Achievements
There were many significant achievements at the Triton site:
- The teamwork required to organize and complete the field trip to Boston
was considerable and was a real morale booster for the group;
- All of the participants, except one, considered Bridging the Gap to be
exceptional, some said it had life altering impact on them and their families,
enabling them to finally
have a "normal" life with a job, an income, improved education and
a future to which they could look forward in their home community;
- The project sponsor (the Baie Verte Development Association and the Emerald
Zone) were completely delighted with the results of Bridging the Gap in Robert's
Arm. They have been involved in many "projects" and "programs" over
the years, but this is one of the few they felt was so well tailored to the
challenges
of economic and social development in rural Newfoundland. They are
eagerly awaiting the opportunity to do it again;
4.2 Lethbridge
Highlights
The Lethbridge site was one of two (Newfoundland Hardwoods in Clarenville
being the other) in Zone 15 sponsored by the Random North Development Association.
Thus, the CLN, Project Co–ordinator, College Campus and sponsor had to manage
two of everything (two sets of employment partner selection process, client
recruitment processes, etc.) This experiment to see if it is feasible to
run more than one project at a time appeared to be successful. There were several
variables in favour of its success:
- highly organized and motivated project co–ordinator;
- both sites were within a 20 minute travel distance of each other;
- time differences between when the projects started and finished;
- experienced CLN, campus and sponsor, as they had worked with
the first phase of Bridging the Gap in Catalina.
Lethbridge and the surrounding area, while quite close to the relatively
urban service centre of Clarenville, experiences a considerably different culture.
They are much more closely
aligned with the more rural communities in terms of their economic diversification
and development. In addition, the communities are also very close knit
and "small town" in outlook.
There were 8 clients at the Lethbridge site, one of the smallest groups.
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