Overview
Vital signs is a graded report card that evaluates the quality of life in a
community and is part of a
national initiative led by Community Foundations across Canada. It's findings
are part of a national summary issued annually by Community Foundations of
Canada.
This exciting
initiative was launched in Medicine Hat in 2007 and and evaluates the quality of life in Medicine Hat.
It is based on
several months of researching statistical data and compiling that data into
quality of life indicators, which is then graded by local citizens for our
report released each fall.
This
community check-up will
provide information that measures the health of our city, identifies trends and
assigns grades in a number of key areas that are critical to Medicine Hat’s
vitality. Information included in the report will be gathered in cooperation
with numerous sources that are researching and collecting data on, and are
representative of Medicine Hat.
Issue Areas
The issue areas
include the gap between rich and poor, safety, health and wellness, learning,
housing, getting started in our community, arts and heritage, culture,
environment, work, and belonging and leadership.
Grading
Within each issue area
a number of specific indicators will be published. Each of these
indicators will be graded on a simple system of 1 to 5 (one being low and five
high). The grading is completed by local citizens and is a reflection of what
they think the raw data says about the quality of life in Medicine Hat.
Goal of Vital Signs
The goal of Vital
Signs is not to create a ‘best of’ list to rank cities, but to help measure our
community’s vitality in critical areas which will in turn increase the
effectiveness of our grant making, help us inform our donors about issues and
opportunities in the community and assist us in making connections between
individuals and groups to address those issues.
Publication Date
We have now starting working with community groups in consulting about
indicators and the availability of data for the 2010 report. We will be holding a series of public
consultations on quality of life indicators for 2010 in May - location and dates
will be announced shortly. The 2010 report
will be launched on October 5, 2010.
2010 Vital Signs
Steering Committee
Chair:
Les Erickson
Members:
Dr. Shann Snedden
Trish Paton
Karen Blewett
Chris Deering
Dana Couillard
Mike Christie
Jennifer Thompson
Alison Pfeifer
Melissa Wannamaker
Theresa Hardiker
Other Community ReportsVital Signs is based on a project of the Toronto
Community Foundation and is coordinated nationally by Community Foundations of
Canada. Vital Signs is undertaken by a number of communities from coast to
coast. Their reports can be found
here.
The City of Medicine Hat has valuable resources on
line relating to
stats, services, information and
quality of life in Medicine Hat. For more information please visit the
City of Medicine Hat Website at
www.medicinehat.ca.
Get Involved
Many thanks to all those who take part in 2009 as a grader. If you would
like to part of the grading process or volunteer for Vital Signs in some other
way please contact Mike Christie at 403-527-9038 or email
info@mhcf.ca
"Vital Signs" FAQ
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