By Liam Verster

Vital Signs survey

Vital Signs survey seeks input on a number of topics, with the underlying theme of COVID-19’s impact

May 31, 2021 | 1:32 PM

The Community Foundation of Northwestern Alberta has launched it’s biennial Vital Signs survey to gather input from the residents of the City and County of Grande Prairie and the MD of Greenview.

CEO of the Foundation, Laura LaValley, says the survey will seek public input on a range of topics.

“It will touch on the economy, safety, the arts, wellbeing, sense of belonging, all of those types of things. But each theme we’re kind of looking to weave the effects of the [COVID-19] pandemic throughout to really get a good framework and understanding where communities are at.”

The survey, which is available at the Community Foundation of Northwestern Alberta’s website, is open to people 15 years of age or older in the three municipalities, and runs through to mid-July.

The data will be compiled into a report, which LaValley says will be released in mid-October, and made available for whomever wishes to use the information.

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“From there we will be doing some community outreach, looking for opportunities to share the findings of the report. We’re hoping that health restrictions would allow us to come out and speak to community groups and make sure that we spread the information as well as we can,” LaValley said.

“Obviously we’ll be handing over the information to municipalities and other decision makers, non-profits and charities, businesses. Really this publication can be used by anyone that is looking for some really high-quality, reliable data to base decisions on.”

She adds she hopes the report will be accessed by many groups, especially because there’s no “play book” for navigating out of a pandemic.

“I think this publication will hopefully support and sort of gear people to start thinking about how to fulfill needs, how to close gaps, how to share information, and how to respond effectively to help us get on the other side of the pandemic as quickly and as efficiently as we can.”

She adds the Vital Signs report has been used in the past to identify needs in the community, and find ways to address them, whether it be through municipal policies or programs run by non-profits and community groups.

LaValley says the more people that fill out the survey, the more detailed the final report will be, and the more effective it will be in building the community back up.