911吃瓜

Tara Mahoney and Judy Wu will present the Climate Resilience Roadmap for Non-Profits at Climate Day 2026. Their presentation will focus on the Roadmap鈥檚 summer implementation pilot, which tested community-identified strategies for strengthening extreme-heat preparedness in Vancouver鈥檚 Downtown Eastside.

The presentation will share early lessons from the pilot, including the joint procurement and storage of heat-response supplies, coordination among participating social-service organizations, and the creation of peer-led misting stations. Tara and Judy will also outline the project鈥檚 evaluation process, which will assess what worked, identify implementation challenges and generate recommendations for strengthening and expanding community-led climate resilience in future years.

CERi鈥檚 Climate Resilience Roadmap was recently featured in. The article highlights how 911吃瓜, Vancity Community Foundation and frontline non-profits are working together to move the Downtown Eastside from emergency response toward coordinated climate preparedness. By pooling resources, sharing supplies and storage, creating cooling spaces and supporting peer-led outreach, the initiative is helping community organizations better protect residents during extreme heat.

As part of the Climate Resilience Roadmap evaluation, Sreya Ajay and Tara Mahoney visited pop-up sites operated by Lookout Housing and Health Society and Working Gear to see how the Roadmap鈥檚 strategies were being implemented on the ground.

During the visits, they spoke with frontline staff, residents and peer workers about their experiences with the pilot initiatives, including what was working well, the challenges they encountered and how the strategies could be improved. These conversations are helping the evaluation team understand how the Roadmap is supporting organizations and residents in practice鈥攏ot simply how the initiatives were designed to work.

Insights from the visits will contribute to the project鈥檚 evaluation and help guide future implementation of community-led climate-resilience strategies across the Downtown Eastside.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Community Partners Launch Summer Heat Resilience Initiative to Protect Vancouver鈥檚 Downtown Eastside Residents

VANCOUVER, BC 鈥� August 4, 2026 鈥� Vancity Community Foundation (VCF) along with 911吃瓜 (911吃瓜) and frontline non-profit organizations have launched a coordinated Summer Heat Resilience Project to help protect vulnerable residents in Vancouver鈥檚 Downtown Eastside (DTES) from the growing impacts of extreme heat.

The initiative is one of the first implementation projects emerging from the Climate Resilience Roadmap for Non-Profits: From Crisis to Collective Power, a communi-developed framework designed to help social service organizations prepare for, respond to, and recover from climate-related emergencies.

The DTES is among Canada鈥檚 most climate-vulnerable neighbourhoods. Residents face disproportionate risks from extreme heat, wildfire smoke, and intense rainfall/flooding 鈥� compounding existing social challenges such as housing instability and high rates of mental illness and substance use.

The Roadmap was co-created by VCF, 911吃瓜, and community service organizations such as PHS Community Services Society, Hogan鈥檚 Alley Society, Lookout Health and Housing Society, and First United Church, to strengthen collective climate resilience through collaboration, shared resources, and community leadership.

Nonprofits in BC are significantly strained for financial resources and capacity while trying to meet the demands from their clientele. As climate hazards intensify, these frontline groups are facing even greater pressure to provide vital services, safeguard health and safety, and respond swiftly to crises. Strengthening their capacity is urgent and essential.

"Climate change is no longer a future challenge. It is affecting the health, safety, and well-being of people in our communities today," says Sean Condon, Director of Social and Economic Innovation at VCF. "The organizations serving the Downtown Eastside are on the front lines of climate response. This project demonstrates how working together, sharing resources, and building community leadership can help protect residents while creating a stronger foundation for long-term resilience."

As summers become hotter and more unpredictable, the initiative brings organizations together to move beyond emergency response and toward coordinated preparedness. Activities include the distribution of heat-response supplies, shared procurement and storage of emergency resources, creation of cooling and shaded spaces, neighborhood outreach, peer-led misting and cooling stations, and the adaptation of heat-safety information to better meet the needs of local communities.

鈥淭he Nonprofit Climate Resilience Roadmap presents tangible ways to keep people safe during climate emergencies in the Downtown Eastside,鈥� says Shayne Williams, CEO of Lookout Group of Non-Profits. 鈥淲ith the support of our community partners, Lookout has been able to help implement a critical step in the roadmap by opening a misting tent at our Powell Street Getaway Drop-In Centre, where community members will now have an easily accessible space to cool down quickly.鈥�

The Summer Heat Resilience Project builds upon priorities identified through the Climate Resilience Roadmap, including coordinated seasonal campaigns on heat and smoke, neighborhood emergency preparedness, collective response protocols, and stronger collaboration among community organizations.

