Grand Forks Event. Learning Initiatives for Rural and Northern BC. November 14, Service Canada. Canadian Rural Partnership

Transcription

1 Learning Initiatives for Rural and Northern BC Grand Forks Event November 14, 2006 Service Canada Canadian Rural Partnership Partenariat Rural Canadien

2 Background At the last Rural Summit in Osoyoos BC, participants noted that they wanted to have regional events in their own communities. They also felt that organizations doing consultations and workshops in rural areas needed to be more coordinated in their approach to communities so people aren t burned out by uncoordinated activities. They also wanted to be able to determine what topics would be discussed so that learning was focused on community needs. As a result, a number of organizations formed a partnership to provide one-day learning events for communities. The partners are: the BC Rural Network, the Canadian Rural Partnership, New Horizons for Seniors of Service Canada, and the Social Planning and Research Council of BC. The partners issued an Expression of Interest that was sent to all rural communities through a variety of lists. The initiative was titled Learning Initiatives for Rural and Northern BC (LIRN). Of the 40 applications received, 15 were approved for one day events based on the communities understanding of their key issues, on the breadth of partners that they could bring to the table, on their commitment to follow-up on the learning to support development in their community. Summary of the Content and Form of the LIRN BC In Grand Forks, the leads included Brandon Hughes of the Canadian Rural Partnership and Norm Carruthers, past Nelson City Manager, who worked with Wendy McCulloch, Sandy Elzinga, and Tracey Boyd in the community to clarify the objectives and focus. The objectives were to focus on volunteers and on fund raising. In terms of volunteers we focused on providing information on working with volunteers including recruitment, training, valuing, and managing them. In terms of fund raising, we talked about new sources of funding both within and outside of government. Roundtable of Participant Expectations To get information on Grants Proposal Writing How to Retain Volunteers Federal Priorities for Funding Getting Volunteers Excited Recruiting/Retaining Networking Publishing Partnerships Recruit Board Members Sustainability Asking Agenda 9:00 Introductions 9:30 Exercise 9:50 From Getting It to Getting It Done! 10:30 Break 10:45 Accessing Funding 12:00 Lunch 1:00 The 3 R s of Volunteerism 1:45 Exercise 2:45 Wrap-up

3 Here are some websites that Norm included in his presentation In addition to the presentation that Norm gave, there were presentations on government and nongovernment sources of funding as outlined below. Canadian Rural Partnership Brandon Hughes, Canadian Rural Partnership presented information on the following web resources and on funding/contracting as below plus community development programs a searchable database put together by the Canadian Rural Partnership, BC Rural Network, BC Healthy Communities, and Community Futures in Trail Union of BCMunicipalities site for local government programs including green projects, healthy living, crime prevention, FN relations, and infrrastructure Charity Village: Sources of Funding: Corporate Funding Programs, Government, Foundations, etc. Charity Village Main Street Suppliers, careers, resources, training, etc. The Green Source from Environment Canada Voluntary Sector Knowledge Network management, fund raising, accountability, leadership and other resources Centre for Sustainability - Partners in Organizational Development (POD), a technical assistance granting program for not-for-profit organizations in British Columbia in social services, arts, or environment. The Canada Site A to Z BC Healthy Communities: Community Involvement, Political Commitment, Inter-sectoral Partnerships, Healthy Public Policy regional facilitators and seed funding Community Foundations of Canada foundation finder and other tools Real Estate Foundation land use planning and conservation Service Canada The Partnership Handbook building and maintaining effective partnerships to move communities forward. Free internet based long distance calling Free meeting organizing utility Free on-line collaboration for files and spreadsheets http%3a%2f%2fdocs.google.com%2f&ltmpl=wr_tmp_2_lfty&nui=1

4 Funders, Contractors, Proposals, and Contracts This presentation is based on input from a variety of government and non-government representatives and is available by request to Brandon Hughes hughes.bn@shaw.ca New Horizons for Seniors Makiko Suzuki presented on this program which supports social development project which are lead by and involve seniors. This program provides funding for community-based projects across Canada. Projects encourage seniors to continue to play an important role in their community by: helping those in need; providing leadership; and sharing their knowledge and skills with others. Calls for Applications are issued once or twice a year. OAS and CPP Lylla Lawson provided information on the workshops that she provides to ensure that seniors and persons with disabilities are getting the support that they are entitled to. For more information visit Canada Pension Plan - Old Age Security - Local Service Canada programs Ann Jensen, from the Nelson Service Canada office provided information on some programs that are most relevant to non-profits. These included: Labour Market Partnerships Labour Market Partnerships encourages, supports and facilitates human resource planning and labour market adjustments which are in the public interest. It provides funding to assist employers, employee/employer associations and communities to improve their capacity for dealing with human resource requirements and to implement labour force adjustments. Labour Market Partnerships addresses labour market issues through partnerships. LMP can be used for: Forecasting and planning for the human resource needs of a community or a segment of the community; Forecasting and planning for the employment needs of the community s labour force; Improving community or organizational capacity to meet evolving employer and labour force needs. p

