On October 15, 80 people from across Wood Buffalo's social profit sector gave a full day to The Next 10 workshop. Front-line staff, managers, executive directors and board members sat down together to help inform the Regional Municipality of Wood Buffalo's Community Safety and Social Well-Being Plan, so that it better serves the people in our community.
We are grateful, and we are inspired. Here is how the day went, why it matters, and what happens next.
How this day came to be
The Next 10 started with a Council decision. After the Municipality shared its draft Community Safety and Social Well-Being Strategy, Executive Directors across the sector responded that the organizations doing the work needed to help shape it. Council directed Administration to work with FuseSocial, United Way Fort McMurray Wood Buffalo, and the Wood Buffalo Community Foundation to bring the sector's experience and expertise into the plan.
The Next 10 survey and workshop are how we did that.
Why this work matters
The Community Safety and Social Well-Being Strategy will guide this region for the next ten years. Residents have already told the Municipality what they see and what they need. The social profit sector sees something different: what is already working, where people fall through the gaps, and what organizations would do if they could.
Both views belong in the plan. The Next 10 makes sure the sector's view is there, backed by the voices of the people who do this work every day.
The survey findings are already clear on some of the biggest issues. Of the people who answered, 69% named sustained, multi-year funding as the single most important thing that would help them keep delivering what works. Waitlists were the biggest reason a referral goes wrong, at 64%. And roughly 300 programs are already in place across the region. You can read all of it in the full What We Heard report.
What happens next
What we heard goes to the Municipality's Administration on November 13 and to Council in December.
A first report back to the sector comes before the end of the year.
Thank you
To every person who shared their experience through the survey, and to everyone who attended the workshop with honesty, truth and vulnerability: thank you. You are leaders in this region, and the work you do makes Wood Buffalo the best place to work, live and play.
We would also like to thank:
Elder Brian Fayant, for blessing our day together on October 15
The RRC events team, for taking care of us
Fairweather ART, for creating a graphic recording of our day (we can't wait to share the final result)
Wood Buffalo Wellness Society, for making beautiful thank-you gifts: smudge in a bottle
Printing Unlimited, for taking care of all printed materials for the workshop
Our partners at United Way Fort McMurray Wood Buffalo, the Wood Buffalo Community Foundation and the Regional Municipality of Wood Buffalo
One board member wrote in the survey, "The sector is strong together, and we are already doing great work." October 15 showed exactly that.
Read the full report: fusesocial.ca/the-next-ten
