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.

No comments:

Post a Comment