The Village Initiative Priorities

 

The Village Initiative is dedicated to improving the capacity, coordination, organization, and infrastructure required to better serve the children, youth, and families of the West Shore and Sooke.

 

TVI Has 3 Priorities

Cindy Andrew, the Village Director of Community Partnerships, outlines the Village’s priorities.

  • Improving services by increasing spaces and places for services

  • Better coordinated services so we can serve more families with more comprehensive services

  • Investing in strategies to support practice and policy efforts (e.g., convening key events to share state of the art data, hosting a community of practice for frontline service providers, providing professional learning opportunities)

Our Village network sees the many benefits of regional collaborative long-term working relationships. These include both financial and important service contributions, which leverage our collective strengths. By working together, the Village can make the best use of public spaces, places, and dollars to establish the West Shore and Sooke as a showcase community for rapid-growth regions.

Spaces to Provide Services

People thrive when they have access to services. From health promotion to specialized services, affordable and timely services is key to healthy, thriving young people and families. Access helps ensure that our community is a vibrant, prosperous and healthy place. BUT quality services require sufficient and suitable spaces. A recent survey of service providers highlighted the URGENT need for space. Read here how our workgroup action plan is addressing this.

Did you know that over 8,000 additional people could be served right now if space was available for those services?

Better Service Coordination

Everyone deserves timely, low-barrier and coordinated access to the supports they need to thrive. Being able to get support where you need it, when you need it, is critical. Accessible, coordinated services require our local service providers to maintain frequent communication, share knowledge and build relationships with one another. BUT the complexity of today’s fast-paced and hectic world can make this hard. A recent community profile highlighted the need for strengthened service coordination in our area. Read here how our workgroup action plan on mental health promotion is addressing this.

Building on Strengths, Enhancing Capacities

Addressing critical health and social issues of children, youth and families requires increasing the capacity of communities to build connections and enhance social capital. It also requires increasing the capacity of organizations to innovate, be responsive and nimble and work together in new ways. To help with that TVI is facilitating enhanced communication, coordination and collaboration across sectors and systems; leading data collection and analysis to inform action, and strengthening youth engagement to help inform collective efforts.

“Great discoveries and improvements invariably involve the cooperation of many minds.”

Alexander Graham Bell

It takes a village to raise a child – African Proverb

TVI’s integrated approach to service delivery has a number of key advantages in improving healthy outcomes for children, youth, families, and ultimately the broader community, including:

  • Maximize public space use
  • Enhance the coordination of community services
  • Improve access to low-cost and no-cost social programs, particularly for marginalized members of the community
  • Improve community mental health, reducing demand for serious mental health services
  • Reduce social isolation to improve individual and community health
  • Improve access to support for newcomers and immigrants arriving in our community
  • Improve access to local programs and opportunities for youth and young adults to assist in the prevention of crime and vandalism