By rotating the location of their mid-year meetings, the Real Estate Foundation of British Columbia gets a feel for many housing markets around the province, and they took up residence at Fairmont Hot Springs Resort last month for this year’s assembly.

“Events like this are a great opportunity for our Board of Governors and staff to learn more about what is happening in local communities and to see landscapes not everyone might be familiar with first-hand so we can understand regional and community needs better,” said B.C. Real Estate Foundation communications and administration manager Celina Owen.

Five board members and nine staffers from the Real Estate Foundation were at the resort for a meeting on Monday, June 23rd. Also in attendance were Member of Parliament for Kootenay-Columbia David Wilks, Regional District of East Kootenays chair Rob Gay, and regional district Area F director Wendy Booth.

At the reception in Fairmont, the audience heard the foundation discuss the allocation of their granting program, which has delivered more than $66 million in funding for non-profits since 1988. Funding is collected from the interest on down payments made by homebuyers.

“Our mission is to transform land use attitudes and practices,” Owen said. “We provide grants to non-profit organizations which improve the sustainability of land across province and improve practices of local governments and consumer habits.”

Upper Columbia Valley-based groups that have received funding inlcude Wildsight, Groundswell, the Windermere District Farmers’ Institute, and the Kootenay Conservation Program. Kootenay-based non-profits received $170,245 in 2013. So far in 2014, $128,650 has been approved for the region.