Creating Vibrant Communities , livre ebook

Creating Vibrant Communities
Creating Vibrant Communities

How Individuals and Organizations from Diverse Sectors of Society Are Coming Together to Reduce Poverty in Canada
PAUL BORN, Editor
Copyright 2008 by Tamarack - An Institute for Community Engagement
All rights reserved. The use of any part of this publication reproduced, transmitted in any form or by any measure, electronic, mechanical, recording, or otherwise, or stored in a retrieval system, without the prior written permission of the publisher, is an infringement of the copyright law.
Published in 2008 by BPS Books Toronto, Canada www.bpsbooks.net A division of Bastian Publishing Services Ltd.
In association with Tamarack - An Institute for Community Engagement www.tamarackcommunity.ca
ISBN 978-0-9809231-6-2 (paperback) ISBN 978-1-926645-32-2 (ePDF) ISBN 978-1-926645-33-9 (epub)
Cataloguing in Publication Data available from Library and Archives Canada.
Images used on the cover of this book Vote Living Wage, background image from istockphoto.com (photographer Jorge Salcedo), composition by Laura Zikovic; Pierre Durocher speaking at the 3rd Rendez-Vous des Grands partenaires, courtesy of Vivre Saint-Michel en sant (photographer Jos e Turgeon); Bill Gale at Teen Resource Center, courtesy of the New Brunswick Telegraph-Journal (photographer Cindy Wilson): Make Tax Time Pay, courtesy of Vibrant Communities Edmonton; Fair Fares, courtesy of Vibrant Communities Calgary; Sunflower, string, and Polaroid images from istockphoto.com (photographers: emily2k, Roel Smart, Matjaz Boncina, and Christoph Weihs).
Lightning Source paper, as used in this book, does not come from endangered old growth forests or forests of exceptional conservation value. It is acid-free, lignin free, and meets al ANSI standards for archival-quality paper. The print-on-demand process used to produce this book protects the environment by printing only the number of copies that are purchased.
In memory of Katharine Pearson (1955-2008), co-founder of Vibrant Communities Canada
C ONTENTS
Preface
Introduction
Part I - THE VIBRANT COMMUNITIES WAY
Introduction to Part I
Bringing Vibrant Communities to Life: The Founding Years
Eric Leviten-Reid
Implementing and Evaluating Vibrant Communities
Mark Cabaj, Susan Eckerle Curwood, and Eric Leviten-Reid

Part II - VIBRANT COMMUNITIES STORIES
Introduction to Part II
A. Communities That Built the Trail
The Group of Six
Sherri Torjman
British Columbia s Capital Region
Anne Makhoul and Eric Leviten-Reid
Quality of Life Challenge: Fostering Engagement, Collaboration, and Inclusion - Theory of Change
The Employer Challenge
The Mentorship Challenge
Victoria s Regional Housing Trust Fund
Inviting Low-income Canadians to Speak for Themselves
Niagara Region, Ontario
Anne Makhoul and Eric Leviten-Reid
Opportunities Niagara: Untying the Knots, Connecting the Dots - Theory of Change
Pursuing a Living Wage in the Niagara Region
Niagara s Inter-municipal Transportation Strategy
CAW 199 and Community Partners Build Affordable Homes and Community Spirit
Saint John, New Brunswick
Anne Makhoul, Eric Leviten-Reid, and Mike Bulthuis
Vibrant Communities Saint John: Dismantling the Poverty Traps - Theory of Change
Saint John Tackles Energy Poverty
Neighbourhood Development Initiatives
Housing Appointment Creates New Opportunities
Making a Difference in the Lives of Young People
Government Engagement in Saint John
Edmonton, Alberta
Anne Makhoul and Eric Leviten-Reid
Vibrant Communities Edmonton: Building Family Economic Success - Theory of Change
Community Investment in Edmonton
Financial Literacy Work in Edmonton
Edmonton s Job Bus Preparations
The Make Tax Time Pay Campaign
Trail Builder Update: Make Tax Time Pay 2007
Saint-Michel, Quebec
Anne Makhoul, Eric Leviten-Reid, and Dal Brodhead
Le Chantier in Saint-Michel: Tackling Poverty and Social Inclusion - Theory of Change
Affordable Housing through Cooperative Development in Saint-Michel
Community Engagement Through Culture
Training for Employment
Calgary, Alberta
Anne Makhoul and Eric Leviten-Reid
Vibrant Communities Calgary: Awareness, Engagement, and Policy Change - Theory of Change
Defining and Increasing Civic Engagement
Assured Income for the Severely Handicapped Public Policy Initiative
Fair Fares Calgary Celebrates Reduced-fare Transit Passes
Update on the Living-Wage Campaign
Fair Fares 2008: Roadblocks and Opportunities
B. Emerging Trail Builders
Hamilton, Ontario
Anne Makhoul and Mike Bulthuis
The Hamilton Roundtable for Poverty Reduction
Hamilton s Best Start Network
The Hamilton Spectator s Focus on Poverty
Mohawk College Builds Its Community Partnerships
Shared Leadership and Collaborative Governance in Poverty Reduction
Surrey, British Columbia
Anne Makhoul
Vibrant Surrey: Bridging the Gaps and Consolidating Strengths - Theory of Change
Project Comeback: A Lifeline for Surrey s Homeless Day Labourers
Waterloo Region, Ontario
Anne Makhoul
Waterloo Region s Guaranteed Income Supplement Campaign
Opportunities 2000 s Year of Change
St. John s, Newfoundland
Anne Makhoul, Eric Leviten-Reid, and Peggy Matchim
Vibrant Communities St. John s: Engaging Citizens and Changing Systems

