What we’re following on social connectedness, trust, housing, and loneliness
Here’s a roundup of what we’re reading and listening to. We hope you enjoy it.
Updates
Video: Building community into the bottom line
On June 22nd, Hey Neighbour Collective and co-hosts Happy City, Concert Properties and SFU Morris J Wosk Centre for Dialogue held a panel and webinar to discuss the City of Vancouver’s role in catalyzing Concert’s Connecting our Communities approach and more.
Webinar: Building community into the bottom line
Join us for a free webinar on Tuesday, June 22nd to explore ways that landlords and property managers can work with their residents to build community, social connections and capacity for neighbourly mutual aid.
Who is in your emergency kit?
Neighbours who already knew each other and their respective lifestyles and needs have been able to support each other relatively easily and effectively – whereas neighbours who weren’t already connected have scrambled to figure out how to build relationships.
Building better with feedback loops
“Good sound insulation between suites is a key design feature for building community among residents,” says Maura Chestnutt, Catalyst Community Development Society’s ex-VP of Strategic Initiatives and now consultant. It…
Fostering preparedness and community in multi-unit buildings
Building Resilient Neighbourhoods’ Stacy Barter discusses the Connect &
Prepare program and how property managers can best support and benefit from social connectedness and emergency preparedness among tenants.
Building community into the bottom line
For property managers, it can be challenging to move a greater sense of community off the “nice to have” list and into an actual budget line item.
Hey Neighbour Collective to benefit from CMHC support
This grant will support work from March 1st 2021 through to June 30th 2022 with four of our five practice partners. Together we’ll be exploring social sustainability innovations for affordable multi-unit rental housing. In particular, we’ll be highlighting the role that landlords, property managers and policy-makers can play in the process of building community, social connectedness and resilience in multi-unit housing contexts.
Bursting social bubbles after COVID-19 will make cities happier and healthier again
Led by Dr. Meg Holden, the SFU Research Team has published an article on The Conversation Canada about the importance of prioritizing social connections during the COVID-19 recovery.
Developing Truly Complete Communities, Discussion Paper
The Hey Neighbour Collective has prepared this input for the review of Metro 2040’s goal area 4.2: Develop healthy and complete communities with access to a range of services and amenities.
Happy City releases Together, Apart toolkit
We worked with Happy City to develop a guidebook of engagement ideas to help people stay connected during times of physical distancing.
Partner snapshot: Concert Properties
As part of a comprehensive company-wide approach to social sustainability, building on their experience in the City of Vancouver’s original Hey Neighbour Pilot Project, Concert has hired a dedicated Social Sustainability Coordinator.
Partner snapshot: West End Seniors’ Network
The West End Seniors’ Network focuses on supporting older adults living in multi-unit residential buildings through their Close to Home initiative.
Partner snapshot: Building Resilient Neighbourhoods
Building Resilient Neighbourhoods’s Connect & Prepare program builds emergency preparedness and community resilience between immediate neighbours by strengthening social connections.
Partner snapshot: Catalyst Community Developments
Catalyst is carrying out a “Community Connections Pilot” which includes landlord-led or supported social events, workshops, and “Town Hall meetings”, as well as support for resident-led community building initiatives. In addition, they have set up communication systems to support community interaction, and are actively working with tenants to identify opportunities to maximize the social potential of the physical design of their buildings and properties.