The United Nations defines community development as “a process where community members come together to take collective action and generate solutions to common problems.” There are many strong examples of organizations on the Sunshine Coast doing this kind of work. At Capilano University’s Sunshine Coast campus, community development takes on many forms as faculty work with various groups in the community to help residents reach their educational goals.
An example of one such program is the Community Adult Literacy and Learn-ing program (CALL), which assists residents of the Sunshine Coast to improve their skills in a variety of areas including reading, writing, numeracy and computers. Trained volunteers work one on one or in small groups with students. Over the last two decades, close to 1,000 adults have achieved their literacy and learning goals through CALL. The program, funded by the Ministry of Advanced Education, is a partnership between the Sechelt Public Library and Capilano University’s Sunshine Coast campus.
The Library and CapU are also members of the Sunshine Coast Literacy Coalition, which, along with other important community partners, promotes literacy across the lifespan by developing and supporting projects and promoting public awareness.
As September 2015 was the first official Literacy Month on the Sunshine Coast, the coalition hosted several events aimed at encouraging people of all ages to learn more about this issue. None of this would be possible without these important partnerships that contribute to community development.
For more information on the CALL program, see http://capilanou.ca/sunshine-coast/programs/Career-Access
For more information on the Literacy Coalition, see www.sunshinecoastliteracy.org
