An interactive public meeting about community safety was held at the Stagecoach Saloon on the Ponoka Stampede Grounds on Nov. 7.
The meeting was hosted by Corinne Hansen, a health promotion facilitator with 'Healthier Together: Influencing the Future,' an initiative under Alberta Health Services (AHS).
In the Ponoka area, the Influencing the Future initiative is aiming to bring the community together to identify opportunities and build on strengths to enhance the health and well being of youth, young adults and vulnerable persons, according to AHS.
At the beginning of the meeting, Hansen introduced discussion rules such as no "rehashing" of events and no criticism of actions already taken by official entities.
Hansen explained the meeting was about criminal behaviour in the community and those affected by it, and vulnerable people in Ponoka experiencing housing, financial, mental health and addiction challenges and where those groups overlap.
She said while there are people concerned about crime and vagrants, there are also those who "don't want to get beat up."
"Community safety is a double-edged sword," she said. "We've got a mix happening in that particular space."
Hansen added the demographic of un-housed people, or people using criminal behaviour to meet their needs, seems to be growing and there's some concern in the community that there may be career criminals choosing to make Ponoka a permanent operating base.
Data collected through a vulnerable persons tracking tool being piloted by Ponoka Family and Community Support Services (FCSS) was presented during the meeting.
The data provides a snapshot of the persons seeking support services.
From June 12 to Nov. 24, 2024, FCSS handled 304 client interactions, although individuals are not tracked due to privacy considerations.
According to the data collected, the largest group seeking services are men between the ages of 40 and 49, although there is also a large number of men in the 60 to 69 age category.
Only a third of the people seeking services were women, and of those, most were in the 40 to 49 age range.
Some of the clients were already involved with other agencies before seeking support from FCSS. Of those, the most-used services were the Battle River Medical Clinic, AISH income support and Catholic Social Services.
Within the 304 client interactions, the top five areas of risk/need were basic needs, unemployment, housing, poverty and alcohol. Of the risk factors tracked, only nine men and five women were recorded as having problems with drug use.
Four men were listed as having criminal behaviour contributing to their risk factors. Other risk factors included mental health, cognitive impairment, sexual violence, and physical health.
According to the data, criminal behaviour and drug use had a more minimal impact on the reasons why clients were seeking support.
The "bottom line" is, when you address people's risk factors, you reduce crime, said Hansen.
Hansen said the vulnerable persons tracking tool will likely be adopted across the province.
Several communities, including Wetaskiwin, Maskwacis, Lacombe and Sylvan Lake, have already expressed interest in it, however, it will be two more years before the testing period is complete, she said.
Meeting attendees were asked to write down suggestions they had on how to address community safety issues or service gaps on sticky-notes and post them on one wall of the saloon. The notes were then divided into categories and discussed.
Some of the suggestions included: the need for services following detox; a consistent warming shelter; understanding who the vulnerable people are and where they're coming from; intervention programs with mentorship and educational components; providing work opportunities, wearing a parole ankle monitor and increasing police presence.
Hansen said the suggestions will be taken into account and actions will be created that a committee will follow up on.
The Healthier Together initiative comes with seed funding to identify and address priorities of the community.
Partnering agencies include FCSS, the Ponoka RCMP, Ponoka/ Rimbey Adult Learning, the Ponoka Jubilee Library and Wolf Creek Public Schools.
