About The
Public Good Society of Dartmouth

Vision

Dartmouth is a welcoming and inclusive community where people and organizations work together to support each other.

Mission

To work with partner agencies serving Dartmouth and to share our resources and knowledge to better understand and address complex social issues facing our community members.

Goals

·   To alleviate the conditions of poverty and improve quality of life in Dartmouth by facilitating access to services; and

·   To identify gaps and then research and develop plans of action for specific complex social and economic issues that affect residents of Dartmouth.

Values

In all we do we value:

·  The rights and aspirations of the individual person

·  Working with people – being connected with the experience of people working towards self-reliance

·  Partnerships and shared responsibility amongst those who serve the community

·  Focus on people’s strengths

·  Creative approaches that inspire innovation in meeting the requirements of those in need

·   The belief that helping others helps the whole community

What is right?
What is just?
What is for the public good?

A sense of social justice inspired Joseph Howe to make this province the best it could be for its citizens in the 1800s. In late 2004, community members representing residents, business, health, community services, voluntary sector, and government formed a non-profit organization The Public Good Society of Dartmouth to make our community the best it can be for the people who live, work and play here. They set as a mission: "To work together and share our resources and knowledge to better address complex social issues facing our community."

The originating group recognized that working together and pooling their resources and knowledge would better address complex social issues facing the Dartmouth area. Steering committee members and resource people included local community health board coordinators, a developer, educator, provincial MLA, two municipal councillors, Department of Community Service officials, social policy analyst, and non-profit board chair. Their leadership, hard work and willingness to take a non-traditional approach, were instrumental in moving the concept and good will forward into action.

Committed to informed decision-making, developing partnerships, and building on what's working in the community, the Public Good Society is a catalyst for positive change. Not only is the group raising awareness and understanding about the root causes of social issues, it is helping to identify gaps in service and policy and to broaden support services for vulnerable persons. Improved coordination of community-based services delivered by all levels of government and the voluntary sector is a more efficient use of human and financial resources.

In 2006, The Public Good Society was registered under the Nova Scotia Societies Act and undertook a Core Service User Survey, funded by Service Canada, to hear first-hand about the well-being of those surveyed and where gaps in services might be. The survey results and recommendations were widely shared.

Based on that information, the Board of Directors developed their first program, Connections That Work, which has been serving the community since 2007. Since then, activity on a number of local issues has occupied the Public Good Society, such as housing, transportation, food security, and social inclusion.

Along with its larger programs, The Public Good Society of Dartmouth engages in several additional partnerships, supporting a number of outstanding initiatives in the community. See our “Parter Initiatives” tab for details!