Community organizations are stronger together! Helen MacDonnell, Executive Director of Community Links Nova Scotia, shares how CBSS organizations in Nova Scotia have come together through the pandemic and in the wake of Hurricane Fiona to coordinate, share resources, and serve Nova Scotians better, and discusses what a recognized CBSS sector spanning from coast to coast to coast could accomplish.

Helen MacDonnell is Executive Director of Community Links, a community-based organization that for over 30 years has connected individuals and senior-serving organizations, sharing information and resources so older adults can remain active, engaged and valued in their communities. Helen sits on the Seniors Advisory Council to the Government of Nova Scotia and the Nova Scotia Centre on Aging Advisory Board. In 2018 she was a Fellow of NSGovLab, an initiative of the NS Department of Seniors using social innovation to find new ways to support older adults.  She is an award-winning mental health advocate and founder of Women & Wellness®, an awareness and fundraiser which has raised more than $1.5 million for the Canadian Mental Health Association. Helen has an LL.B. from Dalhousie Law School and an MFA in Non-fiction from the University of Kings College, Halifax. She is mom to two adult children and a puppy named Willow.

Helen can be reached at director@nscommunitylinks.ca or 902-240-1822