Guest Blog: Ontario Community Hubs Summit 2017 Overview - Day 1
Date: May 8, 2017
Day 1
This two-day conference was organized by the Community Hubs Framework Advisory Group of the Ontario government; it provided an opportunity for 500 stakeholders to learn more about existing community hubs and resources for initiating one. Among the 500 were Patricia Greig, Deputy Mayor of the Municipality of Northern Bruce Peninsula, and myself, Dianne Thomson, Project Coordinator for the community project, Schools as Anchors for Rural Community Vitality, part of the ROI Measuring Rural Community Vitality initiative.
After a welcome by Premier Wynne, an update on the progress of the advisory group activities was provided by Karen Pitre, Special Advisor to the Premier on Community Hubs. One of her first announcements was the brand-new networking website, www.communityhubsontario.ca/. Currently in its beta version, it is designed to support networking and information sharing. It looks particularly helpful for those of us in rural communities, especially since the conference attendees were, understandably, mostly from urban areas. Hopefully it will give rural communities a good platform for creating a network focused on our needs, and for developing what one speaker called an “interprofessional community of practice".
The importance of community hubs was discussed by a panel which focused primarily on their role in service integration: health, social services, libraries, childcare, dental care, prenatal care, exercise programs, addiction counselling, etc. Little was mentioned at this point about hubs which include operating schools. Further sessions highlighted two themes that came up frequently during the two days of the summit: the need to break down silos in different sectors and the importance of local champions. The difference between co-location and integration was explored, as well as the challenge of sustainability. The point was repeatedly made that there are not templates to follow; each community has its own unique situation and needs.
Closer to the challenges we face in our own community was the panel discussion on community hubs within operating schools, introduced by Minister of Education Mitzi Hunter. The schools in the Northern Bruce Peninsula are small, but our research (soon to be published) shows how critical to community wellbeing they are. As one speaker mentioned, we know that the social determinants of health include community connection, and schools provide that connection. So who needs to be at the table to develop these hubs? Local education officials, faith communities, Indigenous stakeholders, municipal services, regional services and businesses were all mentioned, with the key message that no matter who is there, just get started! We will encounter barriers: funding alignment, policy disconnects, time commitment, safety issues, buy-in by school boards and others. Hopefully, support can be found through the new network mentioned above.
All in all, a thought-provoking day that inspired and energized.
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