1. Lead Table
March 1, 2017

2. Advocacy Around School Closures
Recommendation: that a letter be written to Ministry of Education with possible cc. to UCDSB Rationale: To advocate for consideration of specific needs of rural communities in terms of possible school closures To promote the use of schools as community hubs

3. Key Points Closing a rural school has far reaching consequences:
… long bus rides can mean lack of access to after school recreation
… rural schools are often used as community space for recreation, social events. Closing of schools creates barriers for all members of the community
… schools are natural hubs in rural communities

4. Key Points (cont’d)
Relationships are key – family and child to school, school to community; difficult to achieve when child is attending school in a different community.

5. Update on Hubs
Guthrie House
Key messages:
Access: Bringing 20 organizations to North Leeds to meet community
needs
Integration: Single point of access for services delivered by multiple
providers and funded by multiple  ministries.
People Centred: A service navigator to directly assist clients to find “the
right service at the right time”
Health Promotion: Continued emphasis on the social determinants of
health reflected in services such as employment, housing, mental health, income and food security as part of the delivery of healthcare.
Resources: Guthrie House generates revenue through its rental of
affordable office spaces which, in conjunction with the generosity of
United Way Leeds Grenville, makes the project sustainable.

6. Guthrie House
“A lesson learned in our first year offering the Child and Family Hub is that family struggles are a factor of a variety of social determinants and are not limited to traditional child and family service options. As a result, our array of services needs to include employment, food, income security, counselling and support.”
Comments?

7. Bartholomew St.

8. Canada Learning Bond Uptake in LG is low
Leeds-Grenville
Families need to:
File income tax
Have birth certificate for child
S.I.N. number
Be connected to financial institution

9. How can EKIOC support? Suggestions Set agency targets?
Hold sign up events?
Friendly competition? ??

10. Opportunities Government emphasis on development of community hubs
Ministry of Education can work across Ministries and with local boards to facilitate the development of unused space as community hubs…(e.g. seniors programs, family support, childcare etc.)
Community hubs can improve access to services and supports for rural communities

11. Next Steps for EKIOC
Explore with boards/schools the development of schools as community hubs.
E.g. pilot with one or two schools