Collingwood

Community Priority Setting Exercise

   April 27, 2007

Table of Contents

Facilitator: …………………………………………….3

Participants:  .………………………………………….3

Agenda …………………………………………………3

3.   Part 1:  Issues ……………………………………...4

  3.1. Communities most pressing issues identified? …………4

3.2.  Important Factors Creating Issues…………………….…4

4.   Part 2:  Activities/Services/strategies/Resources: 8

4.1.  What is working well in the community? ………………8

4.2.  What do we need to improve or add that would make a difference? ………………………………………………9

5.  Ranking Of Issues ………………………………………10

Our Thanks to the Trillium Foundation for Funding this Project

-2-

Facilitator:

Mrs. Marg Sheben-Edey Real Estate Agent

Participants:

Binnie Armstrong                Jason Brown                         Tracey MacLeod

Doreen Sykes                        Roger Hannon                       Debbie Knight

Dorit Murray                         Lynn Hynd                            Leisha Knapp

Marty Prashaw                    Cathy Belford                       Louise Gagne

Nancy Strand                        Pam Hillier                            Debbie Kesheshian

Roy Spieglberg                    Gail Michalenko                 Shelley Houston

Russell Atkinson                 Don Harvey                          Karen Horst

Penny Wagner                              Daphne Hussey                   Valerie Heesen

Agenda

1. Welcome & Introduction

2. Brief Review United Way of South Georgian & “Community Matters” project

3. Part 1: Issues – Turbo Brainstorming

3.1. What are your communities’ most pressing issues?

3.2. What are the most important factors creating these issues?

  4.  Part 11:      Discussion

4.1. What is working well

4.2. What needs improvement

5.  Dotmocracy regarding issues

6.  Discussion regarding sharing of info

7.  Closing Remarks

-3-

Part 1:                      Issues

3.1. What are your communities’ most pressing issues?

3.2. What are the important factors creating these issues?

3.1.  Communities most pressing issues identified

3.1.1.     Youth

3.1.2.     Housing

3.1.3.     Income Disparity (Between Wealth & Poverty)

3.1.4.     Education

3.1.5.     Employment

3.1.6.     Leadership

3.1.7.     Mental Health

3.1.8.     Nutrition

3.1.9.     Health

3.1.10.   Bereavement/Grief Support

3.2.  Important Factors Creating Issues

3.2.1.   Youth

• Reduction in services
• Lack of employment for youth
• Lack of recreational activities
• Leads to crime
• Teenage pregnancy (highest in Ontario)
• Crisis intervention & counselling
• Waiting lists for programs and services
• Nutrition
• Not a wide enough variety/choice of activities
• Affordability of sports, still too expensive for low income families
• Need for community centre
• Lack of facilities (soccer fields, arena)

-4-

• Need for after school programs
• Need for subsidized recreation
• Use of school gyms
• Accessibility

3.2.2.  Housing

• Low inventory/Low stock
• Supply and demand
• Escalating ownership cost
• People coming into town from larger centres, can afford our prices
• Seasonal renters take away from year round investment
• Lack of rental stock
• Lack of accessible housing
• Lack of affordable housing
• Lack of emergency and transitional housing
• Ownership costs (utilities, taxes etc)
• Lack of affordable and accessible housing for people with disabilities.

3.2.3.  Income Disparity

• Loss of stable full-time employment leading to down hill cycle of loss of benefits
• Low wages but high cost of living (it’s not cheaper b/c it’s a small town)
• People loosing there jobs b/c of the industry closures in Collingwood
• Increased number of part-time positions
• Imbalance between high and lower paying jobs (service jobs should be 20%, our community is at 60%)
• Importing skilled trades people instead of using local residents
• Outsourcing (money doesn’t stay in the community)

-5-

• Losing youth in Collingwood because there aren’t enough high paying jobs
• People are moving to Collingwood from larger centres because to them the cost of living is lower
• The town is catering to tourists, and the locals can’t afford the inflated cost of living

3.2.4.  Education

• Increase awareness and increase course selection at our local Georgian College Campus
• Need services for kids who are dropping out of school
• Lower education levels in the Georgian Triangle than across Ontario because of funding and access
• Cost of post secondary education is too expensive for some families with a limited or low income
• Lack of funding-all levels
• More partnerships between students and service providers
• Lots of service industry jobs
• Need full-time curriculum for post secondary education
• Cultural acceptance

