Community Matters Synopsis

The United Way of South Georgian Bay along with 16 of the smallest United Ways in the province are involved in a $594,800 grant from the Ontario Trillium Foundation to conduct Community Priority Setting Consultations in the municipalities of their respective catchment areas.  The United Way of South Georgian Bay encompasses 4 municipalities,  The Town of Collingwood, The Town of Wasaga Beach, The Township of Clearview, and The Town of the Blue Mountains.  The Community Matters project is a 30 month venture, which began in 2005, and will commence in June of this year.

The program:  Community Matters: Engaging Community, Building Community, will enable these 17 United Ways to build capacity and serve their local communities better through coordinated strategic planning.  The Community Matters project will allow the United Way and other community organizations to understand and adapt to the ever-changing dynamics of the social environment in South Georgian Bay.

The 1st Phase of the Initiative was to conduct a series of Community Consultation sessions, which were completed in June & July of 2005.  The purpose of theses initial consultations was to determine what the greatest needs were in each of the municipalities in the South Georgian Bay region.  We asked each Community a set of 4 very important questions.

1.    What are your communities’ most pressing issues?

2.    What are the factors creating these issues?

3.    What is working well in the community?

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

Following the Community Consultation sessions, the findings were tabulated and reports were drafted for each municipality and circulated within the community. 

Phase 2 consisted of a Community Matters Survey, which was published and distributed in the Enterprise Bulletin local newspaper, which has a circulation of 20,000 households in our area.  The idea behind the survey was to engage a broader number of people in the community to participate in the CM Initiative, so that everyone would have a voice in this process.  The survey was distributed on May 5, 2006, and was out in the Community for a 2-month period.  The survey was available both in a hard copy version, as well as electronically.  The survey was also emailed to our UW Community Agencies, and other UW contacts.  Again, the results were analysed and reports were created.

Phase 3 was the 2nd round of Community Consultations Sessions, which we have just completed as of November 2, 2006.  The results of our discussions, confirmed the that the identified issues from our first round of Community Consultations sessions were still pertinent at the present time.  The top 4 issues are listed below.  Please note that the issues are not listed in order of importance.

1. Transportation

2. Youth

3. Housing (affordable & accessable)

4.Jobs/Employment

Phase 4 is the implementation of a Youth Initiative.  A Youth Committee has been developed from all sectors, and all communities.  It has been decided to run in school consultation sessions in both the elementary and secondary schools, to determine what the current needs are of the Youth in our community.

We also have a Youth Survey in circulation, for an 8 week period, to try to reach a larger volume of youth both in and out of the school system, in South Georgian Bay.

Our desire is to engage youth, and to invite them to sit on our Board of Directors, so that the Youth Populations’ voice is being heard. 

The United Way of South Georgian Bay will plan and implement a special event with the youth, for the youth in our community.

Finally, we will share our findings with the United Way Board of Directors, funded community organizations, the Ontario Trillium Foundation, and Municipal Councils in South Georgian Bay.

The United Way is currently in the process of developing a Strategic Plan based on the findings from the Community Matters Initiatives.

For more information about the United Way of South Georgian Bay, or the Community Matters project, please contact Alice Grottoli, or Marcia Adams @ 705-444-1141, or email unitedsgb@georgian.net.