Community Connections Society of Southeast BC is very pleased and honoured to announce that their Executive Director, Gwen Noble (pictured above), has been chosen as one of the five winners of 2017 Catalyst for Change Award.

The BC Association of Family Resource Programs has been celebrating change makers in B.C. since 2015. This year’s call for nominations went out in September and there were to be five award recipients, one for each of the Health Authorities throughout the province. Gwen was chosen as winner for the Interior Health Authority region.

Criteria around the selection of the award recipients were based on submitted written statements that attested to the individual’s contribution to the well-being of families and their children in their community.

Gwen Noble has been the executive director at Community Connections for 12 years. She is a visionary person who thinks outside of the box, loves to collaborate with other people and agencies and is a supporter of positive change for families, children and our community. She is acknowledged within CCS and across our region as possessing qualities that exemplify a person who is a “catalyst of change.”

Gwen has been instrumental in the creation of two service hubs, which are based in Cranbrook and provide services to communities throughout the East Kootenay.

The first hub was the creation of the Kootenay Child Development Centre (KCDC), now in its fifth year of operation. Gwen met with community partners, service groups, businesses and city councils throughout the region to explain the need for such a Centre and its importance to families and was directly involved in raising in excess of $1 million in order to complete the renovations and construction of the centre.

As a result of Gwen’s leadership and perseverance, the centre became a reality and has been an invaluable source of resources and support for East Kootenay children and families. It is of particular note that Gwen spent many hours fostering relationships among service providers while development of the KCDC was in progress. She envisioned the value and importance of having these services in one location for children and families of the East Kootenay and the possibility of improving service delivery through collaborative and integrated programming.

Within a few years of successfully launching KCDC, Gwen was again nurturing and strengthening partnerships with key community and regional players to create yet another service hub for families.

The Cranbrook Family Connections (CFC) building opened in 2014 and houses a number of society programs and community partners that collaborate to provide a continuum of services for families, individuals and seniors. Once again this made a significant improvement to the coordination of services especially for marginalized families. CFC also provides a base where people can access a broad range of resources, supports and referrals to help them address the significant issues directly impacting their lives. Stories abound about the changes in their lives as a result of being involved at CFC and easily accessing, in one location, so many services they need.

Gwen has initiated numerous other projects that address issues facing many of our region’s most under-resourced families such as perinatal and child health, housing/homelessness, poverty, mental health and substance use. She is directly involved in several committees to raise awareness and advocate for increased and improved services for families; often through collaboration with other not for profit agencies.

Gwen Noble is an inspiration to many – families, children, individuals, colleagues and fellow collaborators. She has been, and continues to be, a “catalyst of change” and the East Kootenay benefits tremendously.

Community Connections Society of Southeast BC

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