Ernie Dumais spoke about Highway to Healing at a recent meeting of the Rotary Club of Osoyoos. (Keith Lacey photo)
An Oliver-based community organization that provides financial assistance to the families of children requiring medical care is expanding into Osoyoos.
Ernie Dumais, one of the founders of Highway to Healing, along with newly elected president Gail Barriskill, were the special guests of the Osoyoos Rotary Club recently and they detailed what the organization is all about and its expansion plans into Osoyoos as well as Okanagan Falls.
Dumais, a popular trades teacher at Southern Okanagan Secondary School in Oliver for 31 years before his recent retirement, told the Osoyoos Rotarians how the Highway to Healing program was founded in Oliver six years ago thanks to the generous support of the Oliver Rotary Club.
While it remains a separate entity from the Rotary Club, the two organizations still work collaboratively to ensure the Highway to Healing program remains successful, he said.
“We are our own charity and the Rotary Club isn’t, but we remain part of the Rotary Club,” he said. “
He’s hoping the Osoyoos Rotary Club will play an integral role into the expansion of the Highway to Healing program in Osoyoos, said Dumais.
“Highway to Healing is a charity offering financial assistance to local families who need to travel to access medical treatment for their children,” he said.
Highway to Healing in Oliver received its recognition as an official registered non-profit organization back in 2015, which was important because an earlier application to the federal government had been denied, he said.
Much of the constitution and fundraising efforts that have been adopted by Highway to Healing were taken from an organization called You Are Not Alone (YANA) in Comox, B.C., he said. His daughter is a supporter of YANA and had often told him about the incredible work being done by that organization and the fantastic community support they receive from that community’s 65,000 residents, he said. In Comox, YANA pays market rent on four apartments located near the children’s hospital in that city and families of children seeking medical attention get to stay there for free or a very minimal cost, he said.
The apartments are full 80 per cent of the time and have provided an incredible community service in Comox, he said.
The response to Highway to Healing in Oliver has been overwhelmingly positive, he said.
The organization has helped 11 Oliver and area families and assisted one new family and three others that have sought and been approved for funding in the past in 2016, he said.
The organization had set an annual limit of $2,500 per family, but voted only weeks ago to increase that limit to $5,000 per family per year, he said.
Highway to Healing holds fundraising events in Oliver and gets excellent support from numerous service clubs in the community, while also receiving contributions from local residents to raise the money that is handed over to families in need, he said.
Its biggest fundraising event is called Ride to Provide, a 30-kilometre cycling event in and around Oliver where participants gather pledges and complete the course with all the proceeds going to Highway to Healing, he said.
“Awareness is very important and the people in Oliver are very aware of what we’re doing,” he said. “We get tremendous community support.”
The board of directors with Highway to Healing decided only recently that expansion into Osoyoos and Okanagan Falls was the right thing to do, he said.
The success in Oliver has made it clear the organization can achieve the same kind of success in Osoyoos and Okanagan Falls and he is confident volunteers in both towns won’t be hard to find, said Dumais.
Dumais was proud to hear Osoyoos Rotarians are very interested in getting involved into bringing Highway to Healing to this community.
“If we could have Rotary support in Osoyoos and Area A (of the Regional District of Okanagan-Similkameen) that would be just wonderful,” he said.
Program funding is available to anyone under age 19 and will continue if medical assistance is still needed by a family after the child turns 19, he said.
Several members of the Osoyoos Rotary Club said they would spread the word about the establishment of the Highway to Healing program in Osoyoos and some appeared interested in joining as volunteers.
Dumais said he and Barriskill will gladly lend their assistance and expertise as the Osoyoos chapter gets established.
KEITH LACEY
Osoyoos Times
