Monday's (May 15) City Council meeting included a presentation on the results of a recent youth needs assessment.

The results were presented by Christopher Cameron of Objective Research. The assessment surveyed 420 Airdrie youth between the ages of 12-24, with 28 participating in focus groups.

Patti Murray, Manager of Recreation, Culture, and Social Sustainability with the City of Airdrie, said the assessment found that youth in Airdrie want to be engaged.

"They're very interested in getting involved in the community and some of the highlights of volunteering and being involved in adult mentoring programs."

In his presentation, Cameron showed that youth in Airdrie are primarily involved through sports and physical activity, volunteering, and community events. He highlighted that some findings show youth in Airdrie want to be involved in the community. For example, 15.9 percent indicated that being able to help others makes something meaningful to them, while 10.3 percent said having a purpose and making a difference achieved the same result.

The assessment also identified some barriers to youth involvment.

"Sometimes it's a lack of money and sometimes it's difficult for them to actually find the transportation to get from place A to B," explained Murray.

Cameron also indicated that youth feel they don't know what opportunities exist to get involved.

Youth also said that they feel safe in Airdrie, owing to a strong police presence and the friendly and supportive people who live in the community.

He concluded with several recommendations, including developing communication to increase youth awareness off opportunities to participate in community activities, focusing on transit system improvements that benefit youth, and investing in community based research to collect feedback from youth in Airdrie.

After the presentation, City Council voted unanimously to endorse the development of a youth strategy for Airdrie based on the findings of the assessment. 

"We're looking at perhaps the next three to five years to develop that strategy," said Murray. "It's also circling back and touching base with youth, doing a needs assessment in several years down the road."

Murray also said that the next step is to share the findings with organizations in the community that work with youth, such as Volunteer Airdrie and the Boys and Girls Club, so that they can work together to engage youth in the city.

 

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