Communities ChooseWell at the Healthy Community Challenge Health Expo

Come visit the Communities ChooseWell booth at the Healthy Community Challenge Health Expo being held on Saturday, March 22nd in Calgary at Cardel Place.  This event is happening from 11:00 am - 3:00 pm.

The Health Expo will offer a wealth of health and wellness knowledge and resources to help you and your family make small changes that can yield huge results.

Cardel Place and local community partners will be launching Calgary’s first Healthy Community Challenge presented by ATB Financial. This at-home 90, 60 or 30 day challenge (March 24 to June 21) is designed to encourage whole communities to get moving and be healthier in mind, body and spirit. Come sign-up for the challenge or just learn more about how you can start leading a healthier life today.

The Health Expo will also feature a free Fun Zone for families and kids.

We'll see you there!

Communities ChooseWell 2014 Regional Forums

Communities ChooseWell will be hosting their 2014 Regional Forums in the following communities:

March 21 - Sexsmith, Sexsmith Civic Centre, 9917-99 Ave
March 28 - St. Albert, Grandin Clubhouse, 5 Grenfall Avenue
March 31 - University of Lethbridge, 4401 University Dr W, Lethbridge. AH100
April 2 - Bowden, Bowden Friendship Club, 2133-18 Ave

This year, ChooseWell champions and community partners will have an opportunity to learn about Communities ChooseWell resources, share successes and struggles, explore their role as leaders and agents of change, and use the NEW ChooseWell Healthy Community Scanning Tool to help evaluate how they can make their community a healthier place. Click here for more details on this year's forums.

Forums will run from 10am to 3:30pm, and funds are available to support travel costs. Lunch and a light breakfast will be served. To register for a forum, please fill out our RSVP form.

2014 Communities ChooseWell Registration Open!

Registration for the 2014 edition of the Communities ChooseWell program is now open, and it's free!

What is ChooseWell? 
It's a healthy eating, active living initiative that helps support your community or organization enhance wellness through education, partnerships and capacity building. Communities ChooseWell is funded by Alberta Health and managed by the Alberta Recreation and Parks Association.

How does Communities ChooseWell support community wellness?
• Resource toolkit supports public education, promotion and participation
• Funding opportunity supports healthy eating or active living initiatives
• Webinars and other educational opportunities for local wellness champions
• Provincial challenges provide ready-made ideas and opportunities to engage residents
• Networking and sharing of ideas between communities
• Recognition for effort and achievements in creating a healthier community

The early bird deadline is January 31! Take advantage of being drawn for a number of great prizes.

Learn more about ChooseWell and register by click here!

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!

Longview wins ARPA 'Parks Excellence Award'!

Congratulations goes out to the Longview Arts, Recreation and Community (ARC) Society for winning the ARPA 'Parks Excellence Award'!  This award was initiated by ARPA's Parks and Open Space Network to recognize achievements or innovative ideas for parks and open space operations, and also to increase the profile of the parks and open space professionals in Alberta.

The Longview ARC Society was formed as a natural progression from their involvement as an ACE Community. A number of areas for improvement were identified upon completion of the community scanning tool including two community desires: a gathering spot and recreational opportunities for the community.  The ARC devised a wish list for an inclusive community space that included everything from necessities to playground, fitness and skateboard equipment.

May 2011, ARC partnered with Longview Council, the Serenity Garden and Veteran’s Memorial Committee, Longview Stampede Association and the Longview Recreation Board to spearhead a fundraising program for the project which they named Longview “Xtreme Makeover”.  The ARC applied for a CFEP Grant with the Longview Recreation Board, Council and the MD of Foothills #31 to put a concrete pad in the rink making it multi season/multi use.

The ARC secured one of 30 annual Canada wide awards from Let Them Be Kids of which 50% went towards all of the above mentioned equipment and matched this award with a variety of corporate donations, fund raising, philanthropic foundations and provincial grants. With the assistance of volunteer labour from the village and surrounding area, the group installed a junior and senior playground, thirteen pieces of outdoor fitness equipment, picnic tables, benches and litter receptacles in Centennial Park. The group also secured funding to install skate board equipment in the outdoor rink adding another use to the structure.

