Hinton rep added to board

HIV West Yellowhead (HIVWY) welcomed three new people to the board at their Annual General Meeting last Wednesday Sept. 30 at Coco’s Cafe.

One new director, Town of Hinton community outreach worker Allan Bearns, expands the reach of the organization across the region. 

While the organization continues to expand, with members from Hinton, Edson and Jasper, executive director Andrea Watson expressed concern about the work needed to get Whitecourt involved with the organization’s harm reduction work.

“We need to reconnect and re-establish some partnerships there,” she said, noting that some relationships have fallen by the wayside over the last year.

The organization received an additional $11,432 in grant money from Alberta Health and Wellness in 2009. That money was used to keep Watson working full time throughout the year. This was the first year HIVWY had a full time employee.

The funding also allowed the Sexual Health and Harm Reduction co-ordinator to increase by five hours to 20 hours per week. 

Despite this extra boost, Watson said she still wants to add another full time employee to the organization.

Although the organization experienced a slight drop in fund raising dollars, which Watson attributed to the recession, Watson said recent strategic planning would ensure future fundraising would be more efficient than ever.

“We want to be good at a few things rather... than trying to do everything,” she told the group, noting that some previous fundraisers – such as the rodeo clean up – would no longer be a part of their busy schedule as there was no message involved and they were not money makers.