Monday, September 28, 2009

$8000 Grant for Youth Engagment!!!

The first Grant of $8000 was awarded to the island youth group for which The Compass Institute is merely the fiscal agent. The Compass Institute is to hold the money in deposit and report on the progress to the Government of NB Population Secretariat who sponsors the grant. The grant was originally meant to be administered by the St. Stephen's Boys and Girls Club to manage but they ultimately were not able to do so at the last minute. The sponsor scrambled to find a non-profit or charity on the island to fill the void and The Compass Institute was the only group that currently exists who me the criteria. The youth groups most recent meeting was held a meeting September 24th to which all students’ grades 7-12 were invited to attend. This youth group (all students, no adults) is now responsible for spending the $8000 grant that they applied for and received in the spring from the Province of New Brunswick Population Secretariat Youth Engagement Funding. With the guidance and support from Joyce Walker-Haley from the Atlantic Health Sciences Corporation, this group has developed a series of engagements sessions that require facilitation from experts. A request for proposals for these various experts will be published next week inviting individuals or groups to apply. The students on the youth group will then evaluate the applications and choose the most appropriate candidates to deliver the various programs. The Grant money will be used to pay to deliver these programs on Campobello Island over the coming weeks and months.

The Population Secretariat is encouraging us to apply for additional funding through their ongoing Youth Engagement Programs beginning this Fall. All students in grades 7-12 are invited to get involved in the process of applying for grants and in the decision making process for administering any funds that are awarded. Please contact Candi Phinney or Joyce Walker-Haley for more information on how to get involved.

Our sense of community building is at the core of our mandate and we believe in leveraging the power of one for the benefit of the collective good. Much like The International Friends Committee provided values-based programs and services that focus on the importance of caring, honesty, respect, responsibility and inclusiveness, so too will The Compass Institute.

We believe that our community should have access to the resources, supports and opportunities that will enable everyone to overcome barriers and achieve their positive potential in life. We are the only community in Canada whose citizens must travel an hour through another country and cross two borders to access the Canadian mainland.

We strive to empower the community to become increasingly self-reliant, to develop healthy lifestyles, a life-long passion for learning, leadership and focus on our own social responsibility; however, this requires a tremendous amount of support and effort from various levels.

We continually seek opportunities to explore potential within the community at large to expand their focus to create more self sufficient business opportunities which will benefit community growth and sustainability. We work together with families and volunteers in the community, in partnership with the public and private sector, to create healthy community solutions. Our concept of health focuses on the overall quality of life including - prevention, rehabilitation, self-management and the social support needed to grow in spirit, mind and body. In everything that we do, we try to inspire a sense of responsibility to each other and the global community.

The past year has been a fertile planning and information seeking year, planting the seeds of action that will be nurtured and cultivated in the months and years to come. Our agenda is specifically focusing on meaningful, long-term investment of both real and human capital targeted at sustainable growth in the broadest sense. Our vision is to restore the historic pride and hope of the community by unleashing the potential that once was and preparing to address challenges as they arise

Tuesday, June 30, 2009

Credit Union Closes...

Gerry Hicks, chairman of the Campobello Island Health and Wellness Advisory Committee, speaks at a rally to protest the closure of the Campobello Credit Union Friday.

