The City of Yorkton has hired a new Community Development Manager to help groups in the city provide recreational, cultural and social activities.

The position is new, explained Lisa Washington who has been hired for the position, starting last week. She said the position was “carved out” of some other positions, and broadened with some new responsibilities.

A large part of those responsibilities will be working with groups outside City Hall.

“I’ll be working with community-based organizations and other organizations, in the city” she said, adding she’ll look to create connections which

the City could not do before because there was no one dedicated to a position like hers.

Washington, who had been working with the Yorkton Mental Health Drop-In Centre, said her role will be to help groups with some important issues for many groups, including helping recruit and maintain their volunteer base, and looking at their role in the community and how they are doing at fulfilling whatever their mandate may be.

“I’ll try to help them figure out ways to manage themselves to achieve their goals,” she said.

Washington said in some cases groups have been around for decades, and their original mandate may no longer make sense for the current times.

“Depending on the group, it might be some strategy planning as to where they fit,” she said. “Should they evolve? … If so, how?”

In terms of recruiting volunteers, Washington admitted “that is the challenge,” adding a key effort will be to try and “engage the youth” to become involved.

Washington said she also expects to stay abreast of possible grant sources, which she will share with organizations so they can make applications when applicable.

Another element of the position will be to continue work on the City’s Emergency Preparedness Plan, and to engage the community to create plans for themselves, said Washington.

Similarly Washington will, with the Newcomer Settlement Program in the city, help immigrants acclimatize themselves to life in Yorkton and Canada.

“I’ll be doing a lot of work there,” she said.

Washington said her portfolio “is large,” and rather diverse in the role she will fill, although she said it is a position the City has felt it needed.

“I think a lot of planning for my position has been years in coming,” she said, adding with that, her role “… is evolving.”

The first step will be simply letting groups know she is available to help, said Washington, who said she is sending letters to known community-based organizations, and she will attend the city-wide registration this fall.

“I have to get out there and meet people,” she said.

Washington said she chose to apply for the position because of the opportunity it presented. She said she has also been involved in community groups for years.

“This helps the community at-large as opposed to a specific group,” she said.

Washington can be contacted at 786-1750 or lwashing...@yorkton.ca