Graduation of the ACE 'Diversity Friendly' Communities

ARPA’s Active, Creative, Engaged (ACE) Communities initiative has resulted in a clearer understanding of a “process” for community change that can be applied to many issues and challenges.

Interested in this change process, the Alberta Justice’s Human Rights Education and Multiculturalism Fund (HREMF) funded ARPA to work with four rural Alberta communities from 2011 - 2013. For this particular project, the focus was supporting communities who were interested in becoming more diversity friendly.

Reflecting the mission of the HREMF, the goal of the ACE ‘Diversity Friendly’ Communities (DFC) project was to increase community capacity, using recreation, parks, arts, culture, and heritage as a catalyst, to foster equality, reduce discrimination and racism, and remove organizational barriers that exclude some Albertans. Specifically, this meant that all Albertans would have the opportunity to participate in the social, cultural, political, and economic life of their community without discrimination.

Carstairs, Grande Cache, Jasper, and Rocky Mountain House have now completed their time as the four ACE ‘Diversity Friendly’ Communities. Out of this process, these communities worked on various projects that included: 1) establishing a ‘Welcoming Newcomers’ Coordinator; 2) working with natural assets like trails to make them more accessible to all; 3) heritage-themed camping and inclusive hiking workshops and; 4) a community storybook celebrating people’s uniqueness.

ARPA’s ACE ‘Diversity Friendly’ Communities (DFC) initiative was also chosen by HREMF for a study on social outcomes due to the exceptional activity in our communities. So thanks to all of those who were involved in this remarkable work!

Active Airdrie is building momentum!!!

Congrats go out to Active Airdrie and the launch of their new website: www.activeairdrie.com.  As one of the participating communities in ARPA's Active Community Strategy (ACS) Development Initiative, Active Airdrie used their seed funds to create this online resource aimed at helping the community of Airdrie live an active lifestyle.  This resource is an online search engine that allows local citizens to find events sorted by interests for seniors, adults, youth, and families. It also allows users to find activities in their area and on certain days.

The goal of this fabulous resource: "To increase and sustain a physically active Airdrie by encouraging and promoting activities that support a healthy lifestyle".

Hurrah! Check it out at: www.activeairdrie.com

Bring the Family Back to the Table Together with the Sobeys 21 Days to Healthy Eating Challenge!

With after school activities, working late and busy schedules it’s no wonder that families eat fewer and fewer meals together. Yet eating meals together as a family is beneficial for the entire family’s health. Whether it is breakfast, lunch or supper at home in the park or the arena, families can still enjoy a nutritious meal together! Family meals not only improve nutrition, and encourage better communication and socialization for family members, but they also help save money and even have been linked to children doing better in school. Healthy eating means to eat nutritious and balanced meals.

Eating Well with Canada’s Food Guide categorizes food into four food groups: i) vegetables and fruits, ii) grain products, iii) milk and alternatives, and iv) meat and alternatives. Foods from the four food groups are rich in the nutrients needed to support the health of people of all ages. Families should aim to include foods from 3-4 food groups at breakfast, lunch and supper. Filling their plates with nutritious foods like colourful fruits and veggies, whole grain products, and low fat dairy products will ensure that families are eating healthy meals and getting the nutrients needed to maintain both long and short term health. For more information on healthy eating go to Health Canada’s site (www.healthcanada.gc.ca/foodguide) and learn more about healthy eating with Canada’s food guide. Healthy U (www.healthyalberta.ca) is another great website full of resources, recipes and articles to help families understand nutrition and make healthy eating easy!

Communities ChooseWell values the importance of family meals and invites you and your community to take part in the Sobeys 21 Days to Healthy Eating Challenge and to eat at least one home-cooked, healthy meal together every day for 21 days. The challenge is happening across Alberta from September 9-29th, 2013. Families can pick up a logbook from any Sobeys or IGA store and register online at www.arpaonline.ca/choosewell/events to win some great prizes, including grocery gift cards, cookware, family activity kits and more! Participating ChooseWell communities can also win a healthy living grant!

