After the 2021 heat dome in British Columbia – which marked Canada’s deadliest weather event to date, with over 600 heat-related deaths – a sobering truth emerged.

The coroner’s report revealed that most fatalities occurred in homes lacking adequate cooling systems, disproportionately affecting older adults living alone in socio-economically deprived neighbourhoods.

For Sylvia Cheuy, Consulting Director at the Tamarack Institute (Tamarack), the findings struck a nerve. For her, the most haunting part of the coroner’s report, was the conclusion that many of those lives lost could have been saved if a neighbour had simply knocked on their door.

When sectors, community groups, and residents collaborate to develop shared emergency preparedness plans, the outcomes are significantly stronger because they are grounded in real needs rather than assumptions. These shared plans often mobilize a range of community resources and ensure that their efforts are aligned and mutually reinforcing.

She’s all too aware of the disconnect that can happen when different groups and organizations create their own emergency plans rather than a shared one that is grounded in the realities of community residents. It is a receipe for disaster, particularly for people who are already pushed to the margins.

“What if you live in a high-rise and there’s no power? What if you’re a senior with mobility issues? What if you don’t have an income that enables you to have enough food and water?”

That idea of community as first responder is at the heart of a grassroots emergency preparedness effort in Vancouver’s Kitsilano neighbourhood. Ksenia Stepkina, a passionate advocate and founder of Good Neighbour Kitsilano, has long believed in the power of local connection.

“The funding has been instrumental,” Stepkina shares. The grant helped support their initiative of bringing neighbours together to activate grassroots-led emergency preparedness. “And partnering with Tamarack was a no-brainer. We embody their mission of supporting bottom-up, community- led initiatives.”

At the centre of this approach is the role of “block connectors”: trusted residents who serve as champions of connection and emergency action.

Block connectors are designated representatives in a city block or apartment building who have cultivated real relationships with their fellow neighbours and are prepared to act and support vulnerable residents when the next climate disaster strikes.

“Establishing cross-sectoral block connectors is essential to emergency preparedness,” Cheuy says.

While the impact is deeply local, the vision is national. Tamarack is now supporting similar initiatives in seven additional communities across Canada, all building custom grassroots emergency strategies informed by residents’ lived realities and rooted in relationship building.

And it’s working. Good Neighbour Kitsilano, for example, uses its funding not only to provide microgrants and resources but also to offer a rare kind of flexibility. “That incentive is huge,” Stepkina says, noting the contrast to traditional models. “It’s a very brave investment,” she adds, explaining how institutional limitations often prevent would-be funders from supporting their most intangible mission of building culture and connective tissue. “Gore Mutual is ahead of the game.”

Cheuy emphasizes that neighbourhood champions hold tremendous, often-overlooked value. “They’re trusted messengers and probably the greatest untapped resources that we have,” she explains. “Learning how to mobilize citizens alongside organizations is part of the real magic of this funding.”

It’s not just magic – it’s intentional. The first step in these projects is to help neighbours identify and develop their own emergency preparedness strategies. “It’s not what is in your emergency preparedness kit but who is in your emergency preparedness kit,” Stepkina says. “It’s about ensuring no one is left behind during a crisis.”

That foundation of trust and shared accountability creates fertile ground for deeper community mobilization and local policy change. “This type of initiative could only happen with co- creation,” Cheuy says. “When you look at the interconnection of poverty, social isolation, and climate justice, there’s no one sector that could come up with the whole suite of solutions needed to address it meaningfully. It’s only by working collaboratively that we’re going to put together these local plans.”

One such collaborator is MaRS Discovery District, which is exploring how the corporate sector can contribute to localized resilience strategies. Ana Gonzalez Guerrero, MaRS’ Senior Manager for Climate and Cities, and Vice Chair of Tamarack’s Board of Directors, explains that equity and resilience planning can’t happen in isolation.

“The corporate community is not always focused on how it impacts the community in which it operates,” she says. “But resilience is a localized problem that requires collaboration, and our role is to understand the barriers encountered by corporations working in collaboration with communities so that they don’t unintentionally create maladaptation.” Gonzalez Guerrero goes on to say that she appreciates the opportunity that the grant offers for a multi-sectoral approach to community-led solutions. After all, fighting climate change requires all hands on deck.

For Cheuy, that’s the lasting value of this work. “The capacity that this funding is helping to build will be a legacy even after the funds are gone,” she says. “It will help strengthen these communities, no matter what comes next.”