A new task force for the Port Coquitlam Community Foundation will meet today (Tuesday) to look at how it will start to address the most pressing social needs in the city.
The 14-member advisory group will work with consultant Maggie Hodge Kwan to drill down on data for the inaugural Vital Signs report, which is expected out later this year.
Vital Signs is a national program under the Community Foundations of Canada — of which the PoCo Community Foundation is a member — and looks at gaps in municipalities; the priorities identified through research can then be a catalyst for new foundation funding.
John Diack, who chairs the PoCo Foundation and leads the task force, said the philanthropic group has so far collected its cash through events such as the Mayors’ Croquet Tournament “but it’s not long term. We want to take a step back and look at the value of what we’re doing. The Vital Signs program is a proven model. We’ve talked to a lot of other foundations who have said they’ve become more effective in addressing local social issues as a result.”
Hodge Kwan, who has a master’s degree in library and information science as well as graduate-level certificates in project management and data analytics, said she’ll do her best to make the data she gathers as relevant as possible to PoCo as much of its statistics tend to tie in with other Tri-City municipalities (i.e., RCMP numbers, as PoCo shares a detachment with Coquitlam).
To date, the Cumberland resident has completed four Vital Signs reports for foundations in Campbell River, Alberni Valley, Saltspring Island and north Okanagan.
Among the topics taken into consideration by the PoCo Foundation task force members, who will provide their local knowledge, are health, housing, education, safety and the arts.
Meanwhile, Diack said the PoCo Foundation will continue with its annual grants program (its next grant distribution is June 7).
“I want to go into this [Vital Signs] process with no biases,” he said. “When you go through the annual grant applications, you develop this lens to see PoCo through: There are youth at risk, there are family breakdown issues, there are seniors’ needs. These are the front-line reports that give you an insight into the community that you normally don’t see.”
He added, “We will see through the Vital Signs report if we’re missing something.”
