April
30th, 2014 - News Release
Over seventy people participated in a very
successful one day workshop focusing on social issues in Halton Hills. The event was held on April 25 at St.
Andrew’s United Church. Participants
included representatives from Halton Region, the Town of Halton Hills, a wide
range of “not for profit” groups and organizations, as well as church groups
and private citizens.
Mayor Rick Bonnette’s address illustrated how
the social component is an integral part of the Integrated Community Sustainability Strategy (ICSS), which was
recently adopted by Council. Damian
Szybalski, Manager of Sustainability, Town of Halton Hills gave a presentation
outlining the overall framework of the ICSS, and highlighted the contents of
the Social component of the Strategy. The other three parts of the Strategy are
the Economy, Culture, and the Environment.
Regional Councillor Clark Somerville explained
the important role that Halton Region plays in the delivery of many social
services in Halton Hills, including child care subsidies, subsidized housing,
employment skills, managing the Ontario Works program, services for seniors, and
mental health programs.
Keynote speaker, Dr. Joey Edwardh, Executive
Director of Community Development Halton, gave the audience a snapshot of the
demographic and social dimensions of Halton Hills as a
community of communities. She emphasized
that social services enhance the quality of life of the entire community, and
the importance of neighbourhoods as the core mechanism for people to look after
each other.
Beatrice Sharkey used the evolution of the Cultural Roundtable as
gave an example of how a small group of people can build an effective
network to share information, improve cooperation and partnership, and increase
the effective use of resources. She emphasized how the social services sector could
benefit from such a mechanism locally.
Small group discussions tackling issues in
the social services sector were animated and productive, and a key outcome was
strong support for the concept of creating a structured ongoing network in the
social services sector. Volunteers will be following up to make this concept a
reality.
Event organizers David Clayton and Nancy
Heinmiller, (who were the original co-Chairs of the Social component of the
ICSS) said: “Our objective was to emphasize that the social services sector is
as important as the other three components of the Sustainability Strategy, and
to sow the seeds for a network that would bring greater cohesion and effectiveness
to the social services sector in Halton Hills. We are pleased that we went some
distance in achieving these goals, and greatly appreciate the help of the team who
helped organize the event, and the enthusiastic participation of those who
attended”.
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