The City of Lethbridge has made some changes to its Community Wellbeing and Safety Strategy. (Photo: Lethbridge News Now)

By David Opinko

City of Lethbridge to create advisory board for Community Wellbeing

Jun 11, 2024 | 12:43 PM

LETHBRIDGE, AB – There are a couple of new updates to the City of Lethbridge’s Community Wellbeing and Safety Strategy (CWSS).

It was first introduced in 2019 and aims to provide supports for those in need and ensure the community is well taken care of.

General Manager of Community Social Development Andrew Malcolm says social services have changed quite a bit over the last five years and so have the needs of the people. As such, the CWSS had to evolve along with it.

“There’s an incredible need, not just in our community, but across the country. It can be overwhelming with the number of asks, requests, suggestions on how to spend a fairly limited pot of money,” says Malcolm. “Our hope is that this strategy provides the direction to, again, the city, but also the community where the biggest impact can be felt.”

Advisory Board

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The biggest change to the CWSS is the introduction of a Community Wellbeing Advisory Board (CWAB). It will comprise of a group of experts in the fields of community wellbeing and social services.

Mayor Blaine Hyggen says council should be the experts listening to the experts.

He believes it is important that the people who best understand how to serve and support the community play a role in how funding is allocated.

“The funding was approved from council to this board and then the board will put it out [to service providers]. Understand that, of course, that information is going to come back to council on how the funds were allocated,” Hyggen explained. “If at that time, if council has any questions, they can ask that board, hey, for future, we’d like more information on why these dollars went to where they did.”

The City of Lethbridge expects to release more information later this week on how people can apply to become part of the CWAB.

New Funding Requests

The City of Lethbridge will open a call for proposals in January 2025 to solicit requests for funding into what it calls “innovative programs and services.”

The money will come from a few different streams, including the provincial Family and Community Support Services program, federal Reaching Home program, and municipal funds that align with any current gaps.

Funding requests can be for a variety of initiatives, as long as they fall under the above-mentioned categories.

More details on Community Social Development are available on the City of Lethbridge website.

READ MORE: Lethbridge News Now

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