By Pepper Parr
March 30, 2015
BURLINGTON, ON
It could not have come at a better time.
A particularly good idea was close being on the ropes. It had its life extended for a short period of time when Councillor Taylor, after begging for ten minutes, got his colleagues to give Community Development Halton (CDH) $10,000 to carry them until a grant they were really hoping to get came through.
The grant did come through and now CDH can move forward with some of the best neighbourhood development work this city has seen in some time
Joey Edwardth, guides and direct Community Development Halton – pulled in a grant that will keep a program alive for three more years.
They call the project that is now funded North BurLINKton Community Group, they create spaces where young people can meet, make new friends, experience a sense of belonging, and gain leadership skills.
High school aged youth in north Burlington will secure and animate these spaces with the support of adult allies
These are people who could be and often are at risk of falling between the cracks. They come from poorer neighbourhoods; few if any of them are members of the Burlington Teen Tour Band or one of the hockey leagues – that kind of money doesn’t float around the kitchen table in these homes.
The province came through with a Youth Opportunities Fund grant of $181,700 over 30 months to create neighbourhood spaces.
This project will address the objectives of the Youth Opportunities Fund that expects youth to form and maintain healthy, close relationships and to engage their communities.
Risha Burke, the Community Development Halton that is in the field working with community and helping stitch together the pieces that make it all come together.
The program allows CDH to put staff into the community to facilitate, direct guide, advise and support as they develop the social structures that keep them focused and – to be blunt about it – keep them out of trouble.
The North BurLINKton Community is an emerging grass roots group that has shown it can, with some mentoring and guidance create inclusive and friendly neighbourhoods that help people connect and increase their sense of belonging.
This initiative comes at a perfect time, allowing the North BurLINKton Community Group to move forward building on the neighbourhood development work of community members and partners over the past few years. The initiative will be supported by adults but lead by youth, tapping into the potential of extraordinary young people in north Burlington neighbourhoods.
The city supported the program for two years – providing about $85,000 each year but decided this wasn’t the kind of community work they should be doing.
The programs and policies they developed have worked there way into other parts of the city and, with some leadership will be passed along to other municipalities in the Region.
These are dollars spent that return real value to the city. The program now has funding for the next three years – time enough to prove that it works and figure out how to fund it properly.
Community development in Burlington tends to fall between that space at city hall and the space at the Regional office – social issues are seen as the responsibility of the Region but they tend to define social a little differently than more progressive community leaders.
Regional Councillors showing you the new 2 gallon blue boxes. Region tends to focus on waste, water and roads – people don’t rank very high on their agenda.
Water and sewage pipes. Waste collection and road repair tends to occupy the minds of those at the regional level; what mind space is left gets used on determining what development charges should be.
People get lost at the higher level of local government.
