Program to build community ties

A worldwide initiative aimed at strengthening communities by connecting neighbours is being planned in Black Diamond and Turner Valley this summer.

A task force of ministerial and emergency personnel, Town councilors, doctors and various other prominent community members is planning a communities-wide operation to keep residents informed of the skills, abilities and knowledge of those living nearby.

“We’re still in the initial stages, but it’s becoming pretty clear that we want to do this and the key to it is that it’s done at a neighbourhood level,” said Bill Cutress, one of the original members. “It’s strengthening neighbour-to-neighbour connections. That’s the way you become resilient. ”

Cutress, a member of the Millarville Community Church, was among those to spearhead the task force last year, with a plan to model similar programs in communities around the world.

Among them is the Abundant Community Initiative Edmonton that brings neighbours together through education and events, and the Resilient Communities initiative developed in the Philippines following the 2013 typhoon.

“It occurred to us that the flood of 2013 was that sort of situation,” Cutress said. “We have heard about other initiatives and we’re trying to pick and choose the best things and also figure out how we can apply it in our setting.”

About a year ago, Cutress connected with fire chiefs in both towns, an EMS supervisor, Turner Valley Mayor Kelly Tuck and a Family and Community Support Services coordinator.

“Resilient communities has a connotation of dealing with disasters, but that’s not the point of this task force,” he said. “We’re sort of modeling ourselves after a community health initiative. We want to improve the resilience in our community by increasing neighbourhood connectiveness. It will help us work together and help each other in times of adversity and disasters.”

Cutress said an advisory committee needs to be struck to identify and recruit block and neighbourhood connectors.

Block connectors will be the contact for every household and responsible for organizing block-wide events while the neighbourhood connectors will be responsible to compile information and report to the task force for 20 blocks and ensure the block connectors are trained.

A community coordinator will work with the neighbourhood connectors and task force, and be responsible for updating progress, reporting successes and updating the website.

“We have been talking to people in Turner Valley and Black Diamond and they’ve shown a lot of interest in taking some of these concepts from other parts of the world and seeing how they can be applied in small town Alberta,” he said. “Everyone we’ve spoken to so far has been very positive about the idea. The Towns are equally enthusiastic.”

The task force has met about half a dozen times and in January brought representatives from Abundant Community Initiative Edmonton to talk about its program.

Cutress said it will meet again in April to define the next steps to get the program going.

Tuck said she attended her first meeting in January.

Tuck said she is excited about the potential of bringing pockets of neighbourhoods together through regular communication.

“It’s about building communities within subdivisions,” she said. “If there ever was another disaster, then we do have a list within our own areas that we are able to look after each other rather than thinking the municipality can look after us.

“It’s not just looking at when there’s as disaster, but as a whole how to support each other at different levels.”

Tuck expects provincial dollars will be available to help fund the program and said it has the ability to develop to other groups or clubs in individual neighbourhoods.

“It could potentially expand into interest groups like cooking clubs,” she said. “It’s more than just helping neighbours.”

If the program is a success, Cutress said there is potential to expand it into the rural area and other communities like Longview, Priddis and Millarville.

The task force will host activities to get information about the initiative to the public this spring.