1. Can you tell us a bit about yourself?
2. What is the part of the Williams Lake’s Official Community Plan that you care about most, and want to see action on?
3. What solutions or ways forward do you see to address concerns around crime and homelessness in our community?
4 What do you think needs to be done to attract and retain professionals such as health care providers in our community?
5. Can you name a few fun facts people might not know about you?
I own The Realm of Toys along with my mum, and I’m often busy planning events and activities for the community. I was the previous president for the Downtown BIA and the Potato House Project.
I’m split on this because I’m equally passionate about creating more affordable housing options and also the beautification of our downtown. I believe if we work together with our arts and culture community we’ll be able to tackle creating a more welcoming and attractive downtown. Not just with murals but overall design through additional grants to keep updating façades of our storefronts, and sculptures or creative displays in the parks and settings like Spirit Square. I hope to see more development of new affordable housing projects streamlined so we can ease the pressure off our current housing market.
Mental health is the root cause of many, if not most, of our crimes and homelessness issues. Making mental health support more readily available could go a long way to lessening both issues, alongside affordable housing. Add in programs that make nutritional food more accessible - like the programs put in effect by the Food Policy Council - and you’ve covered our basic needs. Mental health support, affordable housing and nutritional food, they are the trifecta to helping fight crime and homelessness.
We are lacking in many areas like childcare, affordable housing, a work/life balance with fun things for kids and adults, and our schools are quickly overflowing. We need to address all these issues to attain and keep professionals like healthcare workers.
I’m from the Okanagan but my extended family has been in Williams Lake for decades, so I’ve been bouncing back and forth for as long as I can remember.
READ MORE: Williams Lake business owner Jazmyn Lyons running for city council
monica.lamb-yorski@wltribune.com
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