CREDIT UNION CLOSED

By BARB RAYNER
barbrayn@nbnet.nb.ca

CAMPOBELLO – Friday was the end of an era on Campobello as the island’s branch of the Charlotte County Credit Union closed its doors for the last time leaving islanders without any financial institution.
To protest the closure, which will mean islanders will have to drive to St. Stephen to do their banking, Mary Fowler organized a rally and about 60 people showed up.
“The whole idea is to let them know we are not happy about the way we have been treated. We would expect this from a bank but not from a Credit Union.
“We were supposedly owners of the Credit Union and we were not given any notice. If we had been given notice we would have been able to do something. This (rally) is just to show our frustration.”
Islanders marched around the parking lot outside the Credit Union chanting “Shame on you CCCU” and brandishing placards expressing such sentiments as “We are not going to St. Stephen,” “We are not the problem – CCCU management is”, “Campobello is a forgotten island”, “Does no one care about us?”, “The CU sold us out”, “Where does this leave seniors?”, “Down with CCCU”, “Shame on you CCCU” and “We cannot survive without a bank.”
Armed with a megaphone, Gerry Hicks, chair of the island’s Health and Wellness Advisory Committee, accompanied by some of the protestors, went to the locked door of the Credit Union during the lunch time rally calling for someone from management to come out to speak to them. No one did, so they marched around to the rear door but still got no response from those inside.
Speaking to the crowd, he said islanders have to take control of their own futures since it was clear they didn’t have support from the local, provincial or federal governments when it came to preserving the quality of life for residents.
He said they either accept defeat or fight to maintain the kind of life they deserve and the level of services they are entitled to. Hicks said the committee has been working very hard to find another bank, for a year-round ferry and on local governance.
“As an island community we are handicapped by our own government and they hold the keys. A petition is being circulated to have our status determined that we are, in fact, an island community and with that we are entitled to a certain degree of services.”
While everyone knew the closure of the Credit Union was coming, he said he didn’t think the inconvenience of this will sink in until next week.
“This is not just about the closure of a bank. This is about the preservation of the community and the people and the quality of life... It is up to us to say how things are going to be run and not simply to be dictated to.”
Hicks questioned what the island may lose next and said they have to fight to keep what they have because they didn’t see this coming and there was no collaboration or negotiation so they were just left to deal with the ramifications. He urged people to continue to support the businesses which are on the island.
The decision to close this branch and the one in Blacks Harbour was announced in April and Gerald Adams, president and CEO of Credit Union Centre in New Brunswick, blamed lack of business. The Campobello branch opened in May 2001 following the closure of the Scotiabank branch there.
Glen Alexander, who is a member of the island’s Health and Wellness Advisory Committee, commented as he put up posters, “I feel they have abandoned us for no good reason. They have not made any concessions. We know we are not going to change their minds. There is no hope of that. We just hope someone will come along.”
Debbie Barker, who created a huge banner protesting the closure, said, ”I feel strongly about how it happened. There was no community awareness. They just came in and announced it to the staff.
“I thought the credit union was run by the people. We are working on trying to get another bank but nothing has been confirmed. We are looking at having to drive 40 miles and there are people who don’t have vehicles.”
Marianne Alexander said the closure of the Credit Union was just something else that had been taken from island residents. She said every community needs a bank and there was also the loss of the jobs as well.
“It is the seniors I am most worried about. It is devastating. It is another nail in our coffin but we are not going down without a fight,” she said.
Inside the Credit Union, where customers waited to do their last minute banking, a number of residents brought in flowers and treats for the four local staff while staff from the head office in St. Stephen and the Credit Union’s Risk Management Agency worked in a back office.
As she waited in line, Joanne Matthews said it was a sad day for the island and it is going to be tough especially for seniors because many of them will have to rely on someone else to take them to St. Stephen to do their banking.
“That takes away their independence. Everything is funnelling off the island and very little is funnelling back. It’s just like you don’t see much hope here and our children cannot stay. It is pretty sad.
“If it were not for a dead U.S. president we would not even have what we have now because we are pretty well running on tourism. They are cutting back at the provincial park but the Roosevelt Park is the only one that can weather it.
“My husband doesn’t want to go to St. Stephen and I don’t want to go over that bridge. What are business people going to do? I use this bank a lot and these girls are excellent.”
Diane Getchell said business people are going to have to take time out of their busy schedules to go to St. Stephen to do their banking and no matter how many ATMs there are on the island – there are two – you cannot get coin out of them.
Janet Cline, chair of Campobello Cooperative Ltd., which owns the building the Credit Union shares with Value Foods and Herring Cove Pharmacy, said they are concerned about the loss of the rent for that portion which goes towards paying the mortgage and taxes.
“We are losing approximately $1,800 a month in rent with their demise. It is going to be very difficult for us, as a cooperative, to continue to stay in business.
We are trying to find someone to rent the space. We have been working on this ever since we were notified they were leaving. We will make it for a while but once that income is lost there is a strong possibility everything is going to be lost and we won’t have a grocery store anymore. We will be back to square one.”
She said it was about 15 years ago that the people of Campobello rallied round and formed the cooperative. The original grocery store was a co-op and the pharmacy moved into the complex about three years later.
Alan Seeley said devastated was not a strong enough word to describe how islanders felt. He said they have been let down and lied to especially as their branch was the one which was carrying the outfit.
“We were the first one and they told us they had to have four branches in order for it to run and now they are kicking out two of them and figure they can run on two. In St. Stephen, the very best they can do is 20 per cent because there are four other banks in the town plus a currency exchange.”
Lloyd Getchell said what bothers him is that they all paid $300 membership fees to join and were told they were an intricate part of this Credit Union.
“Then when they made the decision to rip it out of here they never asked any of us. It is an hour to go to St. Stephen. It costs me about $40 in gas to get there and back.
“One thing we are really worried about is that if people have to go to St. Stephen to do their banking they will buy their groceries and pick up their drugs there so we could lose Value Foods and the pharmacy as well.”
Following the rally, Hicks said the committee are continuing to look at possibilities for another bank on the island and have been talking to both the National Bank and RBC.