5 Job Creation Partnerships The Job Creation Partnerships (JCP) employment benefit is a program designed to support projects developed by sponsors that create jobs that will provide insured participants with opportunities to gain meaningful work experience. At the end of their participation, clients will have recent work experience to add to their resumes and this, together with the networking which participants are able to do while on a project, increases their chances of successfully finding long-term employment. Creation of parks and hiking trails; Theatre set design and construction; Construction of environmental education areas; Web Site development Social Enterprises While Michelle Cherot was not available to come, she is an excellent resource on this topic and can be reached at mcherot@communityskillscentre.com L.14

6 Summary of the Next Steps Brandon indicated that there would be follow-up evaluation made in about 6 months. There is also a funding application in to the Inushuk fund to establish a web portal for e-learning, mentorship, and information exchange between LIRN communities. Lastly, the LIRN partners are organizing a conference in Smithers in February and hope to bring a representative from each of the LIRN communities to that meeting. In addition, the participants will be contacted by Community Futures to assess their interest in having a subsequent learning day and what focus that might have. The following fund raising ideas were brain stormed at the meeting as potential sources of funding or donations. Perhaps these ideas could be explored by participants individually or at a subsequent meeting. 1. Local Service Group 2. Public 3. Foundations 4. Governments (3) 5. Corporate 6. Fund Raisers Special Events 7. Churches 8. Internal Efficiency 9. Operating a Business 10. Bequests 11. Banks Loans 12. Raffles 13. Donation Tins 14. Special Interest Groups 15. Trusts 16. Bingo/Gaming 17. Personal Investment 18. Credit Union Funds Mortgage 19. Cookbooks 20. Virtual Donation Campaigns 21. Donations 22. Collaborations/social Partnerships 23. In Kind Service

7 Evaluation Results 1. Please indicate the sector in which you work. Government (Municipal, First Nation, etc.) Social and/or community (Cultural groups, groups serving families, youth, women, and seniors, etc.) Economic (Community futures, chamber of commerce, etc.) Environment (Conservation groups, etc.) 2. On a scale of 1-5, 1 meaning irrelevant and 5 meaning very relevant, please indicate how relevant this event was for your community? Comments: Great opportunity, learned lots, good exchange of ideas, much needed, should have had local government there. New Horizons information was exciting. 3. On a scale of 1-5, 1 meaning not at all and 5 meaning a great deal, please indicate the degree to which you experienced each of the following: a. Increased awareness and/or knowledge of community development ideas and resources Comments: Great resources, need more information on resources b. Improved skills for engaging in community development activities Comments: Good to build bridges, information on new seniors was great, more information needed on New Horizons 4. On a scale of 1-5, 1 meaning poor and 5 meaning excellent, please indicate your assessment of the effectiveness of the LIRN BC event in building new collaborative relationships and/or strengthening existing collaborative relationships between your organization and another organization in: 1

8 a. Your sector Comments: Good networking, thanks for CFDC for organizing b. A different sector Comments: Very good, broad group, need more networking time 5. On a scale of 1-5, 1 meaning not at all and 5 meaning a great deal, please indicate your assessment of the degree to which the LIRN BC event increased your interest in exploring new ways of working with other organizations? Comments: Great ideas, interesting, encouraging information to act on 6. On a scale of 1-5, 1 meaning poor and 5 meaning excellent, how would you rate the workshop facilitator? Comments: Good presenters, good to have NGO and government, Norm was excellent, both were great 7. On a scale of 1-5, 1 meaning poor and 5 meaning excellent, please indicate your assessment of the following aspects of the workshop: a. Logistics (i.e. facility, etc.) b. Workshop materials Comments: Good connections, ideas, very impressive, would have liked to have fruit, should have provided folders and pens, felt that I did not have permission to move around or leave the room. 2