From public to private sector, this Kamloops woman has social issues top of mind

KAMLOOPS – After nearly a decade of working with the local government in Kamloops, social and community development coordinator Jen Casorso says it’s time to start a new career chapter.

City employees will give a final farewell to Casorso later this week.

Casorso originally began working with the City of Kamloops in February 2009 and has spent years breaking down social issues and building solutions around housing, homelessness, poverty, addiction and Aboriginal issues.

Casorso will begin working at the company, Urban Matters, as the organization's community well-being lead in June. The mother of two says in her new role she will still be involved in implementing solutions for vulnerable members apart of the community.

According to the company's website, Urban Matters is a community contribution company that launches social ventures to help vulnerable people enjoy a higher quality of life.

“(Urban Matters) covers all of Canada,” Casorso says, adding that her new role will look at how other provinces have different systems for breaking down social issues in different communities.

Casorso says her role with the City of Kamloops has been challenging but beneficial to helping her understand why certain problems can sometimes affect one demographic more than others.

“It’s not an easy task breaking down social issues, there is no one size fits all solution,” Casorso says. “When I first started, the city had just updated the Kamloops Social Plan, and they wanted someone to help act on that and help implement that plan.''

Casorso says she learned a lot working with the city's social development department. Her curiosity around social issues began as a kid. She grew up in Kamloops herself and saw firsthand in her own family how things like money, can create bigger social issues such as poverty and housing affordability problems.

“My parents are very hard working individuals but as a kid I did see some of the challenges they faced on a month-to-month basis,” Casorso says, adding that she wanted to explore the different ways of how money can put stress on people.

“I’m intrigued by people and places,” she says. “When I was a student (in Kamloops) I did a lot of demographic research for food banks, population trends in the community to better understand what some of the challenges were.”

Although the career move will be a change for Casorso, she says her passion for developing plans and solutions around various social issues will still be something she is heavily involved with.

City officials will review and reflect her position before putting up a posting or begin looking for possible candidates to fill the role Casorso is leaving.

Casorso's last day will be on Friday, June 1.

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