Community Action Team open house in Fort St. John

FORT ST. JOHN, B.C. — Fort St. John’s Community Action Team (FSJCAT) will host a community open house next week.

A community town hall is scheduled for Monday, October 21st, at the North Peace Cultural Centre.  

Project coordinator Julianne Kutcheran says the meeting will allow a new Community Action Team to be chosen, thanks to funding from the provincial government.

She facilitates the FSJCAT with Graham Snow through the consulting firm Urban Matters. The FSJCAT is part of the Community Action Initiative (CAI).

The CAI began with provincial funding to address mental and substance abuse issues in larger urban centres back in 2016.  

Through the CAI, the FSJCAT provides programming, information, and initiatives designed to end the stigma surrounding substance abuse and to provide support.

According to Kutcheran, the FSJCAT began in 2018.

“[Urban Systems] has been alongside to help coordinate some of the programming in previous years,” said Kutcheran.

“We’ve been re-engaged to support again because funding has been set aside for Fort St. John, but there hasn’t been mobilization of a program in the past year.”

The main focus of the meeting is to provide discuss a micro-grant opportunity.  Kutcheran says up to $10,000 has been allocated to the FSJCAT.

“It’s to enable community groups to do initiatives they want to do within the community,” said Kutcheran. “Such as providing peer research, peer training or educating workplaces within the community.”

“It provides some assistance for people to achieve some of these goals in an inclusive way.”

According to a Facebook post, the FSJCAT seeks input from all social and health agencies, Indigenous groups, and peer groups within Fort St. John.

The open house will be held Monday afternoon from 4:00 to 6:00 p.m. at the North Peace Cultural Centre, 10015 100th Avenue in Fort St. John.

Visit FSJCAT’s website for further information.