United Way BC - Southern Interior

10/22/2026

A beautiful day of culture, community, and celebration in West Kelowna! 🌕✨

Through a United Way BC Local Love Fund, we were proud to support the 2026 Mid-Autumn Festival hosted by OCCA Communities Association. The event brought together residents from many cultures and backgrounds to enjoy an afternoon filled with live performances, traditional dragon and lion dances, cultural exhibits, moon cake tasting, a Chinese tea ceremony, and much more.

It was wonderful to connect with OCCA Communities Executive Director Fei Liu, community partners, and outgoing Mayor Gord Milsom, whose support has helped strengthen opportunities for belonging and inclusion in our communities.

Events like this remind us that when we celebrate our differences, we build stronger communities together.

10/20/2026

As part of Homelessness Action Week 2026, 100 More Homes Penticton and United Way BC hosted the Somewhere to Stay: Youth Homelessness & Belonging in the Forever Place event in Penticton last Wednesday.

United Way BC's Amanda P**n emceed the evening, which featured an informative video presentation on youth homelessness, followed by a panel discussion, which included members of the 100 More Homes Youth Action Table, SOICS, City of Penticton - Municipality, OneSky Community Resources and the Foundry Penticton. The discussion was followed by a question and answer period. The keynote address was delivered by the South Okanagan Similkameen Brain Injury Society who provided a history of 100 More Homes' work with youth and youth homelessness.

Thank you to everyone involved in organizing this meaningful event and for continuing the conversation around youth homelessness, belonging, and creating pathways to stable housing in Penticton.

Together, we are UNITED for housing.

10/16/2026

Food is more than a meal. It can bring nourishment, connection, and a sense of community.

This World Food Day, we’re shining a light on food security for seniors across BC. Depending on what’s available in their community, seniors may access supports such as groceries, prepared meals, food delivery, food hampers, and community meals.

Your support can help strengthen food security and connection for seniors across BC.

❤️ Donate now: uwbc.ca/campaign/food-security-for-seniors/

10/14/2026

🔟 100 More Homes Penticton is celebrating 10 years of collaboration and impact. And what a decade it’s been!

Working together with United Way BC, governments at all levels, health care and housing providers, businesses, social service agencies, Indigenous organizations, and people with lived and living experience and collective have accomplished some big wins in the past decade, including:

✔️Securing a permanent Winter Shelter to prevent homelessness

✔️Advocating for the permanent role of Social Development staff at the City of Penticton - Municipality

✔️Supporting the development of recovery-focused supportive housing in Penticton

✔️Supporting initiatives aimed at tenant protection and the development of Social Housing policy (SHIP) with the City of Penticton

2025 marks another year of progress and evolution for the collective, with stronger coordination, increased leadership from people with lived and living experience, and a growing focus on long-term systems change.

Read more about our key achievements in the 100 More Homes 2025 Year in Review: https://bit.ly/4s1XhaZ

Together, we are UNITED for housing.

10/12/2026

Thanksgiving is a time to gather, share a meal, and feel connected to community.

But accessing nutritious food isn’t always easy for seniors in BC. Community food programs can help by providing supports such as groceries, prepared meals, food delivery, food hampers, and community meals.

This Thanksgiving, help put nutritious food within reach for seniors in our communities.

❤️ Donate now: uwbc.ca/campaign/food-security-for-seniors/

10/10/2026

Housing provides physical, emotional, social, and economic stability. Yet too many people in British Columbia, whether youth, families, seniors, or veterans, struggle to achieve this basic human right.

United Way BC works with local providers, social service agencies, municipal and provincial governments, and people with lived experience to help folks get the housing supports they need.

(“Housing supports” are the financial, legal, and social services designed to help individuals and families secure, afford, and maintain safe housing.)

As part of World Homeless Day and Homelessness Action Week, running October 10-16, we encourage people to learn about homelessness in their community, local services available to those looking for supports, and ways they can contribute to solutions.

Here are some of the ways we’re working to prevent and reduce homelessness:

🔵100 More Homes https://bit.ly/4zh0tSn
🔵Reaching Home https://bit.ly/4j7bi4R
🔵 Veteran Homelessness Program https://bit.ly/4yDvDDJ

Read more about Homelessness Action Week here: https://bit.ly/4i9JxYf

10/09/2026

Many of today’s unhoused adults first experienced homelessness as young people, making generational homelessness a pressing and, often, hidden issue.

Join United Way BC, 100 More Homes Penticton, Penticton Indian Band - Public, the City of Penticton - Municipality and the Regional District of Okanagan-Similkameen for the premiere of:

▶️Somewhere to Stay: Youth Homelessness & Belonging in the Forever Place
➡️Wednesday, October 14, 6:00-7:30 PM
➡️Cleland Community Theatre, Penticton

➡️Get your tickets to this free event now: https://bit.ly/4yg1SI2

This short film, produced by the 100 More Homes Youth Action Table, explores what it’s like to be young and homelessness in Penticton, and the importance of creating a community where every young person has a safe place to call home. A panel discussion follows the film.

➡️Complimentary pizza and drinks
➡️Arts and crafts created by youth at Foundry Penticton's Youth Market available for purchase in theatre lobby

Join us for the premiere of Somewhere to Stay, a short film followed by a panel discussion about Youth Homelessness in Penticton.

10/09/2026

Earlier this month, 100 More Homes Penticton Chair, Tanya Behardien, 100 More Homes Coordinator/United Way BC, Amanda P**n, and 100 More Homes Penticton members and City staff with Penticton Mayor Julius Bloomfield and Councillors Graham, Gilbert, Watt, Stewart and Reynen with the City of Penticton - Municipality Proclamation of Homelessness Action Week, October 10-16.

We thank the City of Penticton for their commitment to preventing and reducing homelessness in the Southern Interior. The proclamation encourages all residents to participate in activities that promote understanding, reconciliation, housing stability, and community inclusion for all.

Read more about Homelessness Action Week here: https://bit.ly/4i9JxYf

10/07/2026

Communities across British Columbia did not simply respond to hunger last year. Working through United Way BC Food Security Initiatives, they tackled this complex issue by focusing on strengthening connection, belonging, and resilience for those in need.

Thanks to these efforts, almost 450,000 individuals were supported.

Read our Food Security 2025-2026 Year in Review to learn more about the remarkable programs, partnerships and supports that are helping increase the health and wellbeing of British Columbians: https://bit.ly/4jEmUwk

Together, we are UNITED for food security.

10/05/2026

Arts and culture have a unique way of bringing communities together, and that's exactly what happened at the Rotary Centre for the Arts in Kelowna during Cultural Days.

Organized by Creative Okanagan and the City of Kelowna, the event featured an incredible lineup of local artists and performers who donated their talents to support the United Way BC Wildfire Recovery Fund. Through an evening of live music, performances, and community generosity, attendees helped raise funds to support individuals, families, and communities recovering from the impacts of wildfires across our region.

Heather van Der Gaag, Campaign Manager, Corporate Partnerships, was honoured to share how donations are making a difference for those rebuilding and recovering after wildfire events. Also on hand to support the evening was Mayor Tom Dyas and United Way BC Campaign Associate Jason Collins.

A heartfelt thank you to Creative Okanagan, the City of Kelowna, the Rotary Centre for the Arts, the talented performers, Mayor Tom Dyas, Jason Collins, and everyone who attended and contributed. Together, we're helping communities recover, rebuild, and move forward.