Wednesday, June 24, 2009

Charting a New Course

The Compass Institute on Campobello Island

A Legacy Project: Charting an new course for an historic island community

The International Friends Committee incorporated as a non-profit in 1988 with Randy Matheson as president since 1989. As a non-profit organization that’s over 20 years old, the International Friends Committee continues to serve people of all ages, backgrounds and abilities and through all stages of life. What started as a committee focused on building the bond of international friendship among the local youth of neighbouring communities has evolved into a committee focused on the community as a whole. In our work with children, youth, families and community we strive to provide recreation, education and leadership experiences for all regardless of economic, cultural and social backgrounds. We provide a safe, supportive environment, where everyone is listened to, respected and valued in an environment of inclusion and acceptance.

The natural and full cycle evolution of the IFC has lead us to an important and defining crossroads for our community with the creation of The Compass Institute on Campobello Island. With a foundation grounded in timeless principles, The Compass Institute is perfectly positioned to partner the wisdom of lessons learned with the renewed spirit of activism to become the voice of change for the next generation. Together, our mandate will be to provide the support and values-based programs necessary to create the powerful alliances required to cultivate healthy, vibrant, productive and sustainable communities with meaningful opportunities.

Our sense of community building is at the core of our mandate and we believe in leveraging the power of one for the benefit of the collective good. Much like The International Friends Committee provided values-based programs and services that focus on the importance of caring, honesty, respect, responsibility and inclusiveness, so too will The Compass Institute.

We believe that our community should have access to the resources, supports and opportunities that will enable everyone to overcome barriers and achieve their positive potential in life. We are the only community in Canada whose citizens must travel an hour through another country and cross two borders to access the Canadian mainland.

We strive to empower the community to become increasingly self-reliant, to develop healthy lifestyles, a life-long passion for learning, leadership and focus on our own social responsibility; however, this requires a tremendous amount of support and effort from various levels.

We continually seek opportunities to explore potential within the community at large to expand their focus to create more self sufficient business opportunities which will benefit community growth and sustainability. We work together with families and volunteers in the community, in partnership with the public and private sector, to create healthy community solutions. Our concept of health focuses on the overall quality of life including - prevention, rehabilitation, self-management and the social support needed to grow in spirit, mind and body. In everything that we do, we try to inspire a sense of responsibility to each other and the global community.

The past year has been a fertile planning and information seeking year, planting the seeds of action that will be nurtured and cultivated in the months and years to come. Our agenda is specifically focusing on meaningful, long-term investment of both real and human capital targeted at sustainable growth in the broadest sense. Our vision is to restore the historic pride and hope of the community by unleashing the potential that once was and preparing to address challenges as they arise.

Action plans are now in place to take the first steps towards our vision by addressing the issues surrounding governance, transportation and mobility, service delivery, security, youth initiatives, housing needs, employment opportunities and business development. The community has spoken and prioritized an agenda that requires the leadership, guidance and access to resources The Compass Institute is capable of providing at this juncture.