March 28, 2011 Meeting Minutes

March 28, 2011 Meeting Minutes

Attendance (from sign-in sheet): Carrie Sundahl, Cindy Davis, Michelle Daymond, Ray E. Saunders, Michael Lucas, Nancy Gale, Annie McKitrick, Sally Errey, Monica Johnson, Jay Goddard, Jessica Knodel and Jocelyn Wood.

1)Review and acceptance of the Feb 28/11 meeting minutes and Mar 28/11 agenda

2)Feature Speaker – Dr. Ray E. Sanders (Director, Williams Lake Campus and Regional Centres, TRU) talks about the new "Leaders moving Forward" task force in Williams Lake.

Background: Dr. Ray Saunders grew up in Oklahoma and recently moved to Williams Lake. He started as the new campus Director at TRU in Williams Lake in September and is very happy to be in this community. “Leaders moving Forward” is an informal and non-political group of individuals within the community that came together in response to the question “What happens if we do, or do not get Prosperity Mine” and what social impacts will this have. The group meets every three weeks on Friday mornings at Alley Katz and consists of many individuals including Kerry Cook, Tracy Gard, Diane Wright, Gordon Horton, Jeremy Vogt, Glen Holling, and Katherine Witman.

Summary: "Leaders moving Forward" task force recognizes that economic development does not occur without social development (and vice versa). Their focus is on the big picture and act as a clearing house for ideas across agencies. The goal is “improving quality of life for everyone at every level”. The group brought in a consultant to tackle three out of ten areas of the City’s Official Community Plan (OCP): Social Well Being, Resilient Economy and Partnering with First Nations which has since became their focus.

Discussions which followed:

Jay pointed out that the SPC’s is currently the “go-to” body (within the City’s OCP) as a leadership table for Social Development and Well-being therefore the Leaders moving Forward task force and the SPC need to work together. Now is the best time to start collaborating as the SPC continually struggles to get representatives from the business sector to the table, and as Ray stated the Leaders moving Forward group recognizes “economic development does not occur without social development (and vice versa)”.

Ray agreed the work of the Social Planning Council (SPC) has a huge role to play and currently individuals within the Leaders moving Forward group that also work with the SPC include Diane Wright and Nancy Gale. This group however has no formal mandate such as the SPC which is a formal Society. Rather, it is individuals (as themselves) meeting to informally discuss. If they get too formal group attendance will die out so they want to remain informal. Nancy added that they did not get together as a group per se, rather as people with experience in many different areas.

Jay asked what the relationship between the SPC and Leaders moving Forward group is and Monica expressed surprise that the SPC wasn’t involved especially by recommendation of the outside consultant since this Society is very old and established within the community. Jay and Michael highlighted communication as key at all levels and that social well-being needs to be approached by many different lenses (e.g. social worker & business chairman).

Ray reiterated the Leaders moving Forward group has no power by itself. Instead it is breaking down silos and cross pollinating ideas. The goal is to generate ideas and collaborate to locate resources. Nancy mentioned it takes time for all groups to even understand what each other does and Kerry Cook as Mayor responded by bringing people together so the community could start tackling the issues and concerns that are continually brought to her desk.

Michael acknowledged and thanked the Leaders moving Forward group for modelling good behaviour and way of doing things including taking the time to speak at the SPC table today.

Jay concluded that dialogue should continue around the crime prevention issues the CTC program raised within Williams Lake. Everyone agrees our community is an exciting place to be and it is a golden opportunity, right now, to combine dialogues between the Social and Business communities.

3) Discuss any SPC business items.

Communities that Care (CTC) – Carries Sundahl

•CTC attended the Gabor Training’s evening presentation
•RCMP has funding for Positive Action (PA) materials.
•PA packages were made available at the Library on Mar 14 (I-Mind for grades 6-10).
•Art mural and Ceremony with the Cariboo Friendship Centre’s SWAT (Strong Woman of Tomorrow).
•Oversight meeting to create a work plan for the program’s transition
•In Anahim money is available for the program “Empowered by Horses” which is tailored to the risk factors of women.
•PA has extended into 100 Mile House schools which is a very positive spin off of the CTC Program.
•Jay noted testimonials and presentation of direct results is invaluable for securing ongoing momentum and spin-off projects. Nancy added that “Worry Dragon” was kept because of program testimonials.

