COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT FRAMEWORK
Steering Table Meeting: PQCHC
NOVEMBER 23, 2009
Lisa Petch/City of Ottawa
Ahmad Luqman/Ottawa Community Housing
Steve Ryan/OTNIM
Larisa Willliams/PQCHC
Al Bolduc/Minto Jerrett
DeFazio/Boys & Girls Club Ottawa
Jacques Chartrand/West End Legal Services of Ottawa
Mike Rice/ Ottawa Police Service
Abid Jan/CCHRC
Clara Freire/City of Ottawa
Wanda MacDonald/PQCHC
Naini Cloutier/PQCHC
David Keenan/City of Ottawa Recreation
Agenda approved with the addition of brief overview of purpose of Committee
Approved as presented. Clarification was sought about the concept of Community Houses. These are units in Social Housing communities that provide community support and programs. A concern was expressed by Minto about the use of this concept in the Bayshore community because of its association with social housing communities. Explanation was provided that the concept was one of many models being looked at to support the community.
E: This is one of 4 tables in which organizations collaborate to support community development in the focus neighbourhoods.
Video launch – Local Community committee, Hand in Hand launched the CDF process in the Bayshore Community. The CDF survey was also launched here. The event was very successful with excellent participation from the diverse communities of the neighbourhood. A video was shown of the event. CDF Survey Dissemination – Surveys were distributed to the community in a number of different ways: community events; tables were set up in the buildings encouraging residents to fill out the survey; and a postal walk was conducted to distribute surveys to every unit. In addition, staff did outreach for the survey in community programs, including the ESL Sewing Class, Children’s Services programming and the ESL classes in the portable.
Data Input - residents were trained to input data from the surveys, which was then analyzed by Carleton University.
Survey results presentation and reflection – Larisa presented survey results.
The survey used determinants of health to elicit responses around issues of concern for the residents. In total, 134 out of 2465 eligible households completed the survey for a response rate of 5.4%. Discussion around low response rate ranged from concerns about the lack of interest in the project among residents, to issues of social inclusion within the community due to which participants are not engaged. However, it was pointed out that this is not a research, but a community development process. Further, while the sample of respondents might not be representative, there were 123 more families connected to the CDF process.
It was noted that the objective of the process is to engage residents to participate in identifying issues and developing solutions. The expectation is that as relationships are built, there will be increased participation from the community over the course of the project. Minto also was concerned about the selection of Bayshore as a CDF focus community. It was clarified that this was based on the Neighbourhood research process results which identified factors such as Low EDI index and economic factors such as low-employment. Further the City and its partners are looking at the 4 communities as research pilots for the CDF process. Eventually, the process will be implemented across the city in all 86 neighbourhoods. The three other 3 focus sites have mixed (public and private) housing. Also it was noted that the CDF process is not about social housing but about the wider community.
: A recap on neighbourhood studies data about Bayshore will be provided at the next meetingMinto identified that many surveys had been conducted in the past. They felt that they had responded to community concerns but more action was needed from other partners. It was clarified that the CDF process is action oriented process, which will be researched and evaluated.
: Information from past surveys will be included within the CDF process. Next steps – focus groups – Focus groups will be conducted within the community to further engage community members and to help prioritize issues. Representation is needed from organizations at the focus groups to assist with issue identification, and resources needed. ACTION: Information about the focus groups will be sent out through the information tree. Also context to the CDF process will be provided at the focus groups.
Action plans – Once issues are identified and prioritized, a realistic action plan will be developed. The action plan will be owned by the community and a commitment will be needed from service providers to assist in implementation of the action plan.
UPDATES ON FUNDING: Bayshore Winter Blues Buster – Funding was received from the City of Ottawa to provide physical activity for adults at the Bayshore Recreation Centre. This is a partnership between the Bayshore community Association, City of Ottawa, Minto and PQCHC Belonging in Bayshore – Funding was received from the United Way to provide training on civic engagement for newcomers and immigrants.
Request was made of the committee to share information about funding sources to support staffing in Bayshore WEBSITE CDF website currently highlights the 4 focus communities. PQCHC is responsible for creating information about Bayshore. Protocols are being developed and PQCHC is still updating information. Discussion pointed to the need for consent from participants if any videos about the community were put on the website. Minto also wanted to ensure that Bayshore was not presented unfavorably. A decision was made that the committee would approve material before it was displayed on the website.
Information for the website will be presented for approval to the committee
: 4 neighbourhoods are in the process of developing action plans. Number of responses has been similar in all neigbourhoods, percentage of responses vary based on size. Bayshore is the largest neighbourhood.
February 22, 2010 from 9:00 -11:00 am.
© 2008-09 City of Ottawa and Partner Agencies
Collaboration, Coordination, Community Participation and Leveraging of Resources
