NCLB

Present:

Mike Justinich, Crime Prevention Ottawa
Bonnie Conlon, Councillor Maria McRae’s Office
Robert Beauchemin, member Banff Ave. Community House Board
Cherlyne Elias, Banff Tenants’ Association President
Kevin Shantz, City of Ottawa
James Williams, Board member SEOCHC (Chairman)
Rey Francis, Councillor Maria McRae’s Office
Mohamoud Abdulle, Youth Services Bureau
Melanie O’Rourke, Tenant and Community Worker, Ottawa Community Housing
Leslie McDiarmid, Manager BBBF and Community Services
Constable Mario Bergeron, Ottawa Police Services
Constable Lisa Briggs, Ottawa Police Services
Constable Lenworth Vaz, Ottawa Police Services
Abid Jan, Project Coordinator, No community Left Behind Project, SEOCHC
Sylvie Manser, Banff Ave. Community House Director
Sue Skinner, South Ottawa Community Legal Clinic
Scott Bradford, Executive Director, Boys and Girls Club of Ottawa
Rose Wakeham, Russell Heights Community House Director

Regrets:

Andrew Sparling, Osgoode Veterinary Clinic
Eileen Dooley, Vice President, Community Services, United Way
Andrea Thompson, Confederation Court Community House Director

1. APPROVAL OF THE AGENDA

James Williams invited a motion for the adoption of the Agenda. Agenda was approved as presented.

2. APPROVAL OF THE MINUTES FROM JUNE 27, 2006 MEEETING

Minutes from June 27, 2006 meeting were approved as circulated.

3. NCLB PROGRESS REPORT

Abid Jan presented progress on the activities since June 27, 2006. A summary of the progress is as follows:

Banff Community Tenants’ Association (TA) has successfully undertaken two community events on their own. On July 20, 2006 they successfully organized a community day and on August 14, 2006 they took 75 community members to Mont Cascades for a day long trip.
Other mobilization activities such as the weekly dinners at Banff are going well.
As of August 1, 2006, the expansion phase of the project has been launched in Heatherington, Confederation Court and Russell Heights.
A dedicated TA is in place in Confederation Court, which helped organize a successful Community Day on August 25, 2006.
The Tenants’ Association at Confederation Court also helped in completing the Community Health and Safety Survey within a week.
A meeting to introduce the No Community Left Behind initiative was organized in Confederation Court on August 16, 2006. The Chief of Ottawa Community Housing security and a police officer assigned to the project attended the meeting.
In the expansion phase, the Tenants’ Association at 1455 Heatherington did an amazing job of completing the required number of surveys within a couple of weeks. There is huge potential to utilise the TA and facilities at 1455 Heatherington for addressing crime and drug related issues.
The Tenants’ Association in the housing units, where the Better Beginnings Better Futures family house exists, is re-organising after many ups and downs they are trying to get organized. The TA organized a community day on August 30, 2006. They were provided with $1630 from both OCH and the Mayor.
Progress of the expansion phase is slower in the Russell Heights community where the TA and the House Board are passing through a transition phase. Alternative arrangements are being made to complete the survey before September 30, 2006 and to go into the planning process.
A new system has been put in place to scientifically extract and analyse the data from the community surveys. Communities will soon be offered an on-line survey and measures will be taken to prevent any challenges with this tool.
NCLB’s web-site is being updated. Information about the changes to the web-site will be shared with the Steering Committee members before the end of September 30, 2006. The new changes will include a password protected section for Steering Committee meetings, minutes and other related matters.
In the expansion phase, NCLB is also going through a period of analysis. Some comments and suggestions from the surveys have been extracted and shared with the Boys and Girls Club and YSB for the use of program planning in these communities.
This analysis phase will last until the end of September. The process will then enter the strategic planning phase with the Community Houses and TAs in all communities within the first three weeks of October.
A detailed activity plan will be presented for approval by the Steering Committee at the next Steering Committee meeting towards the end of October 2006.
A meeting with the Lowertown Security Committee was held on September 7, 2006 to share No Community Left Behind’s experiences and lessons learned. The meeting was productive as it connected us with other interested people in the city who asked questions which will help us to realize and understand our initiative from different perspectives and look at ways in which it can be replicated elsewhere. With some fine tuning to our approach and coordination, there is the potential to help many interested communities address similar problems in different settings.
On October 2, 2006, OPS representatives and the NCLB Coordinator will be making a presentation to the executive committee/board of Ottawa Police Services about No Community Left Behind’s progress.

4. Partner’s Reports

Ottawa Police Services

a)      Constable Lisa Briggs and Mario Bergeron gave an update on their activities since the last meeting, which included law enforcement as well as meetings with youth and other community members in the four communities: Heatherington, Banff, Confederation Court and Russell Heights.

b)      Police Officers patrolling in these areas are getting regular briefings about the progress. Both plain-clothed and uniformed officers have increased patrol in these communities.

c)       Drug-related arrests were made at a community event in Confederation Court, which sent the message that law enforcement is strong in this community.

d)      The assigned police officers are now well-known and welcomed in all concerned communities, particularly in Banff Avenue community.

e)      Youth are increasingly approaching the police officers. They ask for suggestions and inform them about their needs, such as the need for Dempsey Community Centre to be readily accessible to youth in Russell Heights.

f)        Progress is good at Confederation Court. The community is meeting and giving suggestions.

