Resilience amidst chaos: finding hope when all seems lost

It was a shocking moment for many in Kelowna when the Lake Okanagan Resort was destroyed. Just across the lake a fire raged and buildings burned. People lost homes, more were evacuated, and everyone wondered if and when the fire would reach them. Over the following days, it became even more surprising to many that the resort was also home to those on a fixed income who now found themselves homeless.

During this time, BrainTrust Canada Association stepped into crisis response, a field they typically don’t work in but felt compelled to do during the fires. With many clients residing in West Kelowna, staff members decided to help out at the evacuation centre to not only help their clients, but anyone who was in need.

“We brought a lot of our own personal supplies, like water, clothing, beds, bedding, and stuff like that,” says Amanda McFarlane, Executive Director at Braintrust Canada. “They asked us to come back over the weekend because they didn’t have enough volunteers … and that’s how we started.”

Identifying gaps and stepping in

Connecting with the Salvation Army, who were leading many of the local relief efforts, brought Amanda into contact with United Way British Columbia. With support from United Way BC, BrainTrust Canada was able to expand their services and bring them to people in need. It’s a relationship that makes sense. As Amanda comments, “Our causes are so similar and a lot the things we do in terms of treatment work within that scope.”

The Association’s history grew out of a concern noticed by lawyer Paul Mitchell. After helping clients win settlements resulting from injuries he discovered that a year later many of them had no money left. After investigating further, he found that they had different problems that affected their abilities as a result of those injuries. He banded together with other founding members to create a society to support those they saw falling through the cracks.

The roots of recognizing and helping these individuals are still present today and often show up in surprising ways, including during the recent fires.

Vital connections open the way to find what’s lost

At the evacuation centre, Amanda and her team were met a with a sobering moment, “There was a level of trauma in the air. One family is just learning that their house is completely destroyed and these other families have no idea what’s happening to their homes. You had people from homes, as well as people living off the grid all diverted to the arena. Everyone was confused.”

One such individual who found himself there was a gentleman evacuated from the Okanagan Lake Resort.

“The man who came to us, he was injured on the job a year ago. He was not on our records so we didn’t know about him,” begins Amanda as she relates his story. “He wasn’t on anyone’s radar, so he wasn’t receiving any community supports or treatments. Because of his brain injury he didn’t realize the seriousness of the fire so when he was evacuated he just went down to the location he was told without taking anything with him.”

A story of loss and confusion leads to a better path forward

She continues his story, “So, if you think about a big arena and you have a brain injury, there’s all these sounds, lights, and a massive amount of people who are also in a trauma state. Someone with a brain injury can’t cope with that – it’s basically like a computer blowing up in short circuiting. But the really sad part was that he looked up at the big screen showing the news and watched his home burn down.”

Overwhelmed and unsure of how to navigate the terrifying and emotional experience, the gentleman was eventually identified at the arena as needing extra help and connected to BrainTrust Canada.

Amanda describes meeting him. “I instantly knew he was just extremely confused and vulnerable. He was in tears. He lost everything, including his legal paperwork.”

“This was right after we received the United Way BC funding,” says Amanda. “We’ve been able to work with him and help navigate the system, like where is he going to live, how will he pay damage deposit, get furnishings, get support. We even helped him get an appointment to update his glasses prescription that was two years old.”

The help this individual received is one positive outcome because of the community banding together. Despite the tragedy, this man found the support and help he desperately needed during a moment of crisis.

Partnerships carry on into the future to help those in need

BrainTrust Canada and others are still working to support those impacted by this year’s wildfires. “We are at the Resiliency Centre now working with other key partners brought together by UWBC. We’ve also been holding space at numerous community locations in an effort to be at places where individuals with brain injuries may show up or be referred to us. It’s much harder for them to reach out and navigate the system, so us being able to be on site is great.”

Funding from United Way BC has supported BrainTrust Canada Association’s ability and capacity to further reach out to individuals in need. The importance of making vital connections and supporting those in need has never been more clearly illustrated than during the wildfires.