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Workshop leaders and participants discuss how the Connect & Prepare program helps grow social connections between neighbours that support resilience and preparedness.
Landlords and housing operators can help nurture relationships among residents, and the positive returns for everyone involved can be substantial.
Residents share why they became community connectors in their multi-unit buildings, what kinds of activities they helped organize, and what the benefits have been.
The mission is to connect older adults with individual supports and housing-navigation services to enhance their lives.
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.
“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…
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.
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.
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.
The West End Seniors’ Network focuses on supporting older adults living in multi-unit residential buildings through their Close to Home initiative.
Building Resilient Neighbourhoods’s Connect & Prepare program builds emergency preparedness and community resilience between immediate neighbours by strengthening social connections.
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.
Brightside carries out an annual community enhancement survey to assess residents’ happiness and well-being. Based on this, they are supporting a number of Community Development initiatives designed to build resilience and community amongst residents.