Conclusion: Toward 2011
Further Resources
Contributors
P REFACE
Creating Vibrant Communities attempts to capture the process and outcomes of a group of Canadian communities that have held many important community-building conversations, specifically about poverty reduction. People living in poverty and representatives from all sectors of these communities have come together for these conversations. The result has been inspiring work and community transformations right across the country. This work and body of practice are known as Vibrant Communities Canada.
Creating Vibrant Communities celebrates and documents this phenomenon. It is composed of (I) two papers on the Vibrant Communities way and (II) stories of the six communities that built the trail and four communities that followed.
I believe that this book will inspire and help three audiences. The first are those who have been following our work and who are interested in Vibrant Communities Canada. They will find in it a good overview of the history and developments of the formative years, known as phase one. The second are those interested in community-development methodologies. They can read this book as a case study in a method known as Comprehensive Community Initiatives. The book details and documents a particularly good example of a new approach to collaborative action. The third audience are those who are interested in poverty reduction. These readers will find descriptions here of many innovative approaches to poverty reduction adopted by the Vibrant Communities Network; and they will see how and why these methods have worked.
READING THIS BOOK
Vibrant Communities Canada as a whole is a relatively young national initiative. Launched in 2002, its learning during its formative years (2002-2006) was extensive. This book attempts to capture and share the knowledge generated during that time, in the hope that you will join in our conversation about community change and poverty reduction. Our desire is that it will inspire you to join in our work of creating vibrant communities in Canada.
In the Introduction, I share the story of the founding of Vibrant Communities and describe how Sherri Torjman s monograph, Reclaiming Our Humanity, inspired and informed it.
Part I of the book focuses on the formative years. If you are looking for a quick overview of our work, the best place to start is with the first paper, Eric Leviten-Reid s summary of the Vibrant Communities experience from 2002 to 2006. The other paper in this part of the book, by Mark Cabaj, Susan Eckerle Curwood, and Eric Leviten-Reid, analyses communities that have established community campaigns. We call these communities Trail Builders. This paper provides an overview of the results to December 2006 and a description of how we captured the outcomes described.
Part II is a collection of stories describing the various initiatives undertaken by individual Vibrant Communities in their attempts to eliminate poverty. It is divided into two sections; Communities That Built the Trail and Emerging Trail Builders.
The first section is devoted to the initial group of six communities that launched community-wide campaigns. These stories are organized chronologically according to when each community joined Vibrant Communities. They include an overview of each community s work, a description of the local environment, and their theory of change, which describes their unique approach to poverty reduction. We have also included stories of their work and progress. Some of these stories go beyond the formative years with information as recent as 2008. They have been included primarily to give concrete examples of work being done at the community level.
The second section is devoted to emerging Trail Builders and their stories, some of which describe the various challenges faced in implementing multi-sector comprehensive community initiatives. AH have launched community-wide campaigns.
At the end of the book, you will find further resources related to this work. All of this material can also be found on the Vibrant Communities website.