Service providers from across the community came together last week to share what they offer clients and how they could possibly learn from each other.
The dialogue was initiated by the North Coast Immigrant and Multicultural Services Society (NCIMSS), and the organization’s president, Louisa Sanchez, spoke to approximately 35 representatives from different service groups on the importance of inclusion.
“I believe this is the time to examine what is working and what can be improved to deliver the best for our clients,” Sanchez said. “Let’s stop working in silos.”
The meeting was held at the Northwest Inter-nation Family and Community Services centre in the Ocean Centre Mall on Jan. 26 and based on its success, these service providers meetings will continue on a quarterly basis.
“In some instances, people in the community are not aware of what we do and we thought we’d invite all the service providers and they will talk about the successes, talk about the challenges and what we can do to come together,” Sanchez said.
There were representatives from Northern Health, the North Coast Transition Society, Hecate Strait Employment Development Society, the City of Prince Rupert and the RCMP, to name a few.
Each service provider had three minutes to speak about what their organization’s mission is and what they offer in the community. Marlene Swift, from RCMP Victim Services, spoke about at the North Coast Social Issues Society right off the bat.
“One of our goals is to look at our addictions problem in this community,” she said.
NCIMSS has asked that every service provider submits a document that profiles their work, and that will be shared amongst the other groups to offer a whole picture of what services are available in the community.
The next meeting is currently scheduled for April 27 in the same location.