Fort St. John firefighters donate $10,000 to Association for Community Living

FORT ST. JOHN, B.C. —  The Fort St. John Professional Fire Fighters Association has contributed to a local initiative benefiting mental health and wellness support. 

According to a Facebook post from the Fort St. John Association for Community Living (FSJACL), the Fort St. John Professional Fire Fighters Association presented FSJACL with a $10,000 donation. 

“10,000 reasons to say thank you to the Fort St. John Professional Fire Fighters Association,” the post read. 

FSJACL said the support of partners like the firefighters allows it to provide mental health and wellness resources to youth, young adults and adults who have developmental disabilities and complex needs. 

Jared Braun, Stewardship Manager at the Fort St. John Association for Community Living, said the association created a program called “Thrive mental health and wellness program” to allow people who rely on the association to apply for full coverage or subsidization of the association’s services.

According to Braun, for the association to support those who use its services through the Thrive program, it relies on community support.

“One of the things we did was reach out to the firefighters,” said Braun. “We presented the needs for support for these services through our organization.” 

“They stepped up very willingly with this very generous donation of ten thousand dollars to go towards the Thrive mental health and wellness program,” Braun said. 

Braun said it “means so much” to have the community’s support.

“The firefighters, these are all guys that are part of the community, they’re working hard to do what they do, and then beyond that, they do their charitable work,” he said. 

“It really means a lot to us to know that we are gonna be able to provide those supports when people need it, where they need and how they need it right here in Fort St. John,” Braun said. 

According to its website, the FSJACL has provided services to the Fort St. John community and surrounding areas for over 60 years. 

“The FSJACL supports individuals with developmental disabilities and complex needs [to] achieve full and meaningful lives in our community,” the association’s mission statement reads.

The association provides a number of services, its website said, including housing programs, community inclusion programs, homeshare programs, independent supported living, supported employment and Sapling’s mental health services.

Braun said the association recently introduced a new way for community members to support it.

“We’ve launched a new initiative called the Inclusion Collective, which is really a practical way for anybody in the community to come alongside and to support this initiative,” he said.

According to Braun, the association hopes to raise $100,000 each year through the initiative to support services for around 200 people. 

Braun said the initiative was developed to support the Thrive program. 

“If we could find two hundred people to join the Inclusion Collective, it would make this program sustainable,” he said. 

“We don’t have any government support for [the program],” Braun explained. 

Braun said donors, including firefighters, businesses, and individuals, help “ensure these supports are always there when people need them.”

Donations to the Inclusion Collective can be made on the association’s website.