By Curtis Galbraith

Community

Community Foundation doing a Vital Signs report again in 2023

Nov 1, 2022 | 4:28 PM

The Community Foundation of Northwestern Alberta will be doing its seventh Vital Signs report in 2023.

It surveys local people and looks at issues new and old, progress made on these issues, and community trends. The 11 areas it looks at include the economy, education, and health.

CEO Laura LaValley says it may be the most important one yet.

“We feel that this publication will certainly give us an indication of how our communities are doing beyond the pandemic.”

“The pandemic certainly outlined lots of gaps and challenges and this will be our opportunity to see how resilient communities are and where they’re making adjustments to move forward.”

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LaValley says there have been what she calls “significant changes” through the pandemic.

“Just the way that people were able to move and interact. We’ve seen some changes in levels of volunteerism and that sort of thing.”

“We certainly saw in our last publication that there is a heightened sense of responsibility for reconciliation.”

She is hoping people see the value in surveys like this.

“(And they) provide us with the information that’s unique to them so that we can understand what their situation and their perceptions are. That data is very key and helpful.”

“We’re looking to engage more people to take our survey, whether its youth, seniors, and everything in between just to make sure that we have that broad spectrum of people’s thoughts and ideas.”

The survey will be done in February and March. A final report will be out next fall.

LaValley says the survey will be available online when it launches. They also hope to be out in person asking people to take part.

She adds municipal politicians, non-profit groups, and business leaders use the report’s findings in their work.

The Foundation asked the city to provide $20,000 in funding to help pay for the 2023 Vital Signs report. Council forwarded the request to 2023 budget talks.

LaValley told city council that County of Grande Prairie council has approved a request in the same amount and that she would also take funding requests to the MD of Greenview and the Grande Prairie & District Chamber of Commerce.