Forests_green_space

1:09:11 This is a non-monetary grant that provides the project with technical assistance, which has been used so far to support community engagement, and later in the project, later this year, will be used to help develop the actual action plan document and funding strategy. So the Fruit Valley project area is quite large geographically. It has a relatively small population of around 2,500 residents. The map on this slide shows the Fruit Valley for All project area in blue that extends to the westernmost edge of the Vancouver city limits bounded by the Columbia River, including the area adjacent to Vancouver Lake. The eastern boundary includes the BNSF rail lines moving south to Portway. The project area includes many industrial businesses along Fruit Valley Boulevard in the Port of Vancouver, and it is designated, the entire neighborhood is designated as a high priority equity area in the city's equity index.

1:10:10 So when compared to percentages in Vancouver as a whole, almost double the percentage of families in Fruit Valley are living below the poverty line. The community is also very diverse with almost double the Hispanic population, for example, and more people who speak a language other than English at home when compared to Vancouver. There are also a number of environmental justice factors to consider as we complete the action plan, such as proximity to freight traffic and rail lines, which can affect air quality, and a lower tree canopy and higher temperatures during heat events, as was highlighted in the recent Clark County Heat Watch Report. And before we dig into the engagement, I want to share the project vision statement that guides our project. We co-created this statement with the advisory committee that was created for the project, which we'll talk more about shortly. They helped us create a statement that is specific to Fruit Valley and captures what the community is hoping to see in the future.

1:11:08 So instead of reading it line by line, I'm going to highlight sections that were added because they've routinely been coming up in engagement and in conversations with the committee. Fruit Valley is a place where families choose to stay and neighbors know one another by name. It has tree-lined streets, community events, and shared public spaces, bring generations and cultures together, fostering connection and belonging, where neighbors show up for one another and have reliable access to affordable food and housing. These are all things that they would like to see more of in the future. And in a nod to the neighborhood's proximity to rail lines, it says Fruit Valley stands proudly on the right side of the tracks where everyone has a voice and a pathway to opportunity. So now I'll talk more about how we're engaging with the community. As we'll talk more about in the next slide, we're providing a variety of ways for the community to give input to hear from as many people as possible.

1:12:07 This is very important because what we hear from the community will directly shape the development of the Fruit Valley for All action plan.