Didsbury Talks

Healthy Didsbury is pleased to announce a new community initiative: “Didsbury Talks!” and the hiring of our “Didsbury Talks!” Coordinator: Lyle Schulz.

“Didsbury Talks!” is a two year series of theme -based community cafes designed to intentionally bring together community organizations and the citizens in Didsbury. The goal is to create a welcoming forum for engaged and authentic, action-oriented conversations about topics that are relevant to the people of Didsbury. The cafes become the catalysts for generating ideas, identifying necessary actions and connecting with community members who are enthusiastic about the specific theme. At the completion of each café, action plans and follow-up activities will be created to assist community leaders, organizations and residents to move great ideas into major actions.

Thanks to the generous support of ACE Communities of Alberta Recreation and Parks Association, Healthy Didsbury has hired Lyle Schulz as the Community Café Coordinator. Lyle brings diverse skills and experiences to the initiative, including electronic media, community engagement, marketing and graphic design. He will be working closely with Healthy Didsbury for the planning and implementation of the upcoming community cafes. Healthy Didsbury is thrilled that Lyle has decided to accept this challenging and rewarding role.

Background:

Healthy Didsbury is a coalition of community members and organizations working towards a long range vision for a Healthy Didsbury. This group grew out of a public forum in January, 2008 that was hosted by the Town of Didsbury, the Rosebud Health Foundation and the former Calgary Health Region (now Alberta Health Services). Since that first public forum, the group has been quietly working to develop a vision and action plan for Didsbury. Our vision for Didsbury is a healthy, safe and involved community. Our mission is to facilitate wellness through community involvement, partnership and action. In 2009, Didsbury was selected as an ACE (Active, Creative, Engaged) Partner Community. This two year partnership focused on enhancing the quality of life in rural communities by strengthening community leadership, collaboration, and innovation through recreation, parks, arts, culture and heritage. One of the fundamental purposes of ACE is to recognize and help develop sustainable leadership using a grass roots or community driven approach.