Vital signs

Hundreds of Canadians reaffirm their Canadian citizenship in a ceremony presided over by Roy Bonisteel and James Hurst on Canada Day in Wellington in 2010.

Project seeks to take measure of the well-being of the County

How are we doing? How is Prince Edward County faring as a place to live in terms of learning, health and wellness, community involvement, arts and culture? Are the gaps that exist among us—either measured by income or access to opportunity—widening or narrowing?

If individuals, groups or institutions wanted to target their efforts and resources toward the greatest challenges in our community, where would they start? How would they know what they could do to deliver the most benefit?

Caring, interconnected communities like this one don’t typically ask these types of questions. People tend to identify a need firsthand. Then they organize a response and gather the resources and people to address it. But is there a better way? A way to understand the community better—so that scarce resources might be used in the best way possible? Are needs going unaddressed because they haven’t yet been identified ?

These are some of the questions the County Community Foundation is hoping to answer in the coming months. The CCF has embarked on a project to examine several specific aspects of life in Prince Edward County, to better understand what works, what doesn’t, our strengths and our challenges and opportunities.

County Community Foundation Executive Director Bridget Stevenson

The result of this months-long exercise will be a report that the foundation expects will be a useful and accessible guide to those seeking to help, support and contribute to a healthier and more vibrant community. The report will also feed into the national Vital Signs database—which, bit by bit, seeks to paint a vivid picture of Canada: who we are, what we want to be, and how best to achieve it.

Vital Signs reports are described as a community check, delivering data you can read on a bus. So far more than 30 communities across the country have asked the questions and examined the issues leading to a Vital Signs report.

On the ground in Prince Edward County, the foundation is gathering information and data. Earlier this year a contract researcher was hired to assemble input and data and then prepare the report. The first step is to meet members of the handpicked advisory committee, whose task it is to oversee and guide this project.

Each represents a different facet of the community; each brings unique insight and information.

Next month the local Vital Signs project will then open the dialogue with the wider public— initiating a series of community conversations.

CCF Executive Director Bridget Stevenson explains that these conversations will feature invited guests, though the general public also is encouraged to attend and participate in the discussion.

“We are looking for very broad picture of the community from many sources,” said Stevenson.

The report will be issued and made public the first week in October.

“We want it to be a something people can use to take the next step,” said Stevenson. “If someone wants to address a specific need—this should be a guide on how to do that.”

Look to the Times for updates on the Vital Signs project in the weeks ahead.