Learning Partners
Building Resilient Neighbourhoods, Victoria, BC
Social, environmental and economic issues are challenging human and community well-being. Meeting our basic needs closer to home through expanding local, co-operative and self-reliant communities is a key strategy to help us reduce our impact on the environment, while enhancing community prosperity and strengthening social ties and community cohesion. The Building Resilient Neighbourhoods website has wonderful tools and resources for engaging your own neighbours. https://resilientneighbourhoods.ca/ Ward 10 Community Emergency Round Table, Toronto, Ontario
The Ward 10 Community Emergency Round Table was started by Councillor James Pasternack and community volunteer, Lisa Levin in the aftermath of the December 2013 Ice Storm. In the case of emergency, the Round Table will enact its Community Response Plan to service vulnerable populations as well as the broader local community. The Ward 10 C.E.R.T. has produced a document that represents the partnerships, resources, facilities and more that would make up an emergency response. [email protected] The West Bend Neighbourhood Association, Toronto, Ontario
The West Bend team has developed a neighbourhood survey that it will send to all 1900 residents. Among other things, the survey will ask people if they would like someone to help them in an emergency. It will also ask if people could offer help. For example: “Do you have the physical ability to shovel snow for people who may have difficulty doing so, or can you drop off supplies for home bound people who may need food or water?” thewestbend.ca/the-neighbourhood/ The Pocket Community Association, Toronto
The PCA welcomes all new residents with a package that includes information on emergency and resilience. the PCA is an ideal community group for building community resiliency in many ways: it serves a relatively small area, is well-established, is incorporated, has Street Captains and organizes many social and business activities through a Board and individual committees. http://www.thepocket.ca/ 541 Eatery and Exchange, Hamilton, Ontario
541 Eatery & Exchange is a non-profit café on Barton Street East in Hamilton. Customers pay-it-forward, either by volunteering or by turning dollars into buttons that can be used by anyone in need of a good meal. The Eatery also funds and facilitates community initiatives such as skills training and youth programming. Located in a local landmark building, 541 hosts regular Christian services. Well-known and respected by a diverse range of people from both inside and outside the neighbourhood, 541 is where vulnerable locals go in times of stress. With proper city supports, a good communications channel, and enhancement of its existing networks, 541 would quickly become a wonderful faith based resilience hub. Sue Carr is its Executive Director. InDwell
Indwell is a Christian charity that creates affordable housing communities to support people seeking health, wellness and belonging. Its programs currently support over 400 households in Hamilton, Woodstock, and Simcoe. Indwell’s buildings are designed with resiliency in mind. This includes taking steps to design for very low energy use and systems that can sustain their occupants in times of weather stresses. Graham Cubitt is Indwell’s Director of Projects and Development. http://indwell.ca/ Islington United Church, Toronto, Ontario
In 2017, Islington United was approached by two of its neighbours, a daycare and a seniors residence, with the same question. Each asked whether the church would act as a temporary refuge in the case of an emergency—now a provincial requirement for care-giving institutions. Islington United’s Steve Tower has now developed a Memo of Understanding that describes what the church will be able to do should the situation arise. http://islingtonunited.org
The City of Vancouver’s Resilient Neighbourhoods Program, Vancouver, BC
The City of Vancouver’s Resilient Neighbourhoods Program seeks to support Vancouver’s neighbourhoods to be vibrant, adaptive, inclusive, welcoming and resilient communities. By approaching the challenge through a resilience and capacity-building lens, neighbourhoods will be able to identify and build on the services and networks that enable them to thrive day-to-day, as well as consider how these assets can be leveraged to address future hazards like earthquakes or severe weather. Katia Tynan is their Neighbourhood Resilience Planner. vancouver.ca/people-programs/resilient-city.aspx [email protected] Knox United Church, Kenora, Ontario
"Faith communities can have real impact by being responsive to what is right in front of them," says Meg Illman, minister at Knox United. "It’s on the ground action that draws younger people to faith communities: serving, protecting and partnering." These are actions that bring people together in purposeful, caring relationships and are the fundamental characteristics of resilience. In 2016, Knox United became an important convening space for its indigenous neighbours in a 25 day search for a missing girl. Meetings inside the church fostered relationships among a diversity of people. Now Knox is renovating its gymnasium so that the NeChee Friendship Centre can operate a 24/7 shelter for homeless people . The congregation is rooted in faith in action and in being responsive to community need, as well as to the work of building stronger relationships between indigenous and non indigenous peoples. Knox also would like to further promote the arts in its sanctuary; for musicians and audiences alike, the acoustics of its sanctuary are considered the best in the City. [email protected] Hamilton Association for Residential and Recreational Redevelopment Programs
HARRRP is a charitable organization that finds secure and appropriate facilities for community space, and then asks neighbours what they want “their” community centre to offer. Staff and volunteers at St Peter’s HARRRP collaborate with many partners to deliver what people ask —for free. Its wide range of services means that the more than 21,000 people who spend time there are a wonderful diversity who are interested in the arts, food, health, public service and lasting relationships. Although HARRRP is located in a church, it is not only a place of past worship, but also a place that welcomes everyone in the spirit of real trust, friendship and resilience. Bill Parkes: [email protected] We learn from each other: Building Resilient Neighbourhoods, Victoria, BC Beth Emeth Bais Yehuda Synagogue, Toronto Morningside High Park Presbyterian, Toronto Ward 10 Emergency Response Roundtable, Toronto Jim Baxter and the West Bend Neighbourhood Association, Toronto The Pocket Community Association, Toronto |