Safe Communities Wellington County (SCWC) has been delegating the framework of the community safety and well-being plan to councils across the county. Ontario’s Ministry of the Solicitor-General has mandated that all municipalities have a plan and it must be adopted by Jan. 1, 2021.
It’s a good thing Wellington County already has an established safe communities group.
“We already have the framework that the solicitor general has put forth and said that everyone needs,” said Christine Veit, Safe Communities Wellington County program coordinator. “We already have the leadership table in place and the action groups. So we kind of skip that step that other municipalities will have to do.”
This framework will help SCWC tackle what has been identified as the three main major safety issues in Wellington County: motor vehicle collisions, falls and intentional self-harm.
Veit said this plan is a big undertaking which combines the committee, council, action groups and input from other groups. SCWC will be working with the OPP, Guelph-Wellington Paramedic Services, Wellington Guelph Drug Strategy, local public health units and other organizations that aim to keep Wellington County safe will be involved with the plan.
Each of the seven municipalities do not need their own plan but are consulted with by an SCWC delegation.
“We’re going around to each municipality to find out what their priorities are,” Veit said. “We’re going to be providing them with statistics from public health showing what their priorities are in their area and for us to come up with different strategies.”
SCWC has sub-groups across the county including Wellington North, Minto, Guelph-Eramosa and Mapleton. Minto Safe Communities Chair Angelle Eybel said another benefit to the official framework is that council will have to be represented at the committee.
“We don’t have anyone from Minto council that sits at the table,” Eybel said. “Having the framework will allow council to have a seat at the table and hopefully come on board with us and our initiatives and expand.”
Each municipality has different needs but the plan targets the three major safety issues identified.
Falls are particularly troubling for Wellington County. Veit said falls account for the most and lengthiest hospital stays, especially in older adults. SCWC tries to be proactive and preventative as opposed to reactive to issues. The falls action group has created a guide for the public to use.
“They have put together a checklist that has been distributed to family physicians, pharmacies and at different events so that families can go through their house and determine if there are slip, trip and fall hazards,” she said.
People can take their checklist and go to their family physician to talk about what they’ve seen in their home. Veit said physicians can identify helpful programs for their patients to help with home safety.
“Physicians know there’s different programs available that a lot of people don’t have to pay out of pocket for,” Veit said. “There are programs throughout Ontario that will give you money to put a grab-bar in your shower.”
The committee also works with schools for safe communities day to teach children to be safety ambassadors. They are taught about bicycle safety, anti-bullying, how to deal with anxiety and more areas in line with their targeted priorities.
SCWC does adjust their programs and areas of focus based on what’s needed.
“If they aren’t working and stats show we’re just not reaching the individuals we need, then we try to switch focus,” Veit said.
Eybel said she’s hopeful the mandated framework will give them a greater public presence.
“There’s a lot of people in the community that still don’t know about our committee and what we do,” Eybel said. “We’re hoping with this framework coming in place we’re gonna come to the forefront a little bit and really make our community a safe community all around.”
