On January 24th we hosted our annual strategic planning meeting at the ACT Arts Centre. Every year we come together for an extended meeting to take a critical look at what we’ve been doing and how we can do it better. This year we had more than 30 attendees from our peer team, the RCMP, the City, the Maple Ridge Fire Department, Coast Mental Health, SD42, The Salvation Army, MRSOS, The Maple Ridge Rent Bank, Alouette Addictions, Fraser Health and more! We enjoyed catering from The Kanaka Kitchen and set goals and plans for 2025- it’s going to be a great year!

After a month of reviewing impressive resumes and conducting several interviews we are proud to announce our new Peer Coordinator- Ryan Desjarlais! Ryan has worked with our peer team for more than a year and a half; participating in many outreach efforts, hosting naloxone training, hosting booths at Farmer’s Markets and community events and more! Ryan has been an integral part of our team and we are thrilled to offer him this role! Read the article below to learn more about Ryan’s story.

We have maintained our weekly outreach efforts- providing food, harm reduction supplies and support to our unhoused and marginally housed community throughout the year. The generous donation we received from The Kiwanis Club of Golden Ears has come to an end, and we are actively seeking out collaborations or donations to support our efforts. If you know a way we can continue feeding our community please let us know!

March 6th marks Black Balloon Day- a day marked to remember and celebrate the lives lost due to overdose. For the past two years we have commemorated the occasion with a walk through the downtown core of Maple Ridge holding the number of black balloons that represent the losses in our community from the previous year. We will meet in Memorial Peace Park at 5pm on March 6th and walk South on 224th to Lougheed, West on Lougheed to 223rd, North on 223rd to Dewdney, East on Dewdney to 224th, and back Memorial Peace Park.