FCSS thrives on resource sharing, and there’s no doubt the power of our programs is stronger when we work together. Why reinvent the wheel when you can learn from others that are running successful or innovative programs? The Program Sharing Marketplace is unique session to share knowledge and describe the hard work that programs have undertaken to support their community.

This will be a drop in session, where participants will be given the opportunity to listen and learn about programs or projects that are of interest to them. The session will allow those attending to visit at least four different conversations in 15-minute increments.

Program Sharing Marketplace Presenters

Town of Banff FCSS
 Jill Harrison and Jessica Labonte

• The ABC & D’s (Asset Based Community Development) of Community Social Assessments (CSA)

Presented by Jill Harrison, Community Social Planner and Jessica Labonte, Community Development Coordinator with the Town of Banff. We are available to share information and tools to guide municipalities through the process and provide answers to the following questions: 
1. What is a CSA? Why is it highly anticipated by local businesses, residents, organizations, and social support agencies?
2. Are you unsure how to create a meaningful living and working Community Social Assessment (CSA) that reflects the social wellbeing of your community?
3. What is the process and who undertakes this work?
4. Where can you collect the data from? How do you engage all ages and stages of life?
5. Once you have the data what will you do with it?
6. How do you stay accountable and keep the document alive and relevant?
7. How does it benefit an FCSS team?

City of Beaumont FCSS  
 Zvikomborero Rukovo, Erin Zasada, Pam Gierke 

• Incorporating Indigenous Teachings into Working with Community

Staff from Beaumont FCSS will share how they are using the 7 sacred teachings in their work with the community.

Camrose and District FCSS and Flagstaff and District FCS
Lynne Jenkinson, Lyndel Kasa, Kari Cameron

• Seniors' CHOICES

We chose the name Seniors' CHOICES as a way to describe our purpose - our volunteers provide COMPASSIONATE care in seniors' HOMES that provide them with OPPORTUNITIES to maintain their INDEPENDENCE while CONNECTING and ENGAGING them with resources and SERVICES. There are many struggling communities in rural areas, and maintaining resilience and sustainable communities requires multilevel commitment, combining resources and bottom-up capacity building. One way forward is to encourage negotiated coordination between stakeholders, greater interaction, and adopt a flexible location-based approach to service delivery which builds on each area's strengths based on local needs and challenges. 

As the number of seniors increases in our community, community-based seniors-serving organizations will need to increase their supports to promote healthy aging and supporting seniors to remain independent and age at home. The Seniors' CHOICES will introduce delivery of volunteer-based services to low-income, low-resourced, vulnerable seniors to allow them to age at home decreasing social isolation. 

City of Grande Prairie FCSS  
Nicole Hornett

• City of Grande Prairie Youth Advisory Council (YAC)

The City of Grande Prairie’s YAC is a group of local youth, ages 14-24, who meet to discuss current issues in Grande Prairie. Youth Members are a mix of high school students, college students, homeschool students, and young professionals. Grande Prairie’s YAC is a now thriving youth council that connects youth with City Council, city departments, and local agencies to engage, learn, and collaborate.  In 2023-2024, the YAC grew by over 160% in both membership and in member engagement, so much so the City’s bylaw was amended to accommodate the growth.  What changed?  A new engagement framework supporting youth leadership and capacity development was introduced in 2022 and since then the council has become a recognizable name within the municipality, schools, and with local youth-serving agencies.
Website: www.cityofgp.com/YAC

St. Paul Regional FCSS
Brenda Billo

• Camp Sunshine

Camp Sunshine is our FREE bereavement camp offered to all kids aged 7-12 to provide them a safe place to navigate the emotions that arise when someone they love has died. The camp focuses on sharing, learning and remembering by participating in activities that are geared to help children tend to their grief. 
Website: https://www.stpaulfcss.ca/youth-programs/camp-sunshine

Vegreville and District FCSS  
Julie Gottseleig, Theresa Bernardo

• Continuum of Services Overview

The goal of this project is to increase understanding of the services available within our rural community and, ultimately, create a document to help guide referrals more accurately and efficiently. This continuum will also be a tool for advocacy - as it is a community created document, it can be used to show gaps in service as reported by community agencies. 
Development of this project stemmed from conversations surrounding the misunderstanding of the services offered within the community. As FCSS, we often receive referrals for services we are unable to offer under our mandate and we wanted to get to the root cause about why this was happening. Through these conversations, we realized that the misunderstandings were potentially stemming from differing definitions of “prevention”, “intervention”, and “crisis”. 

Regional Municipality of Wood Buffalo   
Martin Byaruhanga

• Low-Income Fare Transit Program (LIFT)

The Low Income Fare Transit program (LIFT) has proven to be a game-changer. It aims to reduce ACCESS barriers to transit for eligible individuals and increase access to essential services. This could be a great program to present. The LIFT program gap assessment was completed in the fall of 2022, and the program design was followed and was completed and launched in October 2023.
Website: Low-Income Fare Transit Pilot Program (LIFT) - Regional Municipality of Wood Buffalo (rmwb.ca)

Snow Angel Program 
The Snow Angel Program is volunteer based; Volunteers are recruited and matched with assessed senior households to shovel the walks and driveways of seniors in need.
The program aims to help seniors remain in the community, prevent social isolation, encourage healthy lifestyles, and promote community involvement and accessibility.
Website: Snow Angels - Regional Municipality of Wood Buffalo (rmwb.ca)

Government of Alberta   
Irena Struk

• Utilities Consumer Advocate

The presentation will focus on our free Consumer Education and Awareness Program. This program is designed to equip Albertans with essential tools to make informed decisions about their utility choices, understand their bills, and effectively resolve disputes with providers. We aim to help individuals navigate their options for utility services, potentially saving money by reducing their monthly bills.

Additionally, we offer a range of printed materials that complement our online resources. These printed materials provide valuable information about the Program and are tailored to residents across various living arrangements in Alberta, including homes, condominiums, and apartments. Our goal is to empower Albertans to select the most suitable utility provider for their needs.