North BurLINKton Neighbourhood Development Project - Index - … · 2016. 6. 30. · community group 15. Provide resources to 4 community groups across the city of in Aldershot, Central

Neighbourhood Development:

North BurLINKton Pilot Project

January – December 2013

The City of Burlington’s Strategic Plan (2011-2014) recognizes:

Neighbourhoods are at the heart of what makes a city great. They are where we live. Where children play. Where we return after a long day. Where we connect most closely with other citizens.

CDH: A Year in Neighbourhood 2

Project Goal: provide a ‘blueprint’ of the success factors emerging from community on the ‘making’ of a vibrant neighbourhood.

• Community Capacity Building

• Partnership Development • Leverage Resources


Neighbourhood Development Speaks to the City of Burlington's Strategic Plan • Vibrant Neighbourhoods

• Prosperity

• Excellence in Government


Strategic Direction – Vibrant Neighbourhoods:

• Where We Live Matters: Place-Based Neighbourhood Work – A Review, Promising Practice and an Approach; a literature review of neighbourhood development practice

• Mapped assets and networks

• Increased citizen access to information on community programs, services, municipal policy and opportunities for participation

• Increased citizen participation in local neighbourhood life and Burlington wide issues

• Youth citizen action and youth leadership development

• Collaborative work amongst neighbours and with community agencies, Parks and Recreation, Sports Groups, Faith groups, and Arts organizations

• New partnerships

• Leveraged spaces and other resources for programs and events that provide opportunities for relationship and network building – social capital development

• Neighbourhood priority setting and action planning

Neighbourhood Development Speaks to the City of Burlington's Strategic Plan (1)


An Approach to Building Neighbourhoods


READINESS Broad engagement of local

people, citizens’

organizations and

institutions in community

planning and joint

problem-solving

Determining formal

structures/ processes to

support ongoing work by

the community

BUILDING SOCIAL CAPACITY

This is an iterative, not a linear, process.

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BUILDING SOCIAL CAPITAL

DECISIONS ABOUT STRATEGIES AND THEIR

IMPLEMENTATION

Building on existing assets

Leveraging networks to access resources and services

Social action / community organizing when necessary

Evaluation

COMMUNICATION COMMUNICATION

Building

knowledge

about the

community

Supporting emergent leadership

Modelling

Skills training (formal and

informal, determined by residents)

Asset

mapping

Identifying local

people, citizens’

organizations and

institutions

Connecting local

people, citizens’

organizations and

institutions

Network mapping

Maintaining and

enhancing connections



Strategic Direction – Prosperity

• More people are involved in community volunteer opportunities

• Local community residents are trained and hired as community outreach workers



Strategic Direction – Excellence in Government

• Strong connections between CDH and the efforts of the City to develop a Community Engagement Charter; review its Official Plan; charting a future course for the City and neighbourhood development

• Direct connection for City Councillors and City Staff to engage with people at a neighbourhood level

• Facilitated opportunities for coordinated departmental responses to neighbourhood issues

• Equip community members to be engaged at the municipal level, so that the City hears from a broader variety of voices


Incubating Neighbourhood Development through Activities

• Chill Zone: a neighbourhood afterschool program

• North BurLINKton Dinner Night Out

• Monthly North BurLINKton Seniors Lunch

• Special youth events – focused on active neighbourhoods

• Youth Leadership development opportunities


Partnerships

Leveraging Resources

Capacity Building


…neighbourhood development is a do-it yourself process… Like exercise, it is a hands-on affair. While others may benefit indirectly, it is the people who are actively involved who experience the learning and change that is the essence of ‘development’… a key ingredient of strong neighbourhoods is the web of relations through which people combine their talents to achieve goals no one individual or group could do acting on their own… healthy neighbourhoods are those that are able to sustain their development over time. They do this by building a stockpile of assets…” (p. 3-4)

Leviten- Reid (2006)


The Importance of Relationships: Chill Zone Example

CDH: A Year in Neighbourhood

Before After

13

Prior to their involvement with Chill Zone, youth would only recognize other children but would not feel comfortable talking to them. Now, they know one another and feel comfortable talking and calling on others to play. There is decreased isolation and increased trust, a necessary condition for collaboration and community building.


CDH: A Year in Neighbourhood

“I think something magical happens when we sit around the table and we break bread. We share food. Our guards, our problems, go down. And we are connected. We open up to the person that’s beside us. I think that food is an excellent starting point for relationships, for everything.”

“I think it makes us all feel more included. If someone’s ill, you find out and then you can pay them a visit. Whereas before, everyone’s just off on their own.”

“As more and more people in this community become connected, the community begins to feel ‘cozier’ and the barriers to supporting one another diminish.”

15


Outcomes: Community Capacity Building (1)

1. Deepen, expand and strengthen community connections among residents in North Burlington; 150-320 people attending community dinner 52 children/youth attending afterschool programing 12 children/youth accessing formal recreation/sports – clubs/JumpStart 12 youth volunteers engaged in programing and events 33 organizational partners

2. Building Community Leadership Capacity 3,130 volunteer hours given by over 100 volunteers; increasing community capacity to work

together, to understand one another, to problem solve and to innovate Employed 4 people who live in North Burlington part-time or seasonally, building local

employment skills. Engaged 12 local youth in leadership roles – developing program planning, problem solving,

communication and team building skills

3. Continue to identify and connect “hidden” resources and community assets for better utilization of existing resources; participatory asset mapping as a tool of community capacity building connecting with new spaces (Burlington Christian Fellowship Church games room, church

basement, parking lots) connecting with local experts (volunteers with “gifts” they are willing to share: teachers, artists,

sports groups, cooks, and organizers)



