Vital Signs survey underway at the CFSEA

Posted on August 17, 2023 by Ryan Dahlman

By Anna Smith
Commentator/Courier

The Community Foundation of Southeastern Alberta (CFSEA) is looking for voices from every part of this corner to ask one very important question: what does your community need?

VitalSigns is a program that, for over 20 years now, strives to measure the vitality of communities across Canada. 

“We use local knowledge to measure the vitality of the community and support action towards improving quality of life. And we just want to spark conversation is our main goal for this program,” said Lauren Freisen, Rural Community Liaison and Communications Specialist for the CFSEA.

“So, what we have is a community survey to gather citizen feedback, because we think it’s so important in ensuring that everyone’s voice gets heard,” said Friesen. “So we make this open to residents all across southern Alberta. So that ranges anywhere from Cypress county, Medicine Hat, County of 40 Mile, the special areas. And just it’s, it’s important that we kind of highlight how unique southeastern Alberta is. And I think the best way to do that is just to hear back from the public directly.”

The survey measures quality of life in a variety of areas, including accessible housing, mental health, connection and community, and “anything else you can really name,” said Friesen.

The data collected will be combined with national provincial data, said Friesen, into the annual VitalSigns report, which serves to both highlight the strengths of the area and re-align the priorities of the foundation for the year to help with what needs to be improved upon.

“The survey is open to youth, as well as, well, as old as you can get. So whether you’re a 13 year old that just wants to provide your voice and opinion, or whether you’re an elderly citizen, we want as much representation as possible. So that’s why we make this survey available to everyone,” said Friesen. 

“When you have an opportunity to provide your voice, I think it’s really important to do so,” said Friesen. “So I just encourage anyone to take part in this survey so we can gather your feedback and hopefully make southeastern Alberta a better place.”