SaskAbilities hosted community conversation in Swift Current
A community conversation about the meaning of community and inclusive volunteerism took place in Swift Current as part of a provincial initiative.
The SaskAbilities Swift Current branch hosted the community conversation on April 9 after receiving a grant from the South Saskatchewan Community Foundation (SSCF).
The SSCF launched an initiative called 50 Vital Community Conversations to celebrate its 50th anniversary in 2019. The project provided grants to over 50 registered charities across southern Saskatchewan to host conversations about community needs between February 1 and April 30.
“We were excited to have the conversation and host one at SaskAbilities around volunteerism,” SaskAbilities Program Manager Jayda Watson said. “We know that we have a lot of volunteers that are untapped. Individuals with disabilities are often overlooked, not utilized as they could be as contributing members of society. So we were excited to bring a group of community partners together to have a discussion around the needs and priorities in the community.”
Seventeen organizations participated in the conversation. The discussions took place in small groups and participants were asked to share their views on eight questions provided by SSCF. These questions are about community needs and priorities, emerging issues and challenges in their community, and what kind of community they wish to have.
SaskAbilities will compile a report to reflect the responses and common themes from the different small-group discussions.
“We’re going to share that report back with everybody who was here today to show what themes were brought up in the conversation around the needs and priorities of community, and we are also going to be submitting our report to the South Saskatchewan Community Foundation,” she said. “They are compiling the results of all the community conversations around the province and putting out a provincial report.”
According to Watson the hosting of the community conversation was a good opportunity for SaskAbilities to interact with community partners and to build new relationships.
“It is also highlighting the benefits of working with SaskAbilities,” she said. “We provide support and act as a connection point between people experiencing disability and opportunities in the community. So it was really promoting that we are an untapped volunteer force where we help do the work for them. We match interest and ability to whatever volunteer opportunity one of our partners might be having.”
Cultural Festivals Director Sheri Florizone was one of the attendees at the community conversation. She is managing the Blenders concert series and the SaskPower Windscape Kite Festival.
“Blenders music series has a really nice relationship with SaskAbilities,” she said. “We have one of their clients, Artell, who comes out at each Blenders show to help with set up before the show. It's really fun to have Artell there helping us set up.… The partnership between Blenders and SaskAbilities has been ongoing for a couple of years now, and it's a really nice opportunity to be very inclusive in regards to our Blenders music series team, not just at the show but also in preparation for the show.”
The annual Windscape Kite Festival requires help from over 200 volunteers and SaskAbilities is also providing volunteers at this event.
“We think there's so many opportunities to contribute in the community and at events such as the Blenders music series and the SaskPower Windscape Kite Festival,” Florizone said. “It really makes sense for us to work with SaskAbilities to create opportunities so that everyone can contribute in whatever way they're able to.”
She felt the community conversation workshop was a useful opportunity to talk about community needs and inclusivity.
“I think the kinds of conversations that we had today at the workshop were really important,” she said. “I think that when we talk about community, there has to be inherently that issue of inclusivity. You don't actually have community unless your community members are all welcome and all involved and all contributing. That's exactly what community means.”
Darwin Gooding, a financial advisor at Innovation Credit Union, was another workshop participant. This community conversation was relevant to him as a credit union employee and on a personal level.
“For Innovation it’s a part of the mandate of all employees to get involved in the community, including a high number of hours of volunteer time,” he said. “So it made sense for us to be involved in something like this and personally I’m very involved in the community as well.”
Some common themes emerged in the different small group and he felt some really good ideas came up during the discussions.
“One in particular in our group that I thought was a really interesting idea is revolving around volunteer burnout and finding a way to engage that portion of the community that maybe isn’t as involved in the volunteerism,” he said. “There was a discussion around using technology, creating a sort of volunteer hub.… It’s outside the box thinking, the creation of a hub where anybody who’s looking for volunteers can search this hub and find people with similar interests and maybe track down volunteers that way.”
SaskAbilities hosted the community conversation in Swift Current during National Volunteer Week, and the workshop therefore became part of its celebration of the importance of volunteerism.
Various videos and photos were posted on the SaskAbilities social media accounts during the week to bring attention to inclusive volunteerism and to the volunteer contributions in Swift Current by individuals experiencing disability.
The 32nd Ability Bowl will take place in Swift Current on April 27 to raise funds in support of programs and services offered by SaskAbilities Swift Current. More information about making a pledge or to register a team is available at www.abilitybowl.ca