Be sure to encourage people and organizations in your community to “Like” the Communities ChooseWell Facebook page (www.facebook.com/communitieschoosewell) and follow us on Twitter (@ARPAChooseWell), where they can share stories, recipes, meal conversation ideas, tips, etc. with ChooseWell and others. Also check out the resources on our website to help you get your community excited about the Sobeys 21 Days to Healthy Eating Challenge!

Alberta Communities Receive Funds for Healthy Living Initiatives

Communities ChooseWell: A committee representing health, recreation, and community development reviewed 58 applications from ChooseWell communities for seed funding for local projects to reduce barriers to healthy living.

In the end, sixteen projects were selected from across Alberta, encompassing many different demographic groups and healthy living strategies, and $30,045 was dispersed. Congratulations and best wishes to the following communities who received grant funding:

Bonnyville
Bowden
Boyle Street (Edmonton)
Coronation
Delburne
Fort Vermilion
Innisfail
Kainai
Kate Chegwin School (Edmonton)
Langdon
Lethbridge
Meadowbrook School (Airdrie)
Morinville
Sexsmith
MD of Smoky River
Trochu

Eckville Continues to Build Community Through Partnerships

‘Building a Community of Choice for Family Through Partnerships’ is the motto of the Eckville Community Development Association (ECDA). This commitment to partnerships is what led Eckville to apply to be an ACE Community in 2008. Using their ACE seed funding, in combination with other funds also raised through partnering, Eckville not only hired the town’s first-ever Recreation Director, they also created the town’s Recreation Plan.

Flash forward to 2013 and Eckville is happy to report that the results from this partnership with ARPA has just kept growing! The Town of Eckville has recently committed $20,000 to help maintain the Recreation Director’s position for an additional two years.

“Creating a strong sense of community and including all citizens in meaningful and enjoyable recreational opportunities will greatly enhance the quality of life in our community,” says former ECDA board member Amy Cunningham.

Ongoing work towards establishing a local Spray Park has also been successful, seeing the Town not only approving a site but also committing to its upkeep. The Recreation Board has also recently received notice that a Community Facility Enhancement Program (CFEP) grant for the Spray Park has been approved which is quite the achievement seeing that the community itself had to raise matching funds in order to qualify for the grant.  The CFEP also recently funded some renovations of the Eckville Community Center.  These successes reflect the power of a community working together on prioritized goals to enhance the community for everyone.

“We have ARPA and ACE to thank for this,” says Karin Engen, Coordinator at Eckville Neighborhood Place. “ACE facilitated our community to consult citizens, identified a community need, and then helped us work together to achieve our goal.”

Welcoming Newcomers in Carstairs

Congrats goes out to the ACE 'Diversity Friendly' Communities (DFC) group in Carstairs.  Their recent application for their $10,000 seed funding for their 'Welcoming Newcomers' initiative has been successful!

The Welcoming Newcomers initiative will help new residents including people of different ethnic groups, income levels, and ages feel welcomed and included in the Carstairs community.

The “welcomers”, called “Carstairs Connectors”, will match new residents, and those that may not feel connected, with more established residents who live in the same neighborhood of town. These volunteers will meet with new and other interested residents; informing them about activities, services, and organizations in Carstairs, answering their questions, and linking them with other residents, if desired.

Welcoming Neighbours extends a personal and individualized welcome to newcomers and other people who may feel excluded.  One-on-one conversations will support inclusion of residents from diverse backgrounds, socio-economic status, family composition, and age.  A friendly face, a welcoming handshake and a conversation over coffee at a kitchen table will help the individuals feel supported and included.

Welcoming Newcomers will build a more inclusive community through the conversations between established and new residents. New residents who have been personally welcomed might be more inclined to support local business, participate in community efforts, contribute to local decision making or welcome new residents in the future.

The Welcoming Newcomers project will also link nicely with the Seniors at Risk program, a Town initiative to support people living alone through Public Works staff and bylaw officers checking in on registered participants of the program.

Carstairs is experiencing an increase in newcomers including more visible minorities and a high commuter population as people move to Carstairs and work in Calgary. Carstairs also has a significant number of lone-parent families.  Welcoming Newcomers will build a more inclusive community through the conversations between established and new residents.  

We at ARPA can't wait to see how this project unfolds.  Great work to the ACE DFC group in Carstairs!