Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My community was very excited to have participated in a community wellness planning session which I had the pleasure of attending in Hay River on January 23rd. Over 200 members of the Community Interagency Group and elders participated in this consultation activity and many important points of interest were raised. It was apparent, early in the session, that Hay River has a number of wonderful things going on, and communication between the agencies and partners needs to be a priority.
During the consultation sessions, various strategies were identified as immediate areas of actions such as community mentorship programs, more youth counselling, more sober family events, more prenatal parent activities, nutrition programs, and support for the existing Lights On Program for youth. Also identified was as an immediate area to address is the need for a community wellness worker to coordinate events, disseminate information, bring partners together, and help the community in cooperatively building partnerships. A community wellness project will not only help the community to access First Nations and Inuit Health Branch funding that Hay River has never accessed before, it will have a much greater impact on the community as groups have made strong commitments to partnership and to work on projects together for the future.
The community wellness plan should also give organizations a clearer direction of the needs of the residents of Hay River. Removing barriers to programs was a clear message heard at all levels of consultation.
Another common theme that became evident throughout the session was that priority needs to be given to reaching out to the most vulnerable members of the community and changing the way we do business. Community members made it very clear that they want to see their front-line workers leave their offices and go to those in need of their services, instead of living the theme you build it and they will come. We know this is not working. The community wants to see its workers out serving clients where the clients are, changing office hours so that government agencies that support these clients are available even after regular work hours. Many ideas and strategies for improving and focusing attention on wellness in the community were identified and the community looks forward to seeing action on these items.
I would like to extend a big thank you to Sabrina Broadhead and the Department of Health and Social Services for their vision and action on this topic. A special thank you to Jill Taylor, chair of the Wellness Planning Session, for her hard work and contribution of countless volunteer hours providing opportunities for our community, especially for the youth and the vulnerable residents who so often cannot represent themselves. This type of action, the community wellness project, helps in making it easier for communities to work together, access funding and move forward, and it is a great step in making our community and our territory a healthier place to live.
Thank you, Mrs. Groenewegen. The Member for the Sahtu, Mr. Yakeleya.
