"This Award recognizes their innovative and exciting method of using GIS and mapping to support local area networks of social service providers," said Mr. Kachmar.

M.A.P.S. Alberta Capital Region, located in the City of Edmonton, supports local area networks of social service providers by creating maps to be used in their planning efforts and also assisting them in the use of these maps. Since the fall of 2004 M.A.P.S. has been funded by the Community Partnership Enhancement Fund, an initiative of Alberta Children's Services. Its mandate is to work with human services partners to improve service delivery to children and families.

"M.A.P.S. Alberta Capital Region is extremely honoured to be recognized for our use of GIS in community development," said Deborah Morrison, Coordinator, M.A.P.S. Alberta Capital Region. "This award has bolstered our commitment to the development of best practices in this area."

M.A.P.S. is presently working with 15 local area networks to plan the delivery of social services within Edmonton more effectively. Community mapping groups cover the city geographically and are committed to this local planning process.  Social service government departments and non-profit agencies through their participation in community mapping processes are using more inclusive decision making processes which are expected to result in improved services to children and families. 

M.A.P.S. uses GIS to create maps based on the unique needs of each local network. The local networks include non-profit social service providers, government social service departments, and community leaders and volunteers. The maps serve as a central component of collaborative decision making and planning processes.  As a result of the developing relationship between this technology and decision-making, social service planning is becoming much more evidence-based and inclusive. Maps are allowing statistics and other information to be viewed in an easy to understand format thereby leveling the playing field between government employees, the non-profit sector, and passionate community members. Community mapping puts the same information into the hands of all of the participants, creating a collaborative decision making process where all participants decide together what information is valuable to them. M.A.P.S' work directly impacts decision making within the human service sector.

M.A.P.S. is supporting increased opportunities for immigrant, refugee, and isolated families by including these minority groups in the process of identifying problems and creating solutions at a community level. Where traditional human service programs have not been attracting some marginalized community members, community mapping includes them in the process and increases the likelihood of their involvement and results in services that are more sensitive and appropriate to their needs.

About ESRI Canada:
Established in 1984, ESRI Canada is a Canadian owned company specializing in geographic information systems (GIS) solutions. ESRI Canada distributes the world's leading GIS software solutions from ESRI Inc., Miner and Miner, and Azteca. In order to provide organizations with complete industry-specific solutions ESRI Canada has established an extensive business partner program that includes more than 125 Canadian organizations. ESRI Canada also provides professional services including consulting, training, technical support, and enterprise GIS implementation. ESRI Canada is a leader in providing world-class enterprise GIS solutions for many industries including local government, utilities, public safety and defence, business demographics, education, natural resources, and transportation. ESRI Canada has fifteen regional offices across the country, with headquarters in Toronto, Ontario. For more information, please visit http://www.esricanada.com/ or call 1-800-447-9778.

Media contacts:

Heather Adams
Communications Specialist
ESRI Canada
T: 416-386-6463
E: hadams@esricanada.com
W: http://www.esricanada.com/

Deborah Morrison
Coordinator
M.A.P.S. Alberta Capital Region
T: 780-474-9393
E: maps.deb@telus.net
W: http://www.mapsalbertacapitalregion.ca/