Dane Gibson
Northern News Services

NNSL (July 07/99) - A coalition of Yellowknife non-profit organizations are peeling back the layers to find out how to better achieve their collective goal -- which is to build a healthier community.

The Coalition of Non-profit Organizations is made up of all the non-profits in Yellowknife, including churches. The coalition wants to provide the government with input and direction on how to be more accountable for the money government spends on social programs.

"We're looking for a vision. We want to move towards a healthy model instead of a piece-meal approach to program delivery," Salvation Army assistant executive director Karen Hoeft said.

"If we're each working in our own area, we're not necessarily building a healthy community. To do that, we all have to work together. We're recognizing that if we put all of our wisdom and knowledge together, the entire community will benefit."

Members from the coalition spent June 21 meeting with Institute of Cultural Affairs facilitator Wayne Nelson.

Yellowknife Association of Community Living executive director Lani Cooke said the meeting was useful to determine exactly what constitutes a healthy community.

Cooke said some of the basic things a community must have are family unity, open communication between government and citizens, as well as safety and security.

"We have to come to terms together on how best to achieve our goals," Cooke said.

"When we have developed some drafts of community wellness and health that are supported by social indicators, we'll approach government and work collaboratively with them to ensure funding is being utilized to its maximum efficiency."

Cooke said the coalition is going in this direction not as a response, but as an action-based initiative.

"We're looking at what the components of a healthy community are and how we can ensure all of our citizens are supported by the community and can flourish to their full potential," she said.

Lyda Fuller, executive director of the YWCA said the first and most important step to improving accountability is to start collecting comprehensive data at the program level.

"The theory behind it is if you monitor the right kinds of things, and you put your money where it will have the most impact, things will get better," Fuller said.