CORNWALL, Ontario – At their Annual General Meeting on Wednesday, June 5, the Social Development Council (SDC) launched a new Community Resources List.
The idea for this list of community resources was originally conceived as a tool for front line support and emergency workers, but Carilyne Hébert, Executive Director at SDC felt that this would be an important tool for the general public as well.
The list can be found on the City of Cornwall website here.
“The City’s Emma Meldrum offered to host this list on the City’s website,” explained Hébert.
The list is divided into 17 different sections and cover resources from Addiction, Healthcare, End of Life, Domestic Violence, Housing, Helplines and more.
There are over 350 organizations from Cornwall, the United Counties of SD&G and Akwesasne included in the list and it will be updated regularly.
Currently, the list is only in English, but Hébert stated that a French version is in the works.
The AGM was also an opportunity for the SDC to review their year and introduce their new Board of Directors for 2019-2020.
“Not only has it been a year of growth for me, but a year of growth for the Social Development Council,” Hébert said.
Hébert updated the audience and the new Board on the status of various projects that the SDC has under it’s umbrella.
Transition Cornwall+ held several events in 2018 to help promote sustainability in the City of Cornwall, including a meeting with Progressive Conservative MPP Jim McDonell about the ongoing global climate crisis.
All Things Food, which focuses on sustainable gardening and food planted new community edible gardens around the Bandshell in Lamoureux Park at the Incredible Edible Plant festival held at the end of May.
READ MORE: Edible garden coming to bandshell
Project Warmth provided 315 window insulation kits this year to low income households to help them with energy conservation and warmth during the winter months.
Hébert also provided an update on the Vibrant Communities action group. The Vibrant Communities group formed in 2018 to identify and address the most serious social issues facing Cornwall.
The pillars of their mandate include addressing mental health, access to healthcare services, poverty and completing the Community Safety and Well Being plan, a provincially mandated plan that all municipalities must complete.
The Vibrant Communities action group will be holding a Focus Group on Wednesday, July 10 at the Cornwall Civic Complex to invite the public to give input on how best to tackle some of the issues in their mandate.
The new Board of Directors for 2019-2020 are Patti Gauley of the Eastern Ontario Health Unit as Chairperson, Neil MacLean of Transition Cornwall+ as Vice Chair, Katie Verhoeven of Big Catch Communications as Treasurer, and Directors are Chris Clapp, JoAnn Hickley, Patti Carson, Rev. Peter Cazaly, Sandy Casselman, Sarah Maynard, Susan David and Councillor Todd Bennett.
