Vaughan, ON
Last night, 30 people gathered at New Hope United Church, a storefront site inside Vaughan Mills to kick-off …more than roads, sewers, stores and schools, a series of five community dialogues on the pace, face and places of growth in York Region. The series is a continuation of United Way York Region’s Meeting House – community dialogues in local neighbourhoods on the region’s most pressing social issues.
“This is a logical and important next step for United Way and our region,” states Usha George, volunteer Chair, Community Engagement and Research Committee and Board member, UWYR, and Dean, Community Services, Ryerson University. “All our research and community discussions to date validate that the single defining issue of our region is the breathtaking pace of growth, the changing face of our growth, and the places where said growth is happening. This Meeting House series will allow us to hear first-hand from people and groups in our five growth areas: what social infrastructure is needed today and tomorrow, how can we best support strong neighbourhood planning and how can we better coordinate services in the face of increasing demand and growth?”
“Nearly 60% of all new development over the next few decades will be in five specific corridors: Richmond Hill Centre/Langstaff Gateway; East Gwillimbury; Vaughan Metropolitan Centre; Markham Centre; and Newmarket Centre,” continues Ms. George. “United Way is bringing citizens, community groups and business together in these five corridors to discuss social infrastructure, one that strengthens our region’s already envied quality of life.”
“This is about more than roads, sewers, stores and schools,” says Ian Proudfoot, Vice-President and Regional Publisher York Region Media Group, and Chair of the five part Meeting House series. “This is about people – and a social infrastructure that can support the children, youth, families and seniors who call York Region home today and for decades to come. The Meeting House series will culminate in a Regional Summit in fall 2012, bringing together themes, lessons and recommendations for United Way and our partners.”
The series is inspired by the Region of York’s Vision 2051, a new blueprint for the Region’s future. Vision 2051 takes a 40-year outlook on York Region, celebrating the 40th anniversary of The Regional Municipality of York, and getting residents involved to envision a strong, successful York Region over the next four decades.
“York Region is in the enviable position to discuss and build our physical and social infrastructure in tandem – as our communities grow and evolve,” said Daniele Zanotti, Chief Executive Officer, United Way York Region. “The open field in Vaughan today will be home to 40,000 people and 30,000 jobs in 20 years. It is not too early to get people involved and working on how we want to shape our living and caring communities.”
United Way York Region serves nine municipalities: Aurora, East Gwillimbury, Georgina, King, Markham, Newmarket, Richmond Hill, Vaughan, Whitchurch-Stouffville. In addition to its traditional role of supporting agencies to meet urgent needs, United Way is working to tackle the root causes of social issues. To help strengthen York Region’s quality of life, United Way is uniting people and resources on three priorities: helping kids be all they can be, moving people from poverty to possibility and building healthy people and strong neighbourhoods.
For more information contact:
Adriana Suppa
Senior Communications Manager, United Way of York Region
asuppa@uwyr.on.ca
Tel. 905-474-9974 ext. 358
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