Getting to the root of issues
Longtime volunteer dedicated to improving community
A longtime volunteer for many groups in the area, Sarah MacIntosh-Wiseman believes in the area and its people.
The inspiration to work toward ensuring Pictou County is a better place for everyone comes from the community itself.
“We've got a community that's large enough that we have all of the basics that anyone might want, but it's small enough that you can feel connected and feel like you matter and you have a voice in our community. I think there's more work to be done in that area still. I think there are a lot of people whose voices need to be supported to make sure that they feel heard, that their challenges are also being seen. But that's what inspires me to do all of the work that I do,” said Wiseman during an interview at the Pictou County Regional Enterprise Network office, a bright space in downtown New Glasgow with products from local artisans displayed in the waiting area.
She’s been at PCREN, which was established to boost economic development locally, for nearly a year now, stepping back from her law practice at Mac, Mac & Mac, where she specialized in labour and employment law.
One of the things she’s been doing in her role is talking to people to understand some of the barriers to accessing employment opportunities, naming childcare, transportation, and education as prime examples.
“... We do have to hear what those problems and challenges are because we can't start to build out solutions and expect them to be effective unless we really understand what's at the root of it.”
Wiseman grew up in New Glasgow with her parents and three sisters, returning in 2006 with her husband after they both finished law school and had been practising in other parts of Nova Scotia. They’ve since started their own family and have two boys, who are 10 and 12 years old.
Since returning to the area, she’s volunteered for many groups, including Summer Street Industries, Highland Community Residential Services and, most recently, Pictou County Safe Harbour.
Safe Harbour formed in 2015 to help resettle Syrian refugees in the area and has since welcomed dozens of individuals to Pictou County. Wiseman was chairperson of that group until she began her new position, stepping down because both organizations are partners on a labour mobility project in the area.
Wiseman has long been part of efforts to build the area up but considers herself to be just one person in a larger force and is quick to highlight the work of others. She has a long list of local inspirations. Among them are Rania Almethyb, part of the first Syrian family welcomed to the area in 2016 and has since opened a business with her husband while caring for her family and also volunteering her time to welcome new families to Pictou County; Donna Tourneur, the founder of a series of “transformative, upbeat conversations” about community building and innovative thinking called TUC Talks; and Pictou County Helpers, a group of women assisting area families in need.
“It's really incredible when you look around Pictou County at how many women are stepping forward in new ways, but the piece that I really enjoy about it is that I find the conversations and the outcomes are so much more valuable when people are coming together and there's no ego involved, and there's no kind of preconceived mandate or notion. It's just this true stepping forward and sharing ideas and collaborating.”