- Fraser Valley Current
- Posts
- Friday - Jan. 3, 2025 - Money for Chilliwack homelessness initiatives
Friday - Jan. 3, 2025 - Money for Chilliwack homelessness initiatives
🌧 High 4C
Good morning!
We're back for 2025! We hope you all had a great holidays. Before we left we asked what your municipality should have as its New Year’s resolution. We would still love to hear from you! You can put in your thoughts here.
I'm entering 2025 having been reminded that, often, it is the hard things that bring the greatest rewards. On New Year's Day, I dragged my kids to a frozen lake. They were less-than-enthusiastic about putting away their Christmas presents and swapping their cozy pajamas for snow pants and skates. I was determined to go, even if I wasn't particularly excited to freeze my own butt off (and do all the loading and preparing that such an outing requires). We finally got to the lake around 1pm. Three and a half hours later, my wife and I were yelling at the kids that, really, they had to take off their skates NOW, before the sun fully disappeared.
The day is now another one of those that will become a memory for them and for us. But it's also a reminder that the things that we value are usually those that take a little more effort. Goodness knows, it's great to relax. But life can't be all hot cocoa and candles.
– Tyler
Keep local journalism alive by supporting The Current. Become a Current Insider member today and help bring local stories to life.
Traffic & Weather
🌤 Local forecast: Langley | Chilliwack | Abbotsford | Hope (We have had to temporarily change our forecast links to the Weather Network due to a technical error.)
🚘 Driving today? Check the current traffic situation via Google, and find DriveBC’s latest updates.
🛣 Click here for links to road cameras across the Fraser Valley, including those for the Coquihalla, Highway 7, Hope-Princeton, Fraser Canyon, and Highway 1 in Langley and Abbotsford.
NEWS
A Fraser Valley activity guide to 2025
January events and activities could help stretch your legs, broaden your mind, and improve your skills. 📷 Shiona Das/Unsplash; Joran Quinten/Unsplash; Duygu Güngör/Unsplash
New year. New you.
Isn’t that the traditional sentiment? Come Jan. 1, everyone sits down and writes a list of ways they wish to be more involved, more active, more creative—more something than they were the year before.
Of course, the challenge with New Year’s resolutions is that they require doing. Not only must you conceive of a way to be different, you have to go out and make it happen.
That inspired the theme of this month’s events story—activities that are not only a great way to kick off 2025, but a way to help sustain your resolutions as well. Whether you’ve pledged to exercise more, learn a new skill, support the arts, or simply broaden your horizons this year, we’ve found an event that matches your plan.
Related
Need to Know
🐄 Agassiz dairy farmer Holger Schwitchtenberg will be on the Agricultural Land Commission for another four years [Country Life in BC]
🚧 A new road between Langley and Surrey will remain closed, if the Township has its way [Langley Advance Times]
🌨 Langley’s Snow Angel program is no longer running after unexpected insurance costs; the program paired local seniors with people willing to clear snow from their driveways [Langley Advance Times]
🎿 Sasquatch Mountain Resort has opened more ski runs thanks to an influx of snow; the chair lift for its Sasquatch run will be out of commission until late January [Sasquatch Mountain Resort/Facebook]
🧂 UBC researchers have found that road salt can lead to death and deformities in young salmon [Business in Vancouver]
👙 Hundreds of people in Chilliwack braved the chilly water in Cultus Lake for a polar bear swim [Chilliwack Progress] / Roughly 100 people in Mission did their New Year plunge at the Stave Lake boat launch [Mission Record]
🚒 Firefighters from across BC came to Agassiz for training at the community’s new regional facility [Agassiz Harrison Observer]
🏠 BC Assessment has released values for properties all across BC; you can look up your home (or your neighbour's) here [BC Assessment]
🏥 The BC teen hospitalized with bird flu back in November has been taken off supplemental oxygen and is no longer infectious [Vancouver Sun]
👹 Hope’s Night with Krampus event raised more than $1,000 for this year’s Concerts in the Park [Hope Standard]
Enjoying our newsletter? Help us make it even better!
