SASKATOON GROUPS RECEIVE SPIRIT AWARDS

Released on September 15, 2006

Spirit Awards for Community-Based Organizations (CBOs) were presented in Saskatoon today to Construction Careers Saskatoon in the category of Career & Employment and to Quint Development Corporation for Housing.

"Saskatchewan is known for its community spirit," Community Resources Minister Buckley Belanger said while attending award celebrations. "Construction Careers Saskatoon and Quint Development Corporation are human service CBOs that form an integral part of the social services sector. They are excellent examples of the determination that exists in the sector to develop caring and vibrant communities and of the success that can be realized through goodwill and co-operation."

"Construction Careers Saskatoon is very honoured to be selected for a Spirit Award," Saskatchewan Indian Institute of Technology Dean of Trades & Industrial Guy Poncelet said. "It is great to receive provincial recognition for the work we are doing in serving an industry need and also helping people prepare for jobs and build careers."

"We are sincerely grateful to the Department of Community Resources for their recognition of Quint's affordable housing efforts," Quint Board Chair Jacqui Barclay said. "Our achievements in housing are largely due to the commitment by our partners in government, credit unions and business to support community-delivered housing solutions. Our approach demonstrates the importance of integrating community economic development principles into affordable housing and neighbourhood revitalization initiatives."

This is the first year of the Spirit Award for CBOs. It was created to honour the human service CBOs that deliver programs and services on behalf of Community Resources and help to address pressing social issues at the local community level. CBOs that received funding in the last two years from Community Resources or the Saskatchewan Housing Corporation, an agency of Community Resources, to provide programs or services in one of the five award categories were eligible.

Award recipients were selected by a group of individuals from the education, government, Aboriginal and community sectors based on their ability to make a difference in people's lives and their demonstrated success in areas such as building inclusive families and communities, good governance, accountability and linkages with others groups.

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For More Information, Contact:

Janet Miller Community Resources Regina Phone: (306) 787-0531	Leonard Manitoken Construction Careers Saskatoon Saskatoon Phone: (306) 477-9313
Len Usiskin Quint Development Corporation Saskatoon Phone: (306) 978-4041 Email: Ext. 14