g)      Banff Avenue community is ready for establishing a neighbourhood watch.

h)      CPTED report has been finalized and all major partners will have a walk through in the Banff community today (Sept. 19, 2006) to discuss recommendations of the report.

i)        An exceptionally good relationship has been established with Ottawa Community Housing Security staff. Information is being shared on a regular basis and they are participating in joint operations.

j)        Meetings and workshops with youth during the summer have been a success.

k)      The community’s perception about OPS has considerably improved in all communities. Police presence is welcomed. Community members are less likely to crowd around the police officers if they are talking to someone in the community. Community members are not just simply walking away when they see police officers in the community.

l)        The community dinner activity is a superb idea for OPS and their interaction with the community. It would be great if similar activities are undertaken in other communities as well.

m)    The Steering Committee acts as a forum and it is really making a difference in building partnerships.

Ottawa Community Housing

Melanie O’Rourke reported that:

a)      OCH is thankful to the partners for the success of the Tenants’ Association and related progress in Banff community.

b)      Confederation Court is coming along. The Tenants’ Association is in place and they have organized a number of activities such as a BBQ, garage sale, as well as meetings regarding safety and garbage related issues.

c)       OCH is addressing issues with the problematic tenants in Confederation Court and other communities.

d)      The TAs in all the communities are working to integrate their activities with No Community Left Behind in order to take maximum advantage of the funding provided by OCH.

e)      A Community Day event was scheduled on July 11, 2006 in Cenfederation Court Community.

f)        Work on establishing a House Board at Russell Heights is underway.

g)      Banff Avenue community remains stable without any serious incidents reported.

h)      The TA in Russell Heights is due for elections.

i)        Security situation is improving as OCH is getting positive reports.

Boys and Girls Club

Scott Bradford from Boys and Girls Club presented the following summary of the progress since the last meeting:

a)      B&G Club is in the process of planning how to most effectively use their resources. The B & G Club will have to go through an environmental scan to see what services and programs are available in the communities and how they can fill the gaps and offer further support.

b)      B&G Club is planning to put some funding into homework club activities.

Banff Avenue Community House

a)      Sylvie Manser emphasised the success of the TA in the Banff Avenue Community. She has never seen the community mobilize to this extent in the many years she has been working in Banff. The TA has been a great support in working with the community.

b)      Sylvie informed the committee that due to the new renovations of the basement in the House, there is now increased space for activities. She thanked Ottawa Community Housing, Maria McRae, and the Community Foundation for their support.

c)       Funding is a problem and it is hard to sustain good youth workers. There is a need to mobilize and involve youth (14-16 years of age).

d)      Bob Beauchemin added that Banff community is suffering from the stigma attached to Ledbury due to the negative portrayal in the media. He suggested to the committee members to use the term Banff Avenue Community, rather than Ledbury/Banff or Banff/Ledbury.

Russell Heights

a)      Rose Wakeham reported great progress in terms of youth activities during the summer months.

b)      She appreciated the support from Ottawa Police Services, Ottawa Community Housing and OCH Security.

c)       The House is presently gearing up for winter activities.

d)      The House Board was introduced to the No community Left Behind initiative and the TA is working to complete the community health and safety survey.

Youth Services Bureau

Mohamoud Abdulle from Youth Services Bureau highlighted the importance of the Youth Safety Network, which is being run in partnership with YMCA and B&G Club. He informed the committee that the Youth Council in the Banff Community is launching United Way’s supported Reading Club activities next week. As a result of the leadership training workshops and camping activities, the group has gained a lot of confidence and are becoming role models in the community for other kids.

5. Funding Update

Leslie McDiarmid updated the committee about the funding situation in the community. Due to the delay in the process of National Crime Prevention Centre’s funding allocation, the earliest we would be able to receive that funding is April 2007. The previous funding came to an end in July 2006. To bridge this gap, the City of Ottawa has provided financial support and SEOCHC has dipped into its reserves. We are still short about $ 3-5000. A limited funding application has been submitted to Community Foundation. Possibilities of other funding options are being discussed with United Way. A letter of intent has been submitted to the Youth Justice Renewal Fund through the Department of Justice Canada.

6. Funding football coaching

Cst. Lenworth Vaz shared with the committee the idea of City Ball, which intends to involve any child who wants to play football. Kids should not be denied the opportunity due to lack of funding. The reality is that there is no real push for kids to play football and there is often no practice field for them. Since the City has purchase land on Ledbury Avenue for a sports field, it would be worthwhile to obtain further information through Councillor Maria McRae with regards to progress of the sports field and future plans for the field so that Lenworth Vaz could do follow up on the football promotion idea with concerned partners.

7. Adjournment:

The meeting was adjourned at 2:30 p.m. CPTED Survey recommendations were shared during a walk through in the community from 3-5 pm. The following people participated in the activity:

Superintendent Charles Bordeleau, OPS.
Councillor Maria McRae
Jean Dube, Chief OCH Security
Cst Lisa Briggs, OPS
Cst. Mario Bergeron, OPS
Scott Bradford, ED, Boys and Girls Club
Cst. Lenworth Vaz, OPS
Sylvie Manser, Director Banff Ave Community Housing
Melanie O’Rourke, OCH
Cherlyne Elias, President TA
Abid Jan, SEOCHC

Next Meeting: October 31, 2006, 1 p.m.
Location: Banff Avenue Community House.