Food Policy Council (FPC) – Michelle Daymond

•Carson Drive garden is continuing to be developed.
•The Cariboo Lodge wants to provide garden space again this year.
•Seedy Saturday event is on April 16. It is being held at the Community Corner building Parking lot in conjunction with the first year anniversary of the site housing Cariboo Growers, BIA and Community Policing.

Living Wage Project – Monica Johnson

•The project is almost complete. The final draft will be sent to the SPC Executive first and then to the Board.
•In addition to its original calculations it will include different variables and other instruments (e.g. benefits and/or salary options).
•There will be a presentation on the Living Wage as part of the BC Rural Networking Conference.
•There may be available funds to bring Michael MCCarthy Flynn (a Living Wage BC expert) to speak in Williams Lake. On April 11 in the GVRD there is a conference which Sally is attending. Sally will bring back information she learned to the SPC table.
•Michael noted a presentation on the Living Wage would be very valuable for the Leaders moving Forward group.
•Both the CDC and Boys & Girls Club are now Living Wage employers.

BC Rural Networking Conference – Jay Goddard

Theme “Bridges to the Future – Engaging Youth” will bring over 75 delegates from across the province to Williams Lake. Panel sessions will include the topics: Solutions to the challenge of educating the next generation, how can youth take over the business sector, discussions around Social Media, and Food Security, Leadership and Arts and Culture Initiatives.

Action: SPC to forward a registration package or visit BC Rural Network online.

Official Community Plan – Annie McKitrick

Action: Members to send OCP recommendations by email to Annie McKitrick by Thursday.

4)SPC Website - What do you want to see? How can we best utilize the site to serve all the needs of our membership?

Action: A survey requesting feedback from members will be sent out by email using Survey Monkey.

Action: Contact our membership to encourage linking www.accesswilliamslake.org on their website.

5)Round table updates and networking between table members and organizations.

Jay – TRU
•Experiential Youth Leadership Course delivered by expert Gavin Clark will take place in May.
•On April 14th the Thursday Film will be with Dorothy Christian at the Gathering Place at TRU at 1 pm. Please RSVP to Rhonda at TRU.

Monica – Boys & Girls Club
•There will be age 7 – 12 summer programs available.
•The drop-in centre is busy planning spring activities.
•The AGM was recently held.

Sally – Boys & Girls Club & Canadian Cancer Agency
•As BBP Prevention Worker for the Boys & Girls Club Sally is currently working with 3rd Year Nursing Students at TRU on education and prevention practices. They have completed their interviews which Sally will relay at the end of the month.
•May 13 is a Pro-D Day and Diane Willis, Safe Spaces Coordinator will speak about many topics including bullying & sexual orientation. She will present both during the day as well as in the evening. These talks are open to anyone who wants to attend.
•The Womens Contact Society is hosting a safe-space after school program. Kits are already purchased.

Annie – City of Williams Lake
•On March 31st United Way’s Brenda Amesly will be facilitating the City on occupational capacity and board development which includes all organizations across the board (from art groups – local food groups). This will be held at 3pm in Council Chambers. Brenda would also like to learn more about the Living Wage Project of the SPC.

Nancy – Child Development Centre
•School aged team is now back at the 2nd Avenue location (since recent budget cuts).
•Architects have been working on how to best expand the location on Second Avenue with two floors and increased meeting space.
•There have been 31 new referrals from MCFD last month which exemplifies the demand for services.
•Three Corners Health has received funding to deliver a clinic with parents and care providers in mind.
•Action Requested: Add SPC Board Updates to next month’s meeting agenda.

Sherry – School District No.27
•Positive Action in the schools is going really well. The program started midway through the school year so teachers are now starting to pre-plan how to incorporate the materials more next year.
•The School District is partnering with MCFD to get a counsellor who is available at least once a week. Hopefully this will materialize by the end of this school year.

Cindy – Womens Contact Society & Early Childhood Education
•The Early Childhood Development Network is yearly planning session is in June. People encouraged to attend include child care providers as well as people with children.
•Group sessions for young parents under the age of twenty are being held at the Kids Daycare until the end of June. Sessions are every other Thursday from 3:30 – 4:30pm with the next one being held April 14.
•Annual Children’s Festival in Boitannio Park is being held Sunday May 29th from 10 – 3pm. Registration forms are available through the Womens Contact Society.

Meeting Adjourned: April’s Meeting is rescheduled until May 2 (due to the holiday). Location to be announced.