By Andrew “Drew” Hill, CEO, Excelsior Wellness
The fires that have spread across our Spokane region have impacted families, neighborhoods, businesses, and community organizations in unfathomable ways. For many, the path forward includes dealing with loss, facing uncertainty, continued displacement, and answering difficult questions about what comes next. While every experience is different, one truth continues to emerge: no one recovers alone.
In times like these, it’s easy to focus on what has been damaged, what must be repaired, or how long recovery may take. Those realities matter. But they are only part of the story. The other part is found in people.
Across our community, neighbors have checked on neighbors. Families have opened their homes. Volunteers have stepped forward. Organizations have adapted, collaborated, and worked alongside one another to meet emerging needs. Every day, I see examples of people choosing connection over isolation and compassion over indifference.
Those moments matter because recovery is not simply the process of rebuilding what has been lost. Recovery is the journey from surviving to stability to hope.
Hope is often misunderstood as optimism or wishful thinking. In reality, hope is built through action. It grows when someone answers a phone call, delivers a meal, offers a listening ear, helps a family navigate resources, or simply reminds another person that they are not facing challenges alone. Hope becomes real when people see evidence that their community cares and that support is available when they need it.
As a healthcare organization, we know that healing extends far beyond clinical care. Health is shaped by relationships, belonging, and access to support. When communities experience hardship, these connections become even more important. They provide the foundation that helps people regain their footing and move forward.
This is why I believe one of the greatest strengths of any community is not its buildings, systems, or institutions. It is the relationships that connect people to one another. Trust, partnership, and a shared commitment to caring for our neighbors are the invisible infrastructure that carries communities through difficult times.
Recovery is rarely marked by a single milestone. It happens gradually through thousands of individual acts of care and resilience. It requires strength, but it also requires humility. The humility to ask for help when it is needed. The humility to accept support when it is offered. And the humility to continue showing up for one another.
Spokane has long demonstrated that when challenges arise, people come together. I have seen that spirit reflected in community members, nonprofits, faith communities, healthcare providers, educators, businesses, public agencies, and countless volunteers. Their efforts remind us that resilience is not something we possess individually. It is something we build together.
As we look ahead, there will still be work to do. Recovery takes time. Yet I remain hopeful because hope is already visible throughout our community. It can be found in every act of generosity, every partnership formed to meet a need, and every person who chooses to help another take their next step forward.
What makes a community resilient is not the absence of hardship. It’s the presence of connection. Recovery happens when people continue showing up for one another.
The challenges before us are real, but so is the strength of a community committed to moving forward together.