4. Community Dialogue on a Neighbourhood Approach Produced a literature review – Where We Live Matters: Place-Based

Neighbourhood Work – A Review, Promising Practice and an Approach – helping us better understand what neighbourhood development means and the theory behind the approach

Two community conversations to talk about and understand neighbourhood development beyond Burlington’s borders and to understand what neighbourhood development is going on in Burlington

5. Developing a neighbourhood plan and a strategy for sustainability; An emerging neighbourhood plan, a set of strategies and action

strategies

6. Consolidate a neighbourhood grass roots organization as defined by the community; documentation of community development process on-going process evaluation to fine tune for success



7. Define key elements of neighbourhood engagement that can be shared; document of community development process (literature review, key informant

interviews, evaluation) facilitated networking with others at the neighbourhood level across the City

Have a Heart for Burlington – Neighbourhood focused network working on increased access to recreation

8. Contributed to local engagement to innovation in municipal dialogue; and opportunities for City to partners in neighbourhood settings, scaling up the issues from neighbourhood to city partnership conversations resulting from closure of Velocity and new

opportunities at Haber; helped design the process and provided the mapping

9. Enhance access to programs and services Acting as a conduit to health and social services 8 venues and a variety of approaches for providing programs, policy and

procedure changes that increase access shared/in-kind space becoming embedded in community understanding of how we can

increase access to programs and services in North BurLINKton neighbourhoods



10. 3,130 volunteer hours given by over 100 volunteers increasing community capacity to work together, to understand one

another, to problem solve and to innovate

11. Employed 4 people who live in North Burlington part-time or seasonally, building local employment skills.

12. Engaged 12 local youth in leadership roles developing program planning, problem solving, communication and team

building skills


Outcomes: Community Capacity Building (5) 13. North BurLINKton staff, volunteers and partners provided and/or facilitated

2 after school program sites (total of three days/week), 4 summer drop-in sites for children, 2 youth special events in the summer; 3 March Break drop-in sites for school age children, 1 Community Dinner (the 2nd and 4th Wednesday of the Month), and 1 monthly seniors lunch (3rd Friday of the Month) Increasing community capacity to work together, collaborating for the

establishment of programs and event planning. With the collective goals of access to recreation and healthy food and opportunities to connect and build relationships in the community

14. Lead 6 planning meetings engaging 21 different volunteers in planning for North BurLINKton programs, events and the future of the emerging community group

15. Provide resources to 4 community groups across the city of in Aldershot, Central Burlington, Alton and Lowville, providing information and opportunities to understand surrounding neighbourhoods better and opportunities to work together across Burlington neighbourhood initiatives.


Outcomes: Partnerships

“In reflecting on things this weekend, I was thinking about the work that your staff does. You are an incredible example of making a difference in a community and seeking to bring that community together. I am thankful for the way you have allowed our church to "get the doors and windows" open here and work for the betterment of this community.”

- Church Partner


churches (11)

communityagencies (11)

business (6)

sports groups (6)

funders (3)

Outcomes: Leveraged Resources


Resource Amount

Cash donations $6,270

In-kind space $40,030

Volunteer hours

3111hr. x $10.25/hr $32,082

Other funding (Service

Canada summer students &

Seeds of Hope) $20,560

Donated supplies $3,100

Total $102,042

Vi


Neighbourhood Animation Partnership development Relationship building Mentoring and training Leveraging resources Facilitating networks,

collaborative and neighbourhood planning

Supporting neighbourhood projects/programs/events

Evaluating and reporting

Leveraged dollars for

Neighbourhood Activities

Vibrant Neighbourhoods

Vibrant Neighbourhoods







One volunteer stated simply, that the project is about “building strong communities – strong communities that look out for one another.”

“To really have a very healthy community, it really helps make… a difference for all of us. At the dinners, I see that we provide this environment. People are connected now. They know each other. They know where to go when they are in need. They know how to help someone. Not just with receiving, but giving too.”

- Quote from Community Member


Success and Synergies

Where We Live Matters viewed as a important reflection piece by other communities across Ontario, Universities and Community Development Groups such as Hamilton’s Community Foundation, Tamarack and The Waterloo Region Crime Prevention Council

Sport Week in Burlington… Neighbourhood Challenge, 5 events in neighbourhood after school programs

Support to emergent network of neighbourhood action across the city

Solidification of the Chill Zone as a neighbourhood program delivery model. Key elements:

free access to recreation; neighbourhood/local in-kind spaces; volunteers; youth leadership development; increased access to other experts such as artists and sports; venue for information sharing about other community resources

Linked to other initiatives: Burlington Age Friendly Council, activities in Aldershot, central Burlington, south east Burlington and made connections in Alton and Lowville


Looking to the Future • Further develop the cross Burlington networking capacity of

neighbourhood-based initiatives;

• Increase access to the Chill Zone model in community identified and supported locations;

• Continue to increase access to recreation and culture in neighbourhood spaces;

• Address food security in neighbourhood spaces;

• Work collaboratively to innovate place-making opportunities across the City, focus on civic engagement, culture, food and recreation;

• Continue to document the Burlington experience for increased learning developing a community of practice; and

• Expand local business involvement in support of neighbourhoods


Documents

North BurLINKton Neighbourhood Development Project - Index - … · 2016. 6. 30. · community group 15. Provide resources to 4 community groups across the city of in Aldershot, Central