Vancouver’s Chinatown was never built to be trendy. It was built because people had nowhere else to belong. Shut out of opportunity. Pushed to the margins. Told where they could and could not live. So they built anyway. Store by store. Family by family. A place that began to pulse and then became magnetic to all who lived in and visited Vancouver.
And then slowly, the pulse weakened. Rising costs. Aging buildings. Poverty. Then the pandemic. The streets emptied. Businesses struggled to survive. Anti-Asian racism surged. Fear replaced foot traffic. Absence replaced community.
This week on Chatter That Matters, you will hear the story of how one woman turned darkness into light. Carol Lee looked at decay and did not see failure. She saw a break in belonging.
Carol’s approach can be replicated by any struggling community.
Joining the conversation are Martin Thibodeau, Regional President of RBC in British Columbia, and Carmen Stossel, Regional Director of Community Marketing and Social Impact at RBC. They share what makes Carol Lee special and why they got involved.
If you care about your community and humanity.
You will want to hear this conversation.
Because sometimes lighting up a neighbourhood is really about lighting up belief.
Hit play to Light Up Chinatown.
