The Jasper Community Team is an innovative approach to addressing local issues. The Jasper Community Team is a model that has been noticed and admired all across Canada, from Ottawa to Richmond, B.C. The Jasper Community Team isn’t, however, flush with community representatives.

“One of the intentions of the model is to have a representative from each major life stage,” explained Kathleen Waxer, the director of family and community services for the Municipality of Jasper. “We’ve never been highly successful in recruiting people to fill all of these positions.”

The community team approach encompasses so many service organizations and institutions that the round table diagram that Waxer holds up to illustrate the team’s membership is more horizontal than ovoid. All told, the team includes representatives from 19 separate groups, from the RCMP to the Jasper Adult Learning Council, by way of the Northern Alberta Brain Injury Society and Parks Canada, among others.

What’s missing from this cast of dozens? Unaffiliated community members, according to Waxer.

“From my perspective, it would enhance the model to have those representatives,” she said. 

The team has identified several focus populations, or life stages, namely prenatal to preschool, school-aged children, youth/teens, young adults and vulnerable adults. This final category, Waxer said, is really for all adults, recognizing that not everyone in the community will self-identify as vulnerable. Waxer’s intention is to have a community representative for each of the five life stages. 

“We want to recruit a representative that would speak for the life stage that they represent,” she said. This doesn’t mean that one lucky toddler will get to sit in on meetings regarding preschool child care. The life stage representative just needs to be a member of that portion of the community.

“Moms with new babies spend time together, for example” Waxer explained. “We’d look to someone from that group to identify where the gaps are in services, where the overlaps may be.”

In addition to meeting with the entire team, the community representatives are part of “collaborative action teams” that meet monthly to discuss issues of importance for that particular segment of the community. These smaller groups are made up of representatives from service providers for that particular life stage. For example, the school-aged group features a collaborative action team including an outreach worker, elementary school teachers from both JES and Ecole Desrochers, the public health nurse, a child welfare worker, an AADAC counsellor as well as Waxer and the community representative.

“It’s an opportunity to make a real difference on this level,” said Waxer. “It is very satisfying and interesting work. There is lots of discussion and good ideas.”

There are two community representatives currently in place, Nancy Taylor and Les Dolan, but Waxer wants to fill the remaining positions, and soon.

“This is something that we should have been working on earlier,” she acknowledged. “The development of the model has been an ongoing process and we’re now at a point where we really need the community input.”

Waxer is also hoping to attract participants who haven’t been widely involved in community groups before. Jasper has a vibrant volunteer population and a number of people who regularly give their time to sit on committees and advisory groups like the community team. While Waxer says that their contributions are essential, she feels that always drawing from the same pool leaves important segments of the community by the wayside.

Waxer believes that one of the major reasons that few have stepped forward as community representatives is a lack of knowledge about what role the team plays.

“My guess is that people don’t really know what Jasper Community Team means,” she said. Being a part of the team means having a direct say in which services are provided in Jasper and how they are arranged. The smaller action teams react to ongoing issues and provide ideas for new or better services to address these situations.

“The way services are organized here is so different than most other places,” said Waxer. “The team is very essential, it really strengthens what we are able to do.”

Time commitments are not set in stone, Waxer added, an important consideration for parents with young children. 

Anyone interested in becoming a community representative or simply seeking more information on the Jasper Community Team is encouraged to call family and community services at 852-2100.