The City's 'Building Safer Communities' Program presented at Council Meeting

One of the highlights of the City Council meeting of August 25th was the presentation of a report on the Building Safer Communities program that was begun in 2022 by the City. Funded by Public Safety Canada, with some provincial funds, it is a very wide-reaching program developed to serve 'at risk youth' and build youth resiliency in the city. The project involved research into the needs of the community, co-ordination with many non-profit organizations and the establishment of an 'At Risk' Situational Table, where monthly, representatives of many agencies meet to develop plans for helping 'at risk' youth in a timely manner. For further understanding of the work of the Building Safer Communties Program, two delegations of organizations involved in the program presented their work made at Council. First, there was a presentation by Melanie Smith, who is the Administrator for Safe & Caring Schools in the local school district. It is in the schools where many of the 'at risk' youth in need of urgent care are identified, she said. She also explained about the monthly the Situational Table and its work to get urgent solutions for youth in need. It includes representatives from a wide variety of organizations. Tom Littlewood of Dan's Legacy also made a presentation at Council. This non-profit has been working to help at risk youth for decades providing a whole wrap-around of services for them. It's most public facing program is their local kitchen that sells soup and other food made by youth, but Dan's Legacy provides a whole gamut of services, as Tom explains. Council will be looking into continue to fund this program into the future.