The ARC Society secured funding from Alberta Sport, Recreation, Parks and Wildlife Association to purchase additional fitness and were able to hired a fitness instructor to teach the community how to use the new equipment. This fitness program was called Go ME!!, an acronym for Go Out Move and Exercise. The program ran for the entire summer free of charge and welcomed adults, seniors, youth, moms and tots. The ARC Society has had numerous citizens report increased mobility, increased stamina, weight loss and cases of uncontrollable laughter as they have more and more fun together!

The Centennial Park in Longview has truly become the focal point of Longview’s small rural community.

Carstairs evaluates their priorities!

ARPA’s ‘Diversity Friendly’ Communities (DFC) have now entered into the second and final year of their activities.  Sponsored by the Alberta Government’s Human Rights Education and Multiculturalism Fund (HREMF), this group of four communities is working to use recreation as a catalyst to support efforts to foster equality, promote fairness, and encourage the creation of inclusive communities.

Carstairs, Grande Cache, Jasper, and Rocky Mountain House are all working diligently to positively affect the quality of life in their communities. The DFC group in Carstairs, in fact, met recently at an event hosted by Carstairs Connections.  The goal of the meeting: 1) to learn about the State of the Carstairs Community through an update on health, recreation, and culture programs and projects, 2) to give input about what’s important in Carstairs in health, recreation, and culture 3) to give input about one to three priorities to make Carstairs more diversity friendly 4) and to set priorities for the use of their $10,000 Seed funding grant and the next actions of Carstairs Connections.

Participants, under the superb guidance of ACE Coach Barb Pedersen, discussed six theme areas identified at a previous community meeting. These included:

• Improved communication
• New People and Commuters
• Promote Carstairs as a place for business, tourism, a place to live, etc.
• Promote Volunteerism
• Leisure activities
• Engage our youth

After much discussion, ‘Engaging Youth’, ‘Promoting Carstairs’, and ‘Improved Communication’ surfaced as the participants top three general priorities.  The objective for Carstairs now is to dovetail these priorities with the goal of making the community more inclusive and diversity friendly.  We can’t wait to see to the final results!

Looking for some foolishness?

The ACE Community of Longview is currently looking for local talent who would like to share their talent in a "Night of Foolishness" at the local Longview hall on Sept 29th from 7 - 11 pm.  This event is part of the town's Alberta Culture Days activities.

There will be lots of snacks and refreshments for free and a cash Beer/wine bar. Would you like to do a few numbers or a skit? Let your hidden talents shine! This fun evening welcomes talent in any form - music, cowboy poetry, skits etc.

On the Friday night, Sept. 28th, from 5 - 9:30 pm, Longview is also hosting a "Culture Cafe" at the hall and you are invited to set up a display about your background and cultural heritage. The hope is that by getting to know one another's cultural background, it will foster a greater understanding of one another, more tolerance and perhaps create new friends!

Also, the Longview ACE Team supplied all the school children a canvas last week and asked them to choose their own medium and depict their favorite family cultural tradition or something they love about  Longview. These works of art will be on display at Longview School on Friday, September 28th from 4 - 8 pm along with area artists. They are calling the event Longview ART WALK!

If you are interested in setting up an art or craft display or participating in any of these events, email Michele at michelegeistlinger@gmail.com

Suntree Music Festival & Neighbourhood BBQ in Okotoks

The Okotoks Suntree Village Residents Association is hosting their 2nd annual Suntree Music Festival & Neighbourhood BBQ on Sept 8th starting at 1:00 pm.  (Rain out date is Saturday, Septh 15th)

This festival is put on by the residents of Suntree as a way to bring their neighbourhood together in a beautiful local park.

The festival features a mix of neighbourhood musicians that will entertain throughout the afternoon, culminating in a two hour performance from Suntree resident Jeff Stillie and his band Wildcard (who are a professional band in the Calgary area).