Become an Insider member and help keep local journalism and storytelling alive in the Fraser Valley.
SPONSORED BY KWANTLEN POLYTECHNIC UNIVERSITY
This year, redefine you
2025 is your year of transformation at KPU, where opportunity meets ambition. Whether you're starting fresh or advancing your career, ignite your journey to self-growth with 140+ programs, flexible schedules, and real-world experiences. Discover your potential with classes that fit your life. Explore what’s next for you at KPU.
The Agenda
Ruth and Naomi’s Mission in Chilliwack was among seven local organizations to receive funding for their winter support programs. Ruth and Naomi’s will use the money to expand its emergency weather shelter. 📷 Ruth and Naomi’s Mission/Facebook
More funding for Chilliwack winter homelessness initiatives
Chilliwack housing providers and homelessness support programs will be getting more than $200,000 to spend over the next few months.
The federal government’s Reaching Home program gave Chilliwack $203,954 to fund various housing programs between January and March. The funds are earmarked for programs that help support people experiencing homelessness during the winter.
This year, Ruth and Naomi’s Mission will receive nearly $38,000 to expand its emergency weather response at Pathways Shelter by adding additional beds and bedding.
The Chilliwack and District Seniors’ Resources Society will receive $49,600 to help prevent homelessness and improve food security. The Salvation Army will receive $84,800 and Wilma’s Transition Society $25,600 for similar projects. Those funds will likely end up being distributed to people in need in the form of rent supplements, and potentially in the form of food hampers or other food security supports.
Pearl Life Renewal, Pacific Community Resource Society, and Connective Support Society will share the remaining $6,000 to provide outreach supplies to people currently living on Chilliwack’s streets.
Fraser Highway one-way upgrades begin
Langley City is upgrading the one-way section of Fraser Highway to improve aging infrastructure and add new pedestrian amenities, and construction is officially getting started next week.
Work on the road will officially begin on Monday, Jan. 6, with crews removing asphalt on Fraser Highway and upgrading nearby 206th Street. Workers are on site today (Jan. 3) installing fencing and preparing the site.
Asphalt removal is expected to take until Friday, Jan. 10. Full construction will take place in two phases: the first section of work, between 206th Street and Salt Lane, is expected to take place between January and May of this year. Construction between Glover Road and roughly McBurney Plaza will occur between May and August.
There will be limited parking on the Fraser Highway one-way during construction, although there will be 37 free underground parking stalls nearby at City Hall. Traffic will be able to use the one-way road, although there will be periodic closures. Sidewalks and business will remain open.
Construction is expected to cost roughly $18 million, and include new underground power lines, improved landscaping, and replaced water and sewer systems.
Share
You can share this newsletter by forwarding it or copy and pasting this link—https://fvcurrent.com/p/january-3-2025/—into a social media post.
MEMBERS ONLY
This week’s FVC Insiders’ Edition
In tomorrow's FVC members-only newsletter, Tyler reveals his choices for the valley's top newsmakers of 2024. Members can find that, and our new FVC Picks events guide, in tomorrow's newsletter. Get our weekend edition in your inbox every Saturday at 7am—and support our daily journalism—by becoming a member here.
🗓 Things to do
Hockey night: The Chilliwack Chiefs play the Prince George Spruce Kings at the Chilliwack Coliseum on Saturday at 6pm. Details online.
Skating days: Harrison’s ice-free outdoor skating rink is open until Sunday. Bring your own skates and enjoy the rink for free for a few more days. Details online.
Art opening: Iterations, an exploration of cloth and clay, is at Chilliwack’s O’Connor Group Art Gallery until Saturday, Feb. 1. The opening reception is this Saturday from 1 to 3pm. Details online.
Have an event to tell us about? Fill out this form to have it highlighted here.
Catch up
That’s it!
Thanks for reading Fraser Valley Current today ♥️
If you found something useful, consider forwarding this newsletter to another local.
Reply