Fraser Lake is a community which sits geographically in the centre of the province of BC on the lands of the Nadleh Whut’en and the Stellat’en First Nations. The village population is approximately 1,000 with a draw of 2,000 from the surrounding communities of Endako and Fort Fraser, Glennanan, North Shore, Stellat’en and Nadleh. This catchment area covers about 1000 square kilometers. We are known for our beautiful scenery, endless backroads, great hiking trails, camping and fishing. There are 170 lakes in a 50-mile radius of town and in fifteen minutes you can be waist deep on the Stellako River -a world-class fly-fishing destination.

Currently with a Coastal GasLink project base camp 5 kilometers east of town that’s accommodating between 300 and 700 workers, the community is experiencing an unusual lack of rental spaces. With the rumours swirling of impending ‘twinning’ of the pipeline, house prices are also on the rise. Just a few years ago, most house prices were between $150,000 to $200,000, now most are selling between $250,000 and $350,000.
A former mining town, the local economy is driven by one sawmill which is experiencing a diminishing wood supply like all mills in the province. The Artemis Gold property which is four hours south west of town will be pouring gold and silver by 2024, and with a life of 22 years, holds the promise to employ many of the local population. The village of Fraser Lake is undergoing many improvements to its infrastructure and has recently upgraded to a fiber optic network which is considered a necessary upgrade for todays demands for internet, phone and television.Autumn Services-Society for Senior Support

We formed Autumn Services Society in 2010 and have been providing community support services for over twelve years. Our drop-in centre is situated in an enviable spot right beside the Post Office and with a complete row of large windows, is well-lit and easily accessible for those with mobility issues.  We are open for drop-in support services between 9:00 am to 4:00pm Monday to Friday.

We renovated this space in 2019 and offer a commercial full-service kitchen, a Zoom room, offices, lock-up cupboards for storing UPS packages, multiple shelving units for our Food Share program and a huge space for visiting. Considered the hub of the community, we average over 300 visits a month. Those visits are clients seeking technology supports, folks dropping in for a light breakfast, or Soup & a Bun twice a week, bingo on Wednesday afternoon or to enquire about our senior supports or our Get Up & Go transportation services. Adding to our regular clients are hundreds more who visit long enough to pick up a UPS package or to pick up their weekly food hamper.

In December we prepared a full-course Seniors Christmas dinner for two sittings of 40. We fed all the volunteers as well and delivered some meals to a few who had to cancel at the last minute. West Fraser funded the dinner which made it a free meal for participants. They also buy chocolates for all the seniors in town and we get high school students to go door to door to deliver them. The Fire truck attends with Santa on board and this year at minus 27 it seemed to take forever to get around to those 188 houses.Our United Way funded programs sustain the work of eleven part time and two full time employees. We offer a Better at Home program, Navigation & Peer Support program and a Therapeutic Activation program. While each program has its unique set of expectations, they meld together nicely as one continuous wrap-around service that is prevention orientated and built to nurture independence and dignity in aging. With a goal of delaying the functional decline of aging adults, our support services are a meaningful investment in the lives of many who choose to remain in their community among family and friends.

These United Way funded programs are everything to us. Before we were granted this line of funding we managed three part time staff – I did everything day to day including granting and reporting, washing walls, and making soup, Debbie did the books, and we had a part time BAH funded housecleaner. Since receiving the TAPS funded 2.5 year pilot, we have grown all the services I refer to above. And now we are in a position to lose all of this IF the BC Government doesn’t continue to support United Way with another year of this line of funding. We’ve been told its very likely to continue, but I am writing grants like crazy to keep us operational just in case. Marcy Cohen and others continue their assault on government to give us this year and follow-up with multi-level funding in the future. But what we know for a fact is all our United Way funded programs must be expensed by March 31^st, 2023.

Thanks to an 80% / 20% funded partnership through the Northern Communities Shuttle Program, we received a 6-passenger van in April 2022. The Get Up & Go Van transports clients to medical procedures, specialist appointments, x-rays, dental and eye appointments in Prince George, Vanderhoof, Burns Lake and Smithers. Through our partnership with the Village of Fraser Lake, our travel group organized trips to the Ancient forest, the local salmon run, the Christmas Tree of lights with future plans to go to the Pool in Vanderhoof. In nine months, the van has been driven 45,000 km – some weeks, its on the road every day. We charge a nominal fee of $20 which is waived for medical clients with chronic illnesses who make several trips a week. Some are transported daily for intravenous therapy in town during and to the closest hospital on weekends. With the ambulance staffing shortages, we are getting more and more requests from staff at the medical clinic to transport patients to hospital or to get patients to the clinic for a medical check-up. We’ve been asked to drive a young patient with a mental health issue to hospital (50 minutes away) at 4:00 am and return to pick her up a few hours later. We were five weeks into a six week daily intravenous therapy program for a diabetic client only to find him deceased one morning in his trailer. Our volunteer driver has no medical training and its not an expectation that a non-profit providing community-based services would be put in this situation. Yet it speaks to the dedication and commitment of our staff and volunteers – we step up to help people when doing otherwise feels like we are failing them.

ORGANIZATION MANDATE
The purpose of the society is: (a) To increase the quality of life for older adults and their families in a holistic, ethical and honourable manner. (b) To assist older adults to live comfortably and independently in their own homes by providing service programs. (c) To develop and maintain a Community Social and Service Centre for Fraser Lake and area to educate and support all members of the community and surrounding catchment area.

Autumn Services Centre

Unit 10, 111 Chowsunket Street,
Fraser Lake BC
250-699-0056
Website: autumnservices.org
Submitted by Executive director Elaine Storey