Neighbourhood volunteers will man the BBQ and Beer Garden Party adjacent the festival, while children can participate in games and other activities.

This is the second year for the event and community leaders are working at fundraising to make it a sustainable event. The music festival is part of a local summer program that also includes the Kids Camp out and pancake breakfast in August.

The goal is to host one event a season that brings the neighbourhood together to enhance both the quality of life in the neighbourhood and the sense of community.

This Residents Association is a member of ACE Okotoks and encourages as well as supports the creation of neighbourhood associations, events, and activities that build community.

Trochu officially launches their trails

Congrats to the alumni ACE Community of Trochu who recently hosted the official launch of their Trail systems. Not only was the sun actually shining for the event, the planning committee received congratulatory messages from ACE Communities, Crowfoot MP, the Honorable Kevin Sorenson, Reeve Bob Long of Kneehill County, and  Mayor Tim Shearlaw of Three Hills in addition to Trochu's own Mayor Barry Kletke.

One of the town's community leaders, Pastor Alan Powell, did a great job of being emcee for the evening and ACE leader Darla Gagyi presented a brief history of our Trails journey. Also included was a lovely letter from Trochu's ACE Coach Carol Ohler as well as representation from Encana and various other supporters.

All members of the Trails Committee were there with the eldest two ladies on the committee having the honour of holding the ribbon for cutting. These formalities were followed by the town's third annual Movie in the Park, with popcorn again, supplied and served by Elnora Servus Credit Union andout local Fire Department….the tradition continues!

We can't wait to pop into Trochu and check out the trails ourselves!  Great work as always, Team Trochu!

Hinton's Community Gardens Win Funds

The ACE alumni community of Hinton has received some great news recently! Their Hinton Community Garden Society can look forward to a healthy injection of funds next year after the community organization was named the recipient of the 2013 Canadian Tire Mayor’s Charity Event.

Mayor Ian Duncan made the announcement last week after the Garden Society was selected from nine applicants to be the focus of Hinton’s annual fundraising weekend in August. After forming three years ago, the Hinton Community Garden Society has seen operations grow at a rapid pace to more than 90 registered members growing food in two large greenhouses.

To read more about this, see this great article by Eric Plummer in the Hinton Parklander!

Longview gets active for the summer!

Congrats to the ACE Community of Longview who has now completed the 2^nd installment of their Xtreme town makeover! This accomplishment included the installation of their skateboard park as well as the remainder of the fitness equipment in Centennial Park.

The residents of Longview and their ARC Society would like to send out special thanks to 16-years old Austin Caumartin. Austin worked especially hard and was a key factor in helping assemble the whole skate park! Well done, Austin... this skate park is for you!

This means that Longview’s free Summer exercise-in-the-park program called GO ME!  (Go Out Move and Exercise!) is now up and operating.

The Longview ARC Society has been successful in securing funds from the Alberta Government and Alberta Sport, Recreation, Parks and Wildlife Association to run a 15-week fitness program in Centennial Park from June until mid September. This program, entitled GO ME!, will show local residents how to use the newly installed exercise equipment and participate in regular exercise classes tailored to meet all ages, levels and abilities.

Please register for classes online at http://www.longviewaceprojects.weebly.com

Way to begin the summer on an active note, Longview!  You are as inspiring as always!

Irricana goes the distance!

Check out this FANTASTIC update from the ACE Community of IRRICANA!

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I am excited to share that the time has been set for the installation of the Irricana Lion’s Centennial Park, one of our three ACE Communities initiatives. The Irricana Lion’s Club, an ACE Community partner, has taken over the task of spearheading, including fundraising, and planning the project. The Lion’s Club has taken the $4500.00 initial seed funding from our ACE Communities and grew it into a half a million dollar project. They have partnered with Alberta TrailNet to lease the land for a park and future development of Irricana’s trail system that includes plans for an outdoor amphitheatre.

