Why Brant County Needs Belonging Brant to be a Permanent Fixture

Why Brant County Needs Belonging Brant to be a Permanent Fixture

By Deron Hamel



Betty Johnston doesn’t mince words when discussing the value she sees Belonging Brant providing the community.

She’s adamant the citizen-led initiative needs to be firmly in place in the long term.

“Belonging Brant should be a permanent group available to residents of Brant County,” Betty says.

“Everyday citizens who volunteer do not have the expertise that the Belonging Brant personnel have.”

Betty is a leader with Burford Connects, a citizen-led community development group in Burford that’s involved with the Belonging Brant initiative.

She says Belonging Brant provides Burford Connects and other projects with an expertise that goes beyond what most volunteers can offer.

“(Their members) are trained to know how to plan, organize and execute community involvement groups and events,” Betty says.

“Everyday citizens who volunteer do not have the expertise that the Belonging Brant personnel have.”

Funded by the Ontario Trillium Foundation, Belonging Brant is dedicated to creating connections and building relationships across Brantford and Brant County to help people contribute to their community in a meaningful way.

The project, which creates and encourages citizen-led initiatives, is particularly focused on creating opportunities for human connection and decreasing the isolation faced by so many in the community.

“We had some visions but were totally relying on Belonging Brant to direct us. We definitely would not be where we are with planning if they had not been a big part of our planning.”

Betty says Belonging Brant has been “immensely important” to Burford Connects’ success.

The initiative, she says, has helped provide Burford Connects with direction, organizational work and meeting plans.

“We came into this as a group of enthusiastic citizens, not knowing how to proceed,” Betty recalls.

“We had some visions but were totally relying on Belonging Brant to direct us. We definitely would not be where we are with planning if they had not been a big part of our planning.”

If Belonging Brant becomes a permanent community fixture, more citizen-led groups will be able to get off the ground and successfully plan and execute events and projects, Betty says.

Likewise, existing groups will have a continued resource they can turn to for guidance, she adds.

“There are so many events and groups that have been established over the three years that Belonging Brant has been in existence,” she says.

“Burford Connects would not be a functioning group if we had not had Belonging Brant to help us.”

Be A Newsmaker!

What If Belonging Brant Became a Lasting Community Beacon?

Belonging Brant is already a light in our community. It is the place to be. With three years under our belt and our initial funding coming to an end this October, we have the opportunity to fashion our future anew. We’d love to hear what you’ve loved about Belonging Brant, what you’d like for it to become, and what you might like to do to make that dream come true. Consider taking a few minutes to share your answers to these questions.

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