Who we are, our history

WE ARE YOUR NEIGHBORS!

We are a group of volunteers from all backgrounds and walks of life working to build a strong, safe, healthy and happy community in Columbia Valley.

Our community is large and diverse, and we enjoy a rural lifestyle in an environment full of abundant natural resources and extraordinary beauty. However, we are challenged by geographic isolation combined with a desire to preserve our lifestyle. It's a delicate balance between not enough and too much, but we believe we can find that balance by calling on the intelligence, skills, talents, experience, generosity, wisdom and participation of the people of our community. We believe that if we work together creating a strong, sustainable community and draw from our internal resources we can maintain our lifestyle and overcome the challenges we now have by providing for ourselves from within our community. 

OUR HISTORY

Realizing the the residents of Columbia Valley are geographically isolated from essential services like healthcare and food resources, and that we have the largest population of under- and unemployed, Elders, disabled, families in need and people with serious health problems in Whatcom County, the Mt. Baker Foundation offered a $500,000 grant to begin bringing much needed projects and programs to improve the health and well-being of all our residents here. 

In 2019 a group of residents began meeting once a month under the name Mt. Baker Foundation Partnership (MBFP) to determine the types of projects necessary and how to develop them. They held two World Cafes where residents shared ideas and outlined a list of our most pressing needs as well as what we think will improve the quality of life in our neighborhoods.

The group met until March 2020 when the pandemic began. Slowed but not stopped, in August 2020 the group gained new members and resumed meeting monthly via Zoom. Since August we have renamed the group Foothills Community Alliance to better reflect who we are and our mission, and we have begun creating an organization that can take the lists created at the two World Cafes and begin making them a reality. 

We are now seeking volunteers to help us develop and implement projects, and to hold seats on our Board of Directors. There is much to do and we need the help of everyone to begin creating positive, meaningful changes in the lives of everyone in our community. 

Come join us and make a difference!