Wetaskiwin, Alberta
According to legend, the Cree and Blackfoot people of what is now East Central Alberta were bitter enemies during the mid-1800’s. With the Cree living north of the Red Deer River, and the Blackfoot to the south, the river was the boundary that defined each tribe’s hunting territory. But, the Blackfoot were apparently in the habit of crossing the river into Cree territory during the warmer summer months in pursuit of the buffalo that were migrating northward. This intrusion angered the Cree, and caused an ongoing war between the two tribes.
However, in about 1867, through a chance meeting of the two young chiefs of the tribes, a peace accord was struck in the hills near the present day city of Wetaskiwin. From that time onward, the area became known to the Aboriginal people as “Wetaskiwin Spatinow,” meaning “the hills where peace was made.”
Near those same hills, the city of Wetaskiwin grew in the decades that followed. The city now has a population of 11,000, a strong agricultural base, and a number of valued community organizations, including both a Big Brothers Big Sisters organization and a Boys and Girls Club.
Unlike the Cree and Blackfoot of our legend, Big Brothers Big Sisters and Boys and Girls Clubs have never been at war in Wetaskiwin, or anywhere else for that matter. Yet in many communities across the country the two exist as organizations that, like the Cree and Blackfoot of the 1800’s, must compete for scarce resources. As a result, many of these organizations become territorial and isolated, and some develop strained relations with one another as they work to ensure individual survival. In Wetaskiwin, though, the two organizations have banded together for the community good. They co-exist peacefully and collaboratively, just as the two tribes of the area found a way to do one and a half centuries ago.
Big Brothers Big Sisters started in Wetaskiwin in 1980. It was an agency with a small budget, one part time employee, no office space, and a very large caseload. Eventually the organization became overwhelmed under these conditions: insufficient volunteers, staff burnout and turnover, and the ever growing wait list made it obvious to the board that they had to find other ways of serving the community’s children and youth.
So in 1987, Big Brothers Big Sisters and Family and Community Support Services (a municipal funder and service provider) formed a steering committee to examine the community’s needs. It became clear to the committee that a variety of services for children, youth and their families were required that were more easily accessible to a broader range of the community. The committee consequently took action to begin a Boys and Girls Club in Wetaskiwin. By 1988, a new society was formed, an Executive Director was hired, a small facility was rented, and several after school and drop-in programs for children and youth were developed.
Rather than setting up the Boys and Girls Club as a rival to Big Brothers Big Sisters, the steering committee took an approach that made the most efficient use of limited community resources. They had the same people comprise the boards of both organizations, and had both agencies operate from one facility. At the same time, they kept Big Brothers Big Sisters and Boys and Girls Club distinct by having two societies, two sets of bylaws, two sets of financial books, two Executive Directors and two mandates, thereby sharing overhead costs and maximizing their capacity to fundraise.
By 1995, the organizations were restructured, with one Executive Director managing both (and paid by both) in order to be fiscally responsible. This allowed for more resources to be put into program staff in each organization. At the same time, the organizations had raised enough money to purchase a building, which became known as the Wetaskiwin Youth Centre.
Dana Cook, Executive Director of both Big Brothers Big Sisters and Boys and Girls Club since the reorganization, has witnessed many changes in the organizations during her tenure. Perhaps the most significant has been the growth and diversification in Boys and Girls Club programming and the decrease in the numbers of children matched in the Big Brothers Big Sisters traditional mentoring program. Dana analyzes the situation this way, “[In Wetaskiwin] Boys and Girls Club meets the needs of a greater population, and is more easily accessible by kids, so it swallowed up a lot of the “need” related to why people were going to Big Brothers Big Sisters. Consequently the need for Big Brothers Big Sisters [matches] has been reduced.”
Dana acknowledges that the decrease in Big Brothers Big Sisters matches in Wetaskiwin can be attributed to many factors. But one of the reasons for the decrease is clearly related to their organizational approach. She provides this caution to those considering the Wetaskiwin model, “With so many more kids coming to Boys and Girls Club, the automatic reaction is to put more resources there. So we’ve really had to maintain a focus on the facts that we need Big Brothers Big Sisters in the community, and we’re committed to those matches, and we’re committed to getting more matches.”
Despite the extra effort required to ensure both organizations receive sufficient attention and resources, Dana believes the advantages of their organizational approach are many. “The expenses of having two facilities and two Executive Directors who work on the same sorts of things, are unreasonable. [Working together] is a better use of human resources, and you can deliver more programs, more effectively, and maybe even with less people. The mandates of Big Brothers Big Sisters and Boys and Girls Club, although certainly separate, both serve kids. So I think they fit together.”
The boards of Big Brothers Big Sisters and Boys and Girls Club in Wetaskiwin believe that, while it is necessary to attend to the individual interests of each organization, it is ultimately more important to maintain a bigger picture focus on the overall needs of the community. It is by working together that these organizations are better able to achieve their mutual goal of serving Wetaskiwin’s children, youth and families through a wide range of accessible, effective services. Dana frankly points out, “The reality is that if we didn’t take this approach in Wetaskiwin, one of us wouldn’t be here anymore.”
As with the legend, it is the “peaceful”, collaborative approach that has secured the common good and the survival of both in Wetaskiwin.
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