The Irricana Lions Club was also able to access a donation of $10,000.00 plus in-kind funding from Encana towards the project. Larry Marshall, Community Relations Advisor with Encana, has rounded up 100 Encana volunteers for the installation and landscaping of the playground and park area. They will be providing food and drinks for all of the volunteers. Volunteers from the Irricana Lion’s Club, the Irricana Fire Department, the Town ofIrricana Staff and Community Members at large will be giving a hand with the event. 

The Lion’s Club members have been selling $100.00 bricks (engraved with your name) for the courtyard as a fundraiser; if you are interested please contact Lions Club Member Brian Culp, email: irricanalions@efirehose.net.  And if you would like further information, Brian will be pleased to speak to you.

    

The date for installation will be Friday, June 22^nd and will start at 9:00 am, if you are in the neighbourhood please feel free to drop by.

Thanks again for all of the support from ACE that we have received regarding our community development. It has been an amazing ride!

Cheers,

Cathy

ACE Community Leader

If It Works in Sangudo, Why Not In Your Community?

Check out this great blog by Dan Ohler entitled: "If It Works in Sangudo, Why Not In Your Community?". This blog was recently showcased in the Alberta Rural Development Network (ARDN) newsletter and features economic revitalization projects like the Sangudo Opportunity Development Co-operative (SODC). This unique investment co-op is working to revitalize the economic viability of the ACE Community of SANGUDO, Alberta, one hour northwest of Edmonton.

SODC is revitalizing Sangudo’s economy by keeping local investment dollars in Sangudo and redirecting them into the community.

Click here to read more!

Collective Community Impact in Irricana

In 2010, IRRICANA was chosen to be a part of the Active Community Strategy (ACS) initiative together with three other ACE alumni communities in Alberta - High Level, Camrose, and Lethbridge. Having been involved with ACE Communities in 2007-2008, the intent of the ACS was to utilize their growing community capacity and leadership by focussing more specifically on a comprehensive active recreation/physical activity strategy.

Each community has taken a unique path using a similar process. Using the ACE Communities "Planning Framework for Community Development" as a guide, they all took the time to engage a variety of partners, build on strengths, and utilize existing knowledge, plans and research to inform priorities.

All four of the communities engaged community members, organizations and Councils to determine priorities for building a more physically active community. Each community's strategy was distinctive as it was based on their needs, resources, and location. All linked their priorities to local Community Sustainability Plans, the draft Active Alberta Policy, and other relevant plans and policies. Identifying the linkages with local, provincial and national efforts provided opportunities to build collaborative partnerships that extended beyond municipal boundaries.

This month, we'd like to share with you the plan that Irricana created as part of their Active Community Strategy initiative. The goal is to inspire and to assist other communities with their efforts in creating collective community action.

See this link for the report!

Longview Gets Active

Congrats to the ACE Community of Longview who has been recently approved for $1000 from SOGO Active through Communities ChooseWell (Communities ChooseWell is an energizing healthy eating and active living initiative supported by Alberta Health and Wellness and managed by the Alberta Recreation and Parks Association) to run a fitness challenge with both school kids and anyone else who is interested using the Participaction suggestions and calendar. This challenge will run from April 1 until the end of June, culminating with a big party in the Centennial Park on Saturday, June 23 from 1-4 PM.

A second, even bigger bit of news to celebrate is that the ACE community team in Longview has just heard from the Alberta Sport, Recreation, Parks and Wildlife Foundation (ASRPWF) that they have received a $13,500 grant for a 15-week summer exercise program slotted to run in the local refurbished park. This program is entitled GO ME (GO OUT MOVE & EXERCISE) and will entail 3 different classes for 1) Moms and Tots, 2) Seniors, 3) Adults and Youth, three times a week, from June 1 to mid September. The aim is to also purchase some extra fitness equipment like exercise balls, weighted hula hoops and even a small shed to store the equipment in the park.

The final tidbit of info from Longview is that they are planning a Volunteer Appreciation Dinner for all of Longview's Volunteers from all of the groups in the town to be held on Saturday, April 21 during National Volunteer Appreciation Week.

Way to keep the community both active and engaged, Longview! We might be heading your way to participate in those workouts in the park now that the snow has finally said good bye!