Neighbours in the western Foothills are meeting each other for the first time in a new initiative focused on safety and social well-being.
The wheels are now in motion for a task force of ministerial and emergency personnel, Town councilors, doctors and various other prominent community members who are implementing a worldwide initiative in their communities that strengthens municipalities through connecting neighbhours.
Abundant Communities Diamond Valley officially launched Sept. 21 in the Sheep River Library in Turner Valley.
“What we are trying to do here is give it a try and see how it rolls and if there are issues with it and what the successes are,” said Bill Cutress, of Millarville, who helped spearhead the task force last year. “It provides opportunities for neighbours to meet one another. There are people who are aging and lose a spouse and suddenly their whole social structure and support network changes.”
Cutress said neighbourhoods change as people grow older, leave the community and rely more on social media.
“More and more with the advent of social media and screens people become isolated,” he said.
The task force has already recruited eight block connectors, in charge of connecting with residents in their block of 12 to 20 homes. They include two in Turner Valley, three in the Millarville area, one west of Turner Valley and one in Black Diamond.
Cutress said the role of the connectors is to build a culture where neighbourhoods are safer, more caring and more connected and get together with other connectors from nearby blocks to share insight and work collaboratively towards wider objectives.
“Their role is to go out and start conversations with their neighbours, find out what the neighbours’ vision is for the neighbourhoood, their activities and interests and skills and abilities that they might want to share with their neighbours,” he said. “They are responsible for organizing block-wide events. Ultimately there will eventually be 50 block connectors to cover all of Turner Valley and in Black Diamond.”
When there are enough block connectors Cutress said a neighbourhood connector will be established to work with them and report to the task force. A community coordinator would then work with the neighbourhood connectors and task force to update progress and report successes and failures, said Cutress.
Cutress said he would like to reach out to all municipalities from Priddis to Longview.
“I’ve spoken to a few people from those communities, but there’s nothing formal yet,” he said. “We will have another meeting next month where the block connectors will share their experiences. Everybody I’ve spoken to has been saying what a great idea this is.”
Sharon and Bill Bieber volunteered to be a block connector for the 20 homes on their road north of Millarville.
The couple held an open house at their home last weekend to meet their neighbours.
“We volunteer in community development in Southeast Asia and New Guinea so we realize the power of communities connecting with each other to strengthen the social capital of a society,” said Sharon. “We’ve done this kind of community work in developing countries and realized that this is the strength that is missing in a lot of cultures.”
The Biebers have lived north of Millarville for 41 years and during that time have seen neighbours come and go.
“There are lots of new people,” said Sharon. “We really want to build up our own community. It’s not a really big time commitment and I think it’s something a lot of people are willing to do if they realize that this is an initiative that is coming from the grassroots.”
The Biebers collected their neighbours’ contact information and EMS numbers and distributed them to everyone last weekend.
“If you see a suspicious vehicle or smoke coming from someone’s house you want that number so you can call 911,” said Sharon.
Sharon said she envisions smaller clusters of people in her neighbourhood who will check up on each other.
“If there is a flu epidemic we need to know the people who are living on their own have got what they need for food and water,” she said. “We want to be able to check on people like that. There may also be young moms who need to trade off babysitting or picking up kids at the bus - those kinds of things. Those are really beneficial contacts to make.”
To learn more or join the Abundant Communities Diamond Valley contact Bill Cutress at 931-3348 or at [email protected]