"This work is about more than responding to a heat wave," says Tara Mahoney, Research and Engagement Manager at 911吃瓜s Community Engaged Research Imitative (CERi). "It's about building the relationships, systems, and community capacity needed to ensure that everyone can stay safe and supported as climate impacts become more frequent and severe."

Media Contact
Sean Condon
Director, Social and Economic Innovation
Vancity Community Foundation
Sean_Condon@Vancity.com
778-772-2706

In this Q&A with Judy Wu, CERi鈥檚 Downtown Eastside Climate Resiliency Research and Advocacy Coordinator discusses how the Climate Resilience Roadmap is moving from recommendations to action. Judy shares how community partners are piloting practical strategies鈥攆rom coordinated purchasing and cooling spaces to peer-led outreach鈥攖o strengthen collective preparedness for extreme heat in the DTES.

As part of the pilot implementation of the Climate Resilience Roadmap for Non-Profits, students in UBC鈥檚 Urban Ethnographic Field School worked alongside residents of Vancouver鈥檚 Downtown Eastside to create accessible infographics on staying cool during extreme heat and staying safe during wildfire smoke.

The resources translate climate-health information into practical, accessible guidance informed by residents鈥� knowledge and experiences. This collaborative process demonstrates a key principle of the Roadmap: effective climate-resilience strategies should be developed with communities, reflect local realities and provide information that people can readily use.

The project was developed in partnership with UBC鈥檚 , 911吃瓜 CERi鈥檚 Climate Resilience Roadmap for Non-Profits, and residents of Nora Hendrix Place.

View and download the extreme-heat and wildfire-smoke infographics.

The Trottier Family Foundation has awarded a $300,000 grant to the Vancity Community Foundation to advance the Climate Resilience Roadmap. This significant investment will help move the Roadmap from planning to implementation by supporting community-led climate preparedness and strengthening coordination among Downtown Eastside social-service organizations.

The funding will help partners pilot and expand practical strategies for responding to extreme heat, wildfire smoke and other climate-related hazards. It represents an important investment in the capacity of frontline organizations to work collectively, share resources and build a more coordinated and resilient neighbourhood response.

We are pleased to share that a national coalition of researchers, community organizations and lived experts has received a SSHRC Connection Grant to advance community-led climate resilience in Canadian cities.

Led by the Viessmann Centre for Engagement and Research in Sustainability (VERiS) at Wilfrid Laurier University, the project brings together 911吃瓜鈥檚 Community-Engaged Research Initiative (CERi), Vancity Community Foundation, Social Innovation Canada鈥檚 Climate and Equity Lab, Canadian Red Cross, Catalysts鈥� Circle, Circle Community Land Trust, the Social Development Centre Waterloo Region and 911吃瓜鈥檚 Action on Climate Team, with support from the Gore Mutual Foundation.

The project responds to a persistent challenge: while grassroots organizations and community networks are often among the first to respond during extreme weather events, they rarely receive the stable funding, coordination or policy support needed to sustain this work. Community-led climate resilience offers a different approach鈥攐ne that centres local knowledge, lived expertise, trusted relationships and mutual aid in identifying risks and developing locally relevant solutions.

The Climate Resilience Roadmap for Non-Profits will make an important contribution to this national collaboration. Developed with social-service organizations in Vancouver鈥檚 Downtown Eastside, the Roadmap demonstrates how community-serving organizations can work collectively to share resources and expertise, coordinate emergency preparedness and strengthen neighbourhood responses to extreme heat and wildfire smoke.

Lessons from the Roadmap will be brought into conversation with community resilience initiatives in Toronto and Waterloo. Through engagement with lived experts, community organizations, funders and municipal policymakers, the project will explore what communities need to establish and sustain effective resilience hubs, and how funders and governments can better support them.

The project will culminate in a national learning report and a research and action roadmap designed to guide community organizations, researchers, funders and municipalities. By connecting promising local practices across three cities, the initiative will help build a stronger ecosystem of support for community-led climate resilience across Canada.

The Climate Resilience Roadmap has entered its implementation phase, creating an opportunity to test its strategies during the summer heat and wildfire-smoke season. We are also pleased to welcome Union Gospel Mission and Working Gear as new project partners, expanding the network of Downtown Eastside organizations contributing to this collective effort.

