them to release their updated Social Sector Activation Guide for host communities.

And in a recent interview, United Way’s Director of Community Impact & Investment, Kristi Rintoul, gave a bit of a summary on what makes up that guide.

“It’s a really straightforward, free tool for communities to use in case of a large scale evacuation or small scale emergency where in folks with extra vulnerabilities may need some support, so I guess to simplify, really, it’s a framework on how to pull together the social sector to support ESS and Emergency Services when there’s evacuations” - Kristi Rintoul, United Way BC Director of Community Impact & Investment

The guide’s initial creation came in response to the major atmospheric river flooding that took place back in 2021.

But in the years since the guide was made, United Way BC has figured some ways to improve it after making observations of people who seemed to need extra support during these kind of emergencies.

“What we learned through that is that there’s a lot of local charities who have the expertise to support these folks in those emergencies, but asking what those needs are when the crisis occurs is too late, we need to figure out a way to mobilize those people, organize those charities, ensure we understand that capacity before the event, so what this guide does and what we created was a guide to support communities like Terrace, to bring together all those local partners, local champions, we all know who they are, the charities who step in, the clubs and the volunteers who step in during emergencies, organize those folks before an event and then when the event takes place, the emergency services have a really clear understanding of who to call and what they can offer to support, to fill any needs or gaps they’re seeing” - Kristi Rintoul, United Way BC Director of Community Impact & Investment

The guide isn’t solely restricted to these large scale emergencies either as it also gives advice on how communities can assist with smaller scale emergencies.

“This guide could be utilized if there was say, an apartment fire and 20 people were displaced, chances are those 20 folks are going to need more than just a safe place to go that night, they may have extenuating needs that the social sector, the charities in the community can support, so having this guide and these templates filled out before something like that happens enables the ESS or Emergency Management folks a one stop shop to be able to figure out who’s who, who do wee need to call to make sure this senior gets the supports they need, this young mother gets the supports they need, this person with them, extra vulnerabilities gets the supports they need that already exist in the communities that they live” - Kristi Rintoul, United Way BC Director of Community Impact & Investment

People seeking to take a look at the guide for themselves can find it on United Way BC’s website.