Fraser Valley – Fraser Valley Health Care Foundation is proud to announce its support for Fraser Health’s Integrated Homelessness Action Response Teams (IHART) by providing essential items to support the needs of people who are sheltered, unsheltered, and living in encampments and select supportive housing environments.
IHART teams comprised of multidisciplinary care providers who use a trauma-informed and recovery-oriented approach to make connections and bring services directly to people. The teams’ service objectives include stabilizing and treating chronic health conditions people may experience, supporting people’s transitions to new shelter or housing, reducing the risk of overdose and other serious and life-threatening incidents, and addressing people’s health care concerns directly in their communities to prevent unnecessary visits to emergency departments.
Fraser Valley Health Care Foundation is looking for donations of client care items such as toiletries, socks, underwear, sweaters, toques, gloves, shoes, tarps, sleeping bags, backpacks, ponchos, feminine care products, and pet care items. The foundation is also is looking for treats at special holidays such as Easter, Halloween, and Christmas. Seasonal items such as sunscreen, bug spray, water, thermos’ or Tupperware, and plastic cutlery; napkins, paper bags for treats, coffee cups, stir sticks are also on the wish list.
In addition, the foundation wants nutrition items such as any kind of soft granola bars, fruit/cereal bars, or that kind of quick snack, peanut butter, jam, ketchup, mustard, drinks such as Gatorade and juice boxes, and gift cards to grocery stores for perishable items.
To support the IHART staff, the foundation needs seasonal outreach gear/identifiers such as shirts that say FH Outreach.
“Fraser Valley Health Care Foundation is committed to supporting the health and well-being of our community members, including those who are experiencing homelessness,” said Liz Harris, Executive Director of Fraser Valley Health Care Foundation. “We are proud to support the important work of IHART in providing essential care to those in need.”
The foundation is asking the public to help support this imitative by dropping off donations of any of these items to any of the foundation offices located at the Abbotsford, Chilliwack or Mission hospitals; a complete list of need items can be found at fvhcf.ca/regionalprojects.
IHART teams provide services across the Fraser Health Region and work with local partners to ensure collaboration and integration of services in the community. Eligibility for IHART services is currently limited to Emergency Response Centres and Isolation Centres, but teams are growing and increasing capacity to expand services to local shelters and encampments.
The Fraser Valley Health Care Foundation raises funds for vital equipment and programs funded or endorsed by the Fraser Health Authority. They serve the communities of Abbotsford, Mission, Chilliwack, Hope, Agassiz and Harrison Hot Springs.
