Charleen Davidson presenting the 2019 Vital Signs Report on Oct. 3, 2019 (Lethbridge News Now)

By Justin Goulet

Vital Signs 2019

Community Foundation celebrates 2019 Vital Signs Report launch

Oct 3, 2019 | 12:40 PM

LETHBRIDGE, AB – The 2019 Vital Signs Report has been released.

In short, Vital Signs takes a look at issues affecting the well-being of the community. The Community Foundation of Lethbridge and Southwestern Alberta (CFLSA) unveiled it during a special ceremony in Lethbridge Thursday morning.

“Vital Signs is our annual community check up. We look at national, provincial and local data just to assess our quality of life in Southwestern Alberta and it helps us identify areas of need – also, great strengths in our community so really, what’s going on in Southwestern Alberta,” said Charleen Davidson, Executive Director of the CFLSA.

Vital Signs also looks at how local organizations are responding to regional issues and how the CFLSA can support them in either tackling a certain problem or building on a positive community initiative.

The Vital Signs process is lead by the Community Foundations of Canada and is in its seventh year. For 2019, 26 different CFs (Community Foundations) across the country have released a Vital Signs Report, with this week recognized as a ‘National Launch Week’.

Nighttime construction on Hwy 3 in Lethbridge starts April 17

Apr 17, 2025

SASHA launches #BuyABed fundraiser to support vulnerable Lethbridge residents

Apr 04, 2025

$20K grants available: TELUS STORYHIVE Pan-Asian Edition opens applications April 1

Mar 18, 2025

Davidson spoke to Lethbridge News Now on some of the highlights.

“Some of the great things going on in our community – one of them is the solar energy in Raymond where they’ve retrofitted their public facilities with solar power. What a great idea and that’s going to save them some money in the long run,” she said.

“We’ve [also] had an increase in the amount of applications coming forward to build an outdoor classroom(s). So, we looked at how that enhances learning for children in school.”

The CFLSA covers the communities in all of Southwestern Alberta, as far west to the B.C. border, as far south down into Waterton to the United States border and then north up to Vulcan County.

Davidson explained that they don’t cover Medicine Hat as the city has its own Community Foundation (Community Foundation of Medicine Hat and Southeastern Alberta).

She said one of the hopes is that leaders will look at the Vital Signs Report as an opportunity to make necessary changes in their community – citing housing and the opioid crisis as prevalent issues in the Southwestern Alberta region.

“We [also] use it to inform our grants programs – our two largest grants programs, Community Priorities [Fund] and the [H.S. Varley Fund For] Rural Life grant programs – so when requests come in we actually have them identify which of the six impact areas in Vital Signs their report addresses and then money is allocated that way,” she said.

The six impact areas are identified as ‘Community Connections’, ‘Healthy Communities’, ‘Environment’, ‘Lifelong Learning’, ‘Cultural Life’ and ‘Living Standards’.

“The request for money is always greater than the amount of money we have to give, so this helps us stay informed. It’s really critical, we are the largest non-government funding body in Southwestern Alberta, so it’s critical for us to understand what’s going on in our community – identify those needs so that we can address those needs in a very responsible and effective manner.”

Davidson noted that the CFLSA relies on the support of community donors rather than receiving government funding themselves. The perk of that is that it allows them to be a bit more flexible than other organizations when addressing the needs of the community.

The 2019 Vital Signs Report is available online here. Anyone interested in obtaining a physical paper copy can contact the CFLSA’s office. At (403) 328-5297 or via email at office@cflsa.ca.

For more on the work of the Community Foundation, visit cflsa.ca.