By Liam Verster

Community Compass Program

HelpSeeker app launched as central hub for social service providers in Grande Prairie

Jun 15, 2021 | 2:14 PM

Under the Community Compass Program, the City and County of Grande Prairie and the Community Foundation of Northwestern Alberta have partnered together to bring the HelpSeeker app to Grande Prairie.

The digital directory, which can be downloaded for free on both Android and Apple devices, as well accessed online through the HelpSeeker website, acts as central hub for residents to find social service providers in the area that offer a range of resources from homelessness and housing to addiction and mental health, domestic violence to food services, training and education to community and belonging.

The online database is easy to access and navigate, and Laura LaValley, CEO of the Community Foundation of Northwestern Alberta, says it closes a gap that exists between people in need and available supports.

“Basically, people can go on in the comfort of their own home and really look at what supports are available. It’s an app that’s very user friendly and it points them in the right direction to access the help that they need at a particular time.”

The app currently includes connections to over 720 resources providing a combined 2,500 different programs and services for people in need in the Grande Prairie region.

On top of acting as a central hub, the City, County and Community Foundations, as partners in the program, can access the back-data to find out what the most frequently searched resources are.

Tammy Wentzell, the Community Development Coordinator for the City of Grande Prairie, says that information can be very important for the future of the region and the community.

“It gives us a clear picture and a point in time picture of priorities of what people are looking for around supports and services, so it can help us make better decisions in the long run.”

She adds those decisions could include investing in one particular branch of supports, or creating policies in local government that better address issues that lead to someone seeking supports.

Kathleen Turner, the Director for Family and Community Support Services at the County of Grande Prairie, says this service is part of a larger integrated social service provider model that includes the Navigator training program.

“[The Navigator training] has front line staff from a number of agencies who will be trained in a number of things, but at the end of the day, the purpose is that when a client contacts any of those front-line staff people, they have the knowledge and the expertise to connect them to the right resource that they need, so that they’re not trying again and again and again, but are getting to the right place the first time.”

Turner adds the goal is also to create a network that helps seamlessly connect a client with the exact resources that fit their specific needs.

The HelpSeeker app is used in communities across Canada, and can benefit residents, visitors, and people with family in the Peace Region who may need find and access to social service programs in the area.