Sunday, September 25, 2011

Community Goals of the SJRA

At the beginning of this year members who attended our goal planning meeting sat down and tried to cover the majority of areas such as safety, housing, beautification and groups that should be looked at within our neighbourhood and what we wished to achieve. We came up with four areas; Communication, Green, Safety and Miscellaneous. Below is our list that we strive to complete and review want to look back at during each meeting to keep ourselves on track. The items highlighted in blue have been completed. The items highlighted in dark green have been started but are either awaiting contact from an outside group or are a work in progress.

Safety:

  • Focus on crime and problem houses, brought forward by members and residents
  • Removing and 'fighting'/preventing graffiti which we will include our Urban Green Team in, community clean ups and trying to have added to the Neighbourhood Liveability Bylaw
  • Reduce backlane fires, clean our backlanes, report bulk waste and try to improve the collection process
  • Create a better relationship with the Winnipeg Police
  • Start a partnership with Farraday for C.O.P.P. and once we have a committed group of 8+ we can branch into a St John's specific C.O.P.P.
  • Block captain program; which is anonymous participation by residents where information is gathered and reported. We would be able to support this program once C.O.P.P. is established and at that time would need to canvas regularily and educate area
  • Have a regular WPS presence at meetings
  • Community consultations with WPS, city of Winnipeg, Ma Mawi, residents and businesses
  • A working and well attended Safety Committee


Communication:

  • Door knocking and outreach for input from residents and create an identity for St John's independently from the North End and inclusivly which can be acheived by -
  • Create a poster/information hub where we regularily place posters and remove them
  • Constant use and maintenance of public space
  • Minimum 4 newsletters per year; every 3 months
  • Host informative meetings at library like TLC meetings, Residential Tenancy Branch information sessions and garden committee
  • Gain 5 new members who are actively engaged by the end of the year
  • Increase participation through positive incentives (best yard, volunteer appreciation, etc)
  • Host meetings over the summer
  • Have food at monthly meetings and have community feasts


Green:

  • Closer partnership with North End Food Security Network to promote gardening, fruit share and community kitchens
  • Community clean ups held often
  • Monthly block clean ups
  • St John's wide clean ups in May, July and September
  • Have a North End wide clean up from Selkirk Avenue to Inkster Boulevard from Main Street to Arlington Street
  • Introduce 'Love your backlane' program
  • Paint and beautify autobins with local schools
  • Create a R.I.Z. (Resident Improvement Zone) where there is no B.I.Z. such as McGregor, Salter, Mountain and Redwood where residents can plant flower boxes, hang baskets from light standards, bird houses, etc.
  • Have 4 seasons contests to promote residents to be outdoors and take pride in their properties. Ex: Spring - clean yard, Summer - Flowers, Fall - harvest/Halloween, Winter - Snowmen
  • Have functioning and supportive gardening committee


Random:

  • More board training programs, capacity building, Treasurer training, grant writing, proposals and reports, and volunteer coordination
  • Get political and lobby City Hall on behalf of our Residents, like more programming for our area, additions to the Neighbourhood Liveability Bylaw, Building Communities Initiative to include St John's, Ralph Brown CC to have more support from the City of Winnipeg
  • Develop a Youth Strategy to include volunteering, recreation and employment training and skills and build partnerships with service providers and people in the field and to find funding.


We ran into a few snags during the earlier part of the year, but now with our AGM completed, we have 1 newsletter to complete for sure and the rest of our schedule is wide open to start work on our goals. Of course, some goals are reoccuring and that we will try to implement each year and keep ongoing.


Do you see a goal that has yet to be addressed on this list that you feel is most important to you (or several)? Do you see a goal you wish to be added? Please let us know as we are here for you and want to work for our residents!

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