Vulnerable People at Risk Forum
What we did
The ‘Vulnerable People at Risk Forum’ was a full day, public event held on April 24, 2015. Nearly 300 people attended. A series of speakers and interactive session were help to crowdsource perspectives on the following questions.
- What locations in Whitehorse attract vulnerable people? Why and how can we improve safety for them, other citizens, and visitors?
- What municipal, territorial, and first nation government programs are in place to help vulnerable people? Are they useful? Why or why not? How can we do this better?
- What is being done in Whitehorse to help vulnerable people? Who is doing this work?
- What new ideas can be implemented to improve the lives of vulnerable people? Who would implement the idea, and what resources are required?
- What does helping vulnerable people in Whitehorse look like?
What we heard
Some of things we heard:
- “Never give up on anybody.”
- “Help educate people so their attitude towards vulnerable people change.”
- “What would’ve helped me is someone reaching out and saying: ‘hey, I care about you.’”
- “What are our values for a better community and life?”
- “Let’s keep doing this so we can grow as a community.”
Read all of the input in Appendix 1.
Commitments
As a result of the Forum, the City and KDFN made the following commitments:
- Engage the business community
- Improve opportunities for voices to be heard
- Increase wellness programs
- Create dignity through education
- Expand the circle of who is involved