Igniting Resident Leadership

Over the past five years, Hey Neighbour Collective (HNC) demonstration partners piloted a wide range of social connectedness programs in a variety of contexts, from shared meals in social housing to emergency preparedness workshops in market condominium buildings. Yet, across all of these diverse initiatives, there was striking consistency in the impacts on the majority of participating residents.

Resident survey responses indicated that more than 70% of residents developed new or deeper connections with neighbours, more than 60% experienced an increased sense of safety, and over 70% were more likely to ask for or offer help to a neighbour. Further, 60-90% of residents reported developing increased leadership capacity–this is especially notable since nurturing resident-led action is a core feature of the “asset-based community development” approach that drives HNC’s work. 

Surveys and focus groups

In surveys and focus groups, residents said:

• “The training and support I received as a connector made all the difference.”
• “I now feel like I have the confidence and tools to engage my neighbours better.”
• “Having a guidebook and toolkits helped me feel more confident.”
• “Being a connector has given me leadership skills I never thought I’d develop.”
• “The training gave me the tools to not only run events but also handle conflicts
• between neighbours.”
• “I never thought I’d be leading a group, but now I am organizing regular meet-ups.”

Contributing factors

While the resources and training that HNC demonstration partners provided were a vital contributing factor in helping residents take leadership, through HNC’s evaluation, we identified two additional key contributing factors.

Firstly, this training had to “flow with where the energy was” and support residents in taking the actions that they prioritized—not actions that external facilitators or anyone else might have thought should be prioritized. For some people, preparing for a “crisis” meant gathering shared emergency supplies, but for others it meant having a neighbour who could pick up groceries for them when they were ill. Essentially, effective social connectedness programming is not “one size fits all.” Programming must be adapted for different circumstances, and measures of “success” must be context-sensitive, too. 

Secondly, across all contexts, consistent and reliable “people-support” was vital. Residents valued assistance from a third party who brought a program or “structure” to inspire them to come together. Having a coordinator or facilitator can make virtually every engagement program more sustainable over the long term, and is especially helpful for larger-scale resident-led projects and reaching isolated residents.

Read more about our partners’ impacts and learnings in Hey Neighbour Collective’s Five-Year Evaluation Report.

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