January 2011

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Profile: Portage La Prairie Community Revitalization Corporation

The name of Manitoba’s fourth largest city, Portage La Prairie, is derived from the French word portage, which means to carry a canoe over land between waterways. For three years, the Portage La Prairie Community Revitalization Corporation (PCRC) has helped portage its city over community-based barriers by working with the community to address issues such as affordable housing, safety, poverty and neighbourhood engagement.

The PCRC was established in 2007 when the Province of Manitoba expanded its Neighbourhoods Alive! (NA!) program into Portage La Prairie. The NA! program provides support for urban neighbourhoods across Manitoba through community-driven revitalization strategies. To ensure its efforts were community-led, the PCRC developed a list of priorities and related goals based on community identified needs to guide their activities over its first five years.

Among the top priorities of the PCRC are housing, poverty reduction, community engagement, affordable recreation, capacity building, and organizational development. In three short years, the PCRC has made great strides towards addressing these objectives. For the second year in a row, the PCRC recently offered a free Safety Audit Training course, which helps community members identify potential safety problems, and contribute towards making their neighbourhoods safer. Through a community engagement grant, the PCRC has helped fund, support, and/or coordinator an annual Halloween Bash for kids, and the Share the World event, which highlights the city’s multiculturalism. In addition to funding, the PCRC has also provided valuable advice and logistical support for local non-profit organizations in the start-up phase.

One of the PCRC’s most successful initiatives is the home beautification project, which offers small grants to homeowners to make exterior improvements to their homes. This project has also helped support local businesses as the PCRC has developed partnerships with local hardware retailers in providing supplies. In its first year, the program contributed towards the renovation of thirteen homes.

The PCRC began the New Year in a new and larger location, after outgrowing its original office space. With that rate of expansion, the future of the PCRC looks bright, and as new issues and concerns arise, the citizens of Portage La Prarie can rest assured that the PCRC will help them cross those paths, or portage those streams. With the support of the PCRC, Portage La Prairie is becoming a stronger, safer, and more engaged community.

Visit www.portagecrc.com for more information

A Portage La Praire home after receiving a grant through the PCRC's home beautification project. The project has been integral in fostering a sense of community engagement and pride in the city.

 

 

 

Portage La Prairie community members take in some culture at the PCRC's first Share the World event, which featured entertainment, food, and art from the various cultures and countries that make up Portage's diversity

 

 

 

 


Canadian CED Network News


CCEDNet 2011 Membership Renewal

Active promotion and initiation of forward-thinking activities that combat poverty are what sow the seeds of community development and lighten the burden of economic insecurity. Through these activities, our aim remains supporting our members and creating a national vehicle for collective action to strengthen communities.

Your membership is essential to our success as a movement. Click here to renew your CCEDNet membership now for the 2011 calendar year.
 


Meet our Members

Ethnicity Catering

 

 

EthniCity Catering is a non-profit social enterprise of the Centre for Newcomers. We provide Canadian employment experience and training to immigrant women in transition. At the same time, we connect you with the culinary knowledge and skill these women bring from their home countries.

Visit their website


Community Futures Network of Alberta

Entrepreneurs are the key to fueling economic growth. Small businesses help create economic diversity. And they play an important part in ensuring long term sustainability for Alberta’s rural communities. For over 20 years, Community Futures organizations have been helping businesses and communities in Alberta with business advisory and economic development services.

Visit their website


CCEDNet on Facebook & YouTube

Looking for more information? Want to stay in the CED loop in between CCEDNet newsletters? Visit CCEDNet's Facebook Fan Page for all the latest updates on CED events, news, and reports from around the country!

You can also subscribe to our growing YouTube Channel for great profiles on CED initiatives and informative talks with CCEDNet staff on community development issues.

  • Featured Video: One of our latest additions is a video on the Winnipeg-based worker co-operative Organic Planet


Meet a Create Action Intern

Each year, CCEDNet member organizations hire emerging CED leaders for six month internships with the help of the CCEDNet's CreateAction Internship Program. There are currently 40 interns working across the country with various CED initiatives, organizations, and programs.