3.2.5.  Employment

• Lack of skilled trades people, and no plan to address it
• Influx of retired trades people
• Ensure lands will not be sold off
• Lack of Youth Employment
• Employers are contracting workers outside of the community
• Need opportunities to train, acquire skilled workers
• Need monetary incentive for people to Mentor workers who require experience

3.2.6.  Leadership

• Community leadership needs to be stronger

-6-

• Municipal politicians are unresponsive and need to be more compassionate to people in need
• Growth is overshadowing the social issues
• Some constituencies don’t have a voice
• Lack of an organized voice
• Lack of interest
• Lack of political leadership

3.2.7.  Mental Health

• Long waiting lists
• Stress-financial and emotional
• Lack of access to services
• Gap between rich and poor
• Cost of services, if you have money, you can get immediate services. 
• Lack of places to go

3.2.8.  Nutrition

• Low wage rates
• Lack of employment
• Lack of education
• Unhealthy foods advertised in flyers
• Cheaper to eat unhealthy foods
• Low income
• Driving people to the food bank (600-900 families)
• Food bank hours not accessible to everyone (high school students can’t access b/c of hours of operation)
• Concern of the use of chemicals and aspartame in foods today
• Pre-natal nutrition
• Affects people without employment, and people on ODSP
• Overweight children and adults, and it’s relation to chronic disease

3.2.9.  Health (ran out of time to discuss this issue in detail)

-7-

3.2.10.   Bereavement/Grief Support

• Support to Individuals & Families When Facing Death
• Lack of funding for end of life care
• 91% of people would like to die at home if they had support
• Lack of respite care available
• Lack of services
• Insurance premiums
• Lack of accessibility for palliative care

4.  Part 2:  Activities/Services/Strategies/Resources:

4.1. What is working well in the community?

4.2. What do we need to improve or add that would make a difference?

4.1.  What is working well in the community?

4.1.1.    Access to skiing

4.1.2.    Beaches

4.1.3.    60 km of trails

4.1.4.    Mountain Biking

4.1.5.    Access to outdoor recreation year round

4.1.6.    Volunteerism

4.1.7.    Caring people

4.1.8.    Amazing hospital for a town this size

4.1.9.    Statistically no doctor shortage

4.1.10. Golfing

4.1.11. Swimming

4.1.12. Shuttle service between 2 communities

4.1.13. Services through Hospice (beds at Sunset Manor & Palliative Care)           

4.1.14. Volunteer team at Sunset Manor

4.1.15. Good Early Years Centre

4.1.16. Soccer

4.1.17. Free literacy programs

4.1.18. Youth Employment     -8-

4.1.19. Salvation Army

4.1.20. Youth Employment Centre

4.1.21. Strong Faith Community

4.1.22. Stroke Recovery Network

4.1.23. VON & VOA

4.1.24. Housing Resource Centre

4.1.25. 2 Newspapers representing Collingwood

4.1.26. Personal Support Worker Program

4.1.27. Community Resource Centre

4.1.28. Generally caring community

4.2.  What do we need to improve or add that would make a difference?

4.2.1.   Talk about issues, and work to have a co-hesive vision

4.2.2.   Educate community with data to go along with it

4.2.3.   Info sessions, are a good place to start

4.2.4.   Work to establish political leverage

4.2.5.   Work to establish an organized body i.e.) Healthy Community Coalition to establish plan, priorities, and political leverage (need a timeline)

4.2.6.   Develop partnerships and strengthen old partnerships

4.2.7.   Tap into the minds of residents, new and old, and learn from their experience

4.2.8.   Develop a compelling case to go after dollars

4.2.9.   Understanding negative impacts

4.2.10. Keep hope alive – there will be change

4.2.11. “Just Do It” attitude

4.2.12. Understand negative impacts and what can be done

4.2.13. Working together

-9-

5.  Ranking Of Issues

               Achieved Through The Dotmocracy Process

3.2.1.         Youth                                 oooooooooo                                      

3.2.2.       Housing                               oooooooooo

3.2.3.       Income Disparity                           oooooo

3.2.4.       Education                                         oooooo

3.2.5.       Employment                                      ooooo

3.2.6.       Leadership                                     oooo

3.2.7.       Mental Health                               oooo