The Tantramar COVID-19 Task Force has had a change of leadership and a change of name, to the Tantramar Community Task Force.
Now that COVID-19 vaccines are being distributed throughout the province, the task force will focus on community recovery rather than emergency response measures.
The new co-chairs, who have replaced Carolle De. Ste Croix and David McKellar, say that they are emphasizing volunteer wellness now that the dust has started to settle.
Hear the full conversation with new co-chairs (Kate Doyle and Jessica Hughes) and former chair (Carolle De. Ste Croix) of the Tantramar Community Task Force here:
Kate Doyle, new co-chair and current community developer for Horizon Health, says she and Hughes are strategizing so that volunteers can participate without burning out.
“We know the beast a little bit better at this point, so we don’t need to be going at this reactive ‘full speed ahead’ pace,” Doyle notes. “We have this really cool opportunity now where we can spend some time thinking about what have we done, and how did we do it together, and what what ways can we continue to move this forward that’s sustainable.”
The Community Task Force is now in a transition phase to assess how to move forward.
Co-chair Jessica Hughes, current executive director of community-supported education with Sackville 20/20, says that communication continues to be a priority.
“We’ve had over 200 volunteers in and out of this group over the last year,” Hughes remembers. “We have our core [of] 30 people who are co-chairs of each of the subgroups, and then the five to 10 people within each of those action committees. Those folks have been working around the clock since last March, and folks are tired. In this transition period, [we’re] thinking about [whether] all of these action groups need to continue on in the same way…We’re going to spend the next few months figuring that out together.”
Even though the Task Force has changed its name, COVID-19 will still be very much a priority.
“[COVID-19] is going to touch our lives, no matter what. It’s going to touch our lives if we go to the grocery store, [when] we talk to our friends, how we work, so it would be a miss for us to move away completely,” says Doyle. “COVID-19 is part of our reality, but it is one part of our reality. So this shift to ‘community’ might continue to have a COVID-19 lens applied to it.”
Former chair Carrolle De. Ste Croix says that it’s an emotional goodbye to the task force as she came to know it, but is excited to see where the new co-chairs take it.
She says that consistent communication throughout the group and its hyperlocality were two of its strongest points.
“Overall, what I’m proudest of is the level of communication and partnership that has had to happen in the past year,” says De. Ste Croix. “[It] has led to such a level of trust from our elected officials, our folks who work on nonprofits, community volunteers, the university, our farmers, etc.”
Both former and current chairs agree that members are burnt out after a long run of crisis management.
“Anyone who says that they didn’t at one point get burnt out during this past year, needs to do a little more self reflection,” comments De. Ste Croix.
All parties are optimistic about the future of the Tantramar Community Task Force.
CHMA will check in with co-chairs Kate Doyle and Jessica Hughes periodically to see what they’re up to.
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