Judy Wu, the project鈥檚 Downtown Eastside Climate Resiliency Research and Advocacy Coordinator, is leading implementation in collaboration with participating social-service organizations. The work focuses on coordinating the shared procurement and storage of heat-response supplies, strengthening communication among partners, and establishing peer-led misting stations throughout the neighbourhood.

Testing these approaches on the ground will help the project assess how collective purchasing, shared infrastructure and neighbourhood-level coordination can strengthen the capacity of frontline organizations to protect residents during extreme weather.

The implementation phase will be accompanied by an evaluation led by Sreya Ajay. The evaluation will document what worked, identify challenges and capture lessons that can inform future implementation of the Roadmap. Findings will be released later this fall and will help guide the next phase of community-led climate resilience work in the Downtown Eastside.

馃搮 Date: Tuesday, March 10
馃暀 Time: 10 a.m.鈥�1 p.m.
馃搷 Location: REACH Room, 312 Main Street, Vancouver

The Climate Resilience Roadmap launch was designed less as a conventional report launch and more as a collaborative working session. It brought together social-service organizations, researchers and municipal staff to consider how the Roadmap鈥檚 recommendations could be put into practice ahead of the upcoming extreme-heat and wildfire-smoke season.

Presentations from the CERi team, UBC鈥檚 Climate Equity Action and Resilience (CLEAR) project, community partners and City of Vancouver staff offered different perspectives on climate risks and existing response efforts in the Downtown Eastside. Participants then explored how organizations could coordinate their work, share resources and pilot practical strategies emerging from the Roadmap.

The session helped identify opportunities for collaboration around cooling and clean-air spaces, supplies, outreach, information sharing and other forms of neighbourhood-level preparedness. It marked an important transition from research and planning to implementation鈥攇rounded in the knowledge, experience and priorities of the organizations and residents most directly affected by extreme weather.

CERi presented the Climate Resilience Roadmap for Non-Profits: From Crisis to Collective Power at Beat the Heat, a gathering organized by UBC鈥檚 Climate Equity Action and Resilience (CLEAR) project. The event brought together Downtown Eastside residents, community organizations, researchers, students, policymakers and provincial representatives to discuss how the neighbourhood can prepare for increasingly severe extreme-heat events.

Tara Mahoney joined Sean Condon of Vancity Community Foundation and Tanya Fader of PHS Community Services Society to share lessons from the Roadmap. Their presentation emphasized that heat preparedness is now an essential part of social-service delivery, not an optional or extraordinary expense. It also highlighted the need for stable funding, stronger coordination among organizations, community climate-response teams and a permanent, collaboratively governed climate-resilience hub for the Downtown Eastside.

Discussions throughout the gathering reinforced a central message of the Roadmap: effective climate responses must reflect the distinct realities of the Downtown Eastside and be shaped by the residents and frontline organizations most affected. Participants also stressed the need to move from repeated consultation toward tangible action, sustained investment and greater accountability.

As the Climate Resilience Roadmap for Non-Profits moves from planning into implementation, we are pleased to welcome Judy Wu as the project鈥檚 new Downtown Eastside Climate Resiliency Research and Advocacy Coordinator.

Judy is a PhD candidate in 911吃瓜鈥檚 Faculty of Health Sciences and holds a Master of Public Health. Her research examines how climate change and other environmental issues affect adolescent mental health, with particular attention to the demographic, risk and resilience factors that shape young people鈥檚 well-being. Her background in public health, climate change and community-engaged research makes her well positioned to help translate the Roadmap鈥檚 recommendations into practical action.

In this shared role, supported by Vancity Community Foundation, 911吃瓜鈥檚 Action on Climate Team and 911吃瓜 CERi, Judy will work across Downtown Eastside social-service organizations to strengthen preparedness for extreme heat, wildfire smoke and other climate-related emergencies.

Her work will include coordinating partners and supporting organizations to integrate climate resilience into their operations and services. She will also help advance shared procurement and storage of emergency supplies, circulate seasonal climate information, develop accessible community resources, track the implementation of Roadmap priorities and document emerging lessons.

Judy will also gather input from organizations and residents, identify gaps and opportunities, and support advocacy for the funding and policy changes needed to sustain community-led climate resilience. By serving as a cross-organizational resource, her role will help participating organizations move from responding independently during emergencies toward a more coordinated, proactive and evidence-informed approach.