Public invited to help shape the future
(Falher) – Smoky River Family and Community Support Services (FCSS) and Smoky River Adult Learning are seeking residents’ assistance to help them improve services the organizations offer.
A survey was released last week to find out what people in the Smoky River region require for programming.
“With the new funding agreement coming out, one of the new requirements for funding is doing a community needs assessment,” explains FCSS director Crystal Tremblay.
“This is a way for FCSS and Adult Learning to understand what programs are needed in the region,” she adds.
The survey is available online by visiting either organization’s Facebook page or also available in paper form throughout the community.
“This allows the general public to have a say in what we should focus on when planning for programming,” explains Tremblay.
“FCSS has our priorities from the provincial government, those being: aging well in the community, positive mental health, family and sexual violence, homelessness and housing insecurity, and employability.”
Smoky River Adult Learning is partnering with FCSS to conduct the survey because it is also a requirement to receive funding from Alberta Advanced Education. Executive director Leslie Carbone says the Alberta Advanced Education policy manual states grant recipients must develop and plan programming based on needs assessments. These assessments help identify unmet learning needs in the community. To ensure resources and supports are allocated appropriately, grant recipients regularly assess community needs and make strategic decisions based on what they learn.
“We are partnering with Smoky River FCSS because we work closely with their service to ensure the entire community feels supported and has access to the resources we can offer,” says Carbone.
“While our services are not identical, we often serve many of the same community members. Working together strengthens our efforts, allows us to collect more responses, and helps us better understand shared community needs,” she adds.
Carbone also says that partnering means the two organizations can combine staffing resources to reach more people.
“As a way of thanking participants, we are offering two gift card draws to local businesses,” says Carbone.
“Through the survey, we want to learn what kinds of supports people need in our community, which learning opportunities interest community members most, what times work best for learning opportunities, what barriers prevent people from accessing programs, the best ways to spread the word about upcoming programs, and how we can improve programming to better meet community needs.”
Carbone says the survey can be completed anonymously and will be available online or in print.
“Crystal and I will also be bringing surveys around to community locations, and we hope to host tables at both grocery stores in the coming weeks,” she says.
For more information on the survey, please phone Smoky River FCSS at (780) 837-2220 or Adult Learning at (780)837-3013.
Emily Plihal
Local Journalism Initiative Reporter