In November of 1989, after the discovery of contaminants in the ground water which supplies the water systems, the Waterloo Regional Government appointed the Woolwich Health Committee to respond to the resulting health concerns of the community. This committee included representatives from the fields of health care and government, as well as citizens from the communities affected and local environmental groups.

The Health Committee decided to sponsor an event that would involve the people of the township directly in identifying and addressing their concerns.

Councillor Grace Sudden, who chaired the Health Committee, talked with members of the Elmira business community and the Waterloo Health Unit. She saw ‘Healthy Communities’ as a possible positive channeling of energy in the area. After several people attended a ‘Healthy Communities’ convention in 1990, the Health Committee decided to sponsor an event that would involve the people of the township directly in identifying and addressing their concerns.

In January 1991, Councillor Sudden and the Reverend Clint Rohr, Executive Director of the Woolwich Community Health Centre, invited a broad cross-section of people from across the township to form the Woolwich Healthy Communities Planning Committee. Their first task was to hold a Visioning Day - a day that encouraged people to think about what made their community healthy and share what they would like their communities to be.

Out of Visioning Day, the Woolwich Healthy Communities Coordinating Committee (WHCCC) was formed to promote the Healthy Communities concept and develop future initiatives. Grace Sudden and Clint Rohr were asked to co-chair this committee and members included citizens, local politicians, the municipal planner, and people representing education, business, health and social services.

"The very broad membership in this committee has been one of our biggest challenges," says Clint Rohr. "All these intersectoral partnerships with different interests and all trying to find what we have in common."

Three clear themes emerged from the visioning workshops and these led to the formation of three groups to plan and carry out a course of action in each area: the Clean Waterways Group, the Woolwich Trails Group and the Sustainable Development Group.

One of the main objectives of the Coordinating Committee has continued to be the involvement of all sectors of the community. They would like to involve more youth, business people and particularly farmers. To this end, they approached the local president of the Federation of Agriculture with the suggestion that a fourth group, a Water Quality Group, look into the problems of private wells and septic systems. Fifteen rural people came together to look at the concerns of contaminated well water. This year group member Brenda Tindale attended a conference in Chicago, called ‘Priming the Pump’, where their Water Quality Group was for the third year designated as ‘Groundwater Guardians’.

"Occasionally I have felt as though the small amount I do to protect our environment is not enough to make a difference," says Brenda. "After attending this conference I realized that every little bit helps and that we must all practise responsibility for keeping our groundwater clean."

Woolwich Township Council had endorsed the ‘Healthy Communities’ concept from the outset and asked Council and staff to work with the Coordinating Committee to form healthy community ‘guiding principles’ for Council’s approval. The principles took the form of questions, all equally important, that would be used in making decisions.

Some of these questions were:

Is this decision likely to:

• Build a feeling of community?
• Give voice and choice?
• Support farming?
• Support local business?
• Treat waste as a resource?
• Improve community amenities?
• Improve the quality of the environment?
• Provide for people’s basic needs? and
• Honour the past and safeguard the future?

"When you look back on your time in office, what things will you be proud of having done that made this township a healthier place to live?"

During the municipal election in the fall of ‘97, the WHCCC decided to take its first action in the political arena. The first thing they did was to frame a set of questions for the candidates, based on the nine guiding principles. The second thing was to have a spokesperson, Co-chair Inga Rinne, at each meeting, asking questions on behalf of the whole committee. People at the meeting appreciated the thoughtfulness and depth of Inga’s last question, "When you look back on your time in office, what things will you be proud of having done that made this township a healthier place to live?"

Joy Finney, a Health Promoter at Woolwich Community Health Centre, has been involved with the WHCCC since its beginning.

"We’ve created a decision-making guide, based on our principles, which helps us to analyze decisions and make recommendations. For example, we made a presentation to our Township council on a Big Box store proposal, using the principles," says Joy. The guide helps us to broaden out our way of thinking and to decide where to put our energy. We’ve also just sent out a community survey to every home in our Township. The survey is part of a research project through which we’re assessing the health of our community."

"The very word ‘vision’ is alight with hope."

And one of the next ideas to focus on is a community play that would capture the essence of Woolwich Township from the past to the present day. Community members are being asked to join in research, play-writing workshops, stage management and the gathering of personal and community stories that will express the vision of their community.

"The very word ‘vision’ is alight with hope," says committee member Bev Sawyer. "It lifts rather than burdens. It brings people together from all sectors. There is no us and them, just us. People caring about each other access in themselves power they never knew they had."

"Speed, growth, technology have all contributed to complicating our lives. Money and convenience have made our decisions for a long time. Now we are beginning to be aware of the real cost, of truer values. Through ‘Healthy Communities’, we hope to engage our children - and our children’s children - in creating and keeping their own vision of health, nature and community."

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