2020 Micro-Grant Winner: Julian Hockley
About Julian:
Mackenzie has been my firefighting home since I began in 2012. It is a northern BC gem that houses Helittack, Smokejumpers and a Unit Crew. I have been the Crew Supervisor since 2018. I am also a recent Masters graduate in Disaster Management, focusing on the unseen impacts our profession has on individual well-being. Happy to listen or share in those conversations anytime.
Grant Category: Writing/Photography
Canadian Winner
Project Title: The Glue
Project Vision:
With the project, I am hoping to shed light on gratitude within the culture of the industry. No question it is a critical element in cultivating a healthy and persevering community, especially in challenging field such as ours. Its presence however, rarely matches the strain and stress firefighters undertake each year. Gratitude provides value for that sacrifice, helping us walk out of a fire season with a smile. The project will explore the concept of gratitude, its importance for individual well-being, and how it can be found. It will follow our own efforts with the crews in Mackenzie in building that element into the culture at our base.
Previous Work:
Favorite thing about firefighting:
Without hesitation, the camaraderie built through all-out effort, sacrifice and letting the character loose. Somewhere in second is those days that are just not like the others. Herding escaped llamas anyone?