In Squamish, Vital Signs presents an opportunity to take stock of community issues

By Tara Ramsey

“It is easy to sit up and take notice, what is difficult is getting up and taking action” – Honore de Balzac

Vital Signs is an opportunity to take stock of key community issues. This snapshot allows us to pause and evaluate how we are doing. Communities receive information that helps determine successes and gaps in services. This focuses energy on what will hopefully result in action. Recently, I took action by joining a “food bank flash mob” which resulted in donations to those in need. I hope as Vital Signs is digested more action will transpire.

Tara Ramsey, Vital Signs committee member

Squamish’s Vital Signs reveals we are doing really well in Health and Wellness. Our obesity rate is 6.2%, which is 65.7% below the national average. Not surprising since we are known for being the “Outdoor Recreation Capital of Canada.” On the downside, our Violent Crime Rates are shocking, as we were 66.2% above the national average.

Squamish is a community in transition. Although I believe “the only constant is change” (Heraclitus), Squamish has been adapting to significant changes. It has changed from being resource-based, where now nearly one-third of occupations are in sales and service. In nine years:

- 2003 Interfor sawmill curtailed operations / closed (2004) (*-185 jobs)

- 2004 BC Rail privatization / CN Rail purchase (*-300 jobs)

- 2006 Woodfibre pulp mill closed (*-323 jobs)

- Real estate market high and low

- 2008 beginning of economic downturn

- Highway improvement / 2010 Olympics – including Pre and Post – influx of people / temporary employment

*stats: http://www.thesquamishreporter.ca/index.php?id=149

Squamish Community Foundation indicated that with financial support they would write a follow-up report. In light of all of these changes, combined with 2011 census results, I believe this would be crucial to assess our improvements.

Tara Ramsey is a Vital Signs committee member with Squamish Community Foundation

Amazing support, response, feedback for Powell River’s first Vital Signs

By Jan Gisborne

We in the Powell River Community Foundation in BC were astonished by the positive reaction to our very first Vital Signs report this fall.

We kicked off the project this summer by conducting a community survey, and that quickly became one of the highlights of our effort. With a total of 685 surveys completed, from a total population of 20,000, we have high confidence the survey ratings truly reflect our community.

In addition to the Vital Signs research areas, we also added a twist: the survey had room for suggestions and feedback on 14 issues, to give us new insights about the community we live in. We received an outpouring of constructive comments in all of the report areas – quality of life, strengthening the local economy, the environment, safety and security, and so on. The enthusiasm, commitment and quality of the responses was simply amazing.

We hope and expect that community groups and elected officials will use the survey and the suggestions to develop innovative ideas to help build a stronger community. We did not expect the immediate reaction we got from local businesses. They have told us that they find the information incredibly useful to assist them in strategic planning for future business decisions and, of course, to guide their charitable giving.

This Vital Signs report has special importance for us, because it puts the spotlight on the Powell River area. Since we are a small community, research reports often lump our data together with neighbouring areas. But Powell River is a unique community geographically, and the residents need to evaluate its specific challenges. People read the Vital Signs and say, “Here is a report that I can relate to – that speaks about what is really happening in Powell River.”

And because we are a small community, we had to line up backing well in advance to be able to proceed. The support of local governments and businesses made this report not only possible but also a great success.

It’s exciting that our Vital Signs report is helping us accomplish our mission of giving leadership to the nonprofit and charitable community.

Jan Gisborne is a member of the Board of Directors of Powell River Community Foundation

Recipe for Community makes vibrant, yet underserved, neighbourhoods stronger

When it comes to this recipe, there can’t be too many cooks.

The success of Recipe for Community lies in its collaborative nature – it’s a neighbourhood revitalization initiative that builds on residents’ ideas, as well as being a partnership between Toronto Community Foundation and the City of Toronto, with support from community and corporate sponsors.

“We are working to build the city we all want – one neighbourhood at a time. Thanks to our Vital Toronto Fund donors, we can make strategic community investments,” says Rahul Bhardwaj, the Community Foundation’s President and CEO.

After a successful pilot in Alexandra Park, the program expanded to St. James Town, a downtown area that is home to more than 17,000 people in one city block.

After a successful pilot, Recipe for Community has expanded to a second Toronto neighbourhood, with programs including bike repair.

It responds to Toronto’s Vital Signs 2010, which showed Toronto’s young adults lack a sense of belonging to their community: while three out of four youth aged 12-19 (76.7 per cent) feel they belong, only one out of every two young adults aged 20-34 (52.9 per cent) feel the same.

Initiatives include a refurbished outdoor basketball court; a bicycle repair and maintenance program; and a carpentry, painting and maintenance program offering basic skills, practical experience and information about additional education and training opportunities in the trades.

Residents are acquiring valuable skills, while helping to beautify their neighbourhood and getting to know each other. In dense high-rise areas like St. James Town, this goes a long way to improving safety and a sense of connected­ness in the community.

Plans are underway to identify the next neighbourhood in need of a Recipe for Community.