Thursday, September 29, 2011

Fall cleanup

Well I've been looking for a wood wagon but havent been able to find one at a decent price yet. I have however found a little cart that will be able to do a little bit for me, but not as much as I would like.

I'm going to be around our neighbourhood next week to do some much needed Fall cleaning. I'll be collecting  garbage, recycling, weed whacking, handing out graffiti waivers to properties and discussing concerns with anyone willing to talk!

If you have a concern in your neck of the neighbourhood let me know via twitter, facebook, blogger or email at stjohnsra@gmail.com.

Monday, September 26, 2011

Send a message

As my time in BC winds down, I am getting anxious to return to Winnipeg and get back to work. I have started an online petition that community members and all of Winnipeg can feel free to sign to take a stance against the violence in our City.

This is the first small step of a larger plan I will be trying to put together. The petition is the start showing our members in Government that we are not going to stay silent. There is no reason a City needs to have this level of violence and nothing be done about it. Last year near this time we had our night of violence shortly before Halloween that ruined many childrens opportunity to experience a night of fun trick-or-treating. After this there was an increased number of Police vehicles and presence that really put a cap on the violence, or stopped any that was caught in progress, and made me feel somewhat safer, though that was short lived as less than a month later everything went back to normal.

Do we need another nightly crime spree ending in countless murders to happen before our area gets help? Will it be short lived help again? Is anyone trying to create a long-term plan that doesn't need to be inacted after a violent burst?

You can find the petition at http://www.thepetitionsite.com/1/winnipeg---stop-the-violence/.

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!

Latest Homicide

The latest homicide of Winnipeg happened within our St Johns neighbourhood, just down the street from my home. The previous incident within our neighbourhood happened just the other week. That incident resulted in a walk showing our want for this to change.

As put on our Facebook page, I am wanting to know what the Community wants. Do we want to:

- Do another walk?
- Do an online petition?
- Contact our Winnipeg Police and request more Police presence?
- Start a Citizens on Patrol Program with rotational shifts through volunteers from our Community?
- Do we want to do all of the above?

I can easily start the online petition and write our Winnipeg Police a letter or an email requesting their assistance. Planning a walk would also be able to be done quickly though I would need everyones availability and the assistance from everyone to spread the word. I think that is one of our groups biggest flaws is that we are still struggling to find our voice and make it known that we exist.

Starting a COPP is one of my wants however I am finding it difficult to start up due to low interest or sparatic interest and then finding a time for everyone to be able to meet with the Coordinator to set it up.

Please let me know via Twitter at StJohnsResAssoc, on Facebook, by email or on Blogger what you would like to see done in regards to this incident!

Madelaine Dwyer
President