It all comes down to raising a family in the best place for Heather Glenn-Dergousoff. Along with her husband and two young children, Heather traded the urban lifestyle of Calgary for the rural lifestyle of Rossland 10 years ago. Other than driving through once, they hadn’t even spent time here!
Her husband got a job with Fortis, though, and Heather was ready to leave her law enforcement career as a civilian criminal intelligence analyst to stay home with their two daughters. Their son was born here, and when he was 2, she decided it was time to go back to work.
“I started working with families with young children to make this region the best place to raise a family,” Heather says. “It’s very important to support our families, especially with young children, because that’s the way to build vibrant communities.”
Heather started at the Skills Centre recently, working three days a week on poverty reduction initiatives. She continues to work the other two days as the executive director of the Family Action Network.
Last year, she also worked for the school district as an inclusion support employee, helping include the diverse needs of students in the classroom. She sees a natural progression from working with families and the complexities of working with different service providers to working to reduce poverty.
Heather’s work is primarily focused on reducing the number of people who are working yet still living in poverty in Trail. It’s a three year project that’s just getting started, and it lives up to her goal of making this the best place to raise a family.
