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