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We believe we can improve the quality of life for British Columbians by investing in projects that improve health equity and social justice, by supporting upstream solutions to our modern problems, and by empowering people to take control of their health.

In other words: when we have equality and equity in our society, we all benefit. When we address root causes of issues, we see positive changes in our health and communities. When we take an active role in improving the health of our population, we’re better protected and can drive well-being in all aspects of our lives.

These core values have come through in the work we’ve done, and chosen to support at the BC Centre for Disease Control over the past year.

Reducing harms, the overdose crisis, and stigma

Through our Reducing Harms Priority, we worked closely with Toward the Heart (BCCDC’s Harm Reduction Services). The overdose crisis and stigma against people who use drugs has been ravaging our province for years. This is having catastrophic outcomes; people are not getting the support they need and are dying at alarming rates because of systemic inequities. We launched an anti-stigma campaign to break it down: your words matter. Change your language, remove the stigma, help curb the overdose crisis.

We also funded the expansion of a BCCDC program: Compassion, Inclusion, Engagement (CIE). CIE provides peer groups (people with lived experience of substance use), particularly those that are Indigenous and in remote/rural communities, with funding and capacity-building support to lead overdose response, harm reduction, and anti-stigma projects across BC. CIE empowers peers to create change at a local level, engage in life-saving overdose prevention work, and change the conversation with their local community about substance use.

During the #COVID19 pandemic, one of the groups we funded through CIE, Vernon Entrenched People Against Discrimination (VEPAD), set up a booth outside a library to hand out #naloxone & provide education on #overdose response: https://t.co/h038WYeOW1@towardtheheart @fnha

— BCCDC Foundation (@BCCDCFoundation) June 30, 2020

Activate Health

Activate Health is our battle cry for British Columbia (check it out on Instagram). It’s about empowering you to take control of your health and illustrate how our individual actions make a population-level difference.

Taking control of your health isn’t just about eating healthy and going for a jog (though, those are good, too!). You can take control of your health and improve our population’s health by being kind, curbing air pollution, recycling, using regular soap instead of antimicrobial soaps, and standing up against injustice. It’s all linked—social movements, the environment, social connectedness, law and policy, racial justice, and everything in-between impacts our health. And we have the power to improve it for ourselves and for others, making a difference to the health of society.

COVID-19

We couldn’t look back on the last year without including COVID-19. The pandemic has shown the world why we need public health, and why we need to invest in solutions before a crisis hits. Public health experts (like our superhero colleagues at the BC Centre for Disease Control) have been working to protect us and prevent a situation like this since…well, public health emerged as a field. Their work has prevented other epidemics and outbreaks, and what will get us through this. And yet, public health still receives less than 5% of government health funding in BC.

COVID-19 is scary, but we’re glad to see people invested in public health like never before. By partnering with the BCCDC we’re helping ensure that we’re prepared if something like this happens again—and you are making that possible. With the help of our donors, together we’re funding the research that will protect British Columbians from a second wave and future outbreaks.

Because of your support, we’re able to show BC that you don’t have to be a scientist to make a difference and fight this pandemic: you have the power to protect yourself, your community, and improve public health. You can wash your hands, you can stay home when you’re sick, and you can donate to the solutions that will prevent a future pandemic. Whatever you do, you’re making a difference. But we need all of us to be all-in to make it really work.

It’s been a full year. COVID-19 will be around for some time. But, we’re going to keep working with our BCCDC colleagues and with you to fight it every step of the way.

We’re going to continue advocating for health equity, and supporting public health solutions that tackle the root causes of health disparities. And of course, we’re going to keep inviting you to take control of your health and join us in our battle cry: Activate Health.

We’ll see what another year does for the health of our province. We think that with your help, it’ll look bright.

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Last weekend held a small but mighty convergence of Team BCCDC Foundation, and what can we say but THANK YOU! Thank you to our dedicated runners in the Scotiabank 5K and Half Marathon who invested their time and energy; they came out on a cloudy Sunday morning, gave it their all, and had such a fun time doing it.

Thank you to all those who donated to support Team BCCDC Foundation runners; we raised $3,150 to support public health solutions in BC. Your personal generosity was inspiring and was the wind beneath our runners’ winged feet!

Thank you to the organizers of the Scotiabank 5K and Half Marathon who made participating and fundraising easy, and by making us one of their official charity partners, allowed us to have a successful first public fundraising event.

All gifts made as part of our Scotiabank run fundraising will support our Driving Innovation Fund. The Driving Innovation Fund is our signature fund that can provide quick and flexible funding when its needed the most. It helps us advance the state of the art and improve not just your health, but the health of British Columbia. While our other priority areas–reducing harms and addressing threats–support health solutions to critical issues that we know of today, we’re growing the Driving Innovation Fund to be able to respond to issues we see ahead or that we’re not yet aware of, that could emerge tomorrow.

To join our amazing group of donors and to make your impact, you can donate here to the Driving Innovation Fund or one of our other priority areas. Or to keep up to date with all the things we’re doing to improve public health in BC, subscribe to our newsletter. And don’t forget to follow us on social media!

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We’ve been blown away by the generosity and support of our runners and donors. After just a month, our friends helped us reach our first goal of $2,000 and we had to set our sights higher. Now, we’re only $160 away from our stretch goal of $3,000.

But, we believe in you all so very much that we have a new super-stretch goal: $5,000!

We need your help to do it, if you haven’t already, make a gift and ask your friends and family to join you in doing so. If you’ve already made a gift, please keep spreading the word! Gifts go towards our three priority areas:

• Reducing Harms: supporting solutions to the overdose crisis, harm reduction interventions, and anti-stigma education that can save lives.
• Addressing Threats: investing in research that could indicate how we can end the epidemic of childhood asthma in BC and beyond.
• Emerging Areas: quick and flexible funding to respond to public health emergencies or challenges that can strike at any time and build the Foundation’s capacity.

We’re so close and the countdown is on–we hope you’ll help us support these important and life-saving public health projects. On average, our donors have been giving $55.69. If just 38 people make a gift of $55.69, we’ll reach our super-stretch goal and our priorities will be well under way. Click here to join the others and become a champion for public health.

If you’ve already made your gift or signed up to run with us: thank you! We’ve been deeply moved by each and every gift we’ve received, and by every runner who has signed up. You’re helping improve the health of your community and our province, and we hope you feel very proud of that. We sure are! By sharing our page, you can help spread the word and amplify your support even more.

Want to sign up to run with the BCCDC Foundation team? There’s still space in the half-marathon and you can click here to sign up! Use discount code 19BCCDCF21K to get a few bucks off your registration fee.

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