Alexis Nazeravich has been influenced by the diversity of her hometown of Winnipeg from a young age. Her past experiences have ranged from teaching cultural dance, to working with children and youth in rural Manitoba, volunteering in Mexico in an orphanage, treeplanting, cooking in remote bush camps,and working with independent food establishments. She is working on her Master Gardening Certificate and will soon begin learning more about growing/wild harvesting, preparing and using medicinal herbs through a local herbalist.

She took a break from her position as a Land Steward on a farm 30km outside of Winnipeg to engage with Food Security, Food Access and Greening Initiatives with the North End through the North End Food Security Network. One of her roles in this position involves assisting local gardeners in planning for 2011 and securing funds to continue their gardening and programming. She will also be responsible for assisting with the organization of workshops and sharing events, consulting over new garden proposals and assisting in the development of an implementation plan to work with local retailers to address some of the North End’s retail food access concerns.


Alberta CED News


A Thriving Blog

Thrive’s most recent blog post includes video interviews with three business leaders who discuss their experiences in incorporating CED into their business’ practices and how this has created opportunities for individuals living on low-income.

Visit Thrive’s blog for the latest CED news in Calgary and lively discussion on CED issues.


BALTA Research - Prospects for Socializing the Green Economy: The Case of Renewable Energy

This project explores the prospects for social economy and co-operative involvement in wind energy production in Alberta, Canada. It examines the context for wind energy production and involvement by social economy organizations in wind generation, then examined several best practice cases in Canada and internationally, then facilitated exploration of a strategy for developing the sector.

Download the full report
 


Non-Profit Event: To inspire, Learn and Connect

The Social Enterprise Fund will be holding a session for non-profits to be inspired by those already engaged in social enterprise and to learn how to shape and pitch a social enterprise idea. Anyone is welcome to attend on January 28, and March 4, 2010 Expressionz Café (9938—70th Ave). The event will be free of charge, but those attending are asked to RSVP bob@socialenterprisefund.ca

Click for more information


ACCA Accepting Nominations for Co-operative Awards

The Alberta Community and Co-operative Association and the provincial government’s Service Alberta department are calling for nominations for the Alberta Co-operative Awards.

Awards may be presented in any or all of the five eligible categories.

  • The Co-operative Merit Award
  • Young Co-operative Leader Award
  • Inspiring Young Co-operators Award
  • Co-operative Innovations Award
  • Co-operative Visionary Leadership Award

Click here for nomination forms and more information. Nomination deadline is February 28, 2011.


Live-Local.ca – A Local Business Directory

Call it the online Yellow Pages of local businesses. Live Local helps citizens, independent businesses and communities support independent entrepreneurs, and keeps locally-owned businesses operating. This non-profit organizations work with local businesses to help them reach potential customers, so they can continue to invest in and support the local economy.

Visit their website to find out where and how you can shop, eat, and dine locally in Alberta.


 


CDI Project Funding Recipients in Alberta

Congratulations to the following organizations and projects that have been awarded CED/ICP funding for 2011. Click on each name to learn more about the projects.


Collaborating for Cohesive Societies Conference

The Community Development Society of Calgary and Area is hosting its 8th annual Community Development Conference. This year’s event is titled Collaborating for Cohesive Societies, which will feature workshops on community health issues, intergenerational programs, and connecting with Aboriginal communities, among others. The Conference is being held at the Executive Royal Inn (2828-23rd Street N.E.) in Calgary.

Click here for more information


Mapping Thrive

Thrive Calgary is inviting community members to help determine its strategic plan for the next 10 years. The event will provide excellent networking opportunities for the CED community as attendees will help trace Thrive's growth and map out its new direction. It is being held on February 3rd at the Kahanoff Conference Centre. Registration is free and lunch will be provided. Those planning to attend are asked to contact Brenna Atnikov email or at 403.204.2668 brennaa@momentum.org


ACCA Unveils the 2010/2011 Training Workshop Calendar

ACCA is pleased to offer the following 2010/2011 Training Workshops:

  • Co-operative Basics
  • Financial Analysis and Planning for Non Financial Managers
  • Financial Analysis and Planning for Non Financial Managers – Advanced Course
  • Parliamentary Procedures

The first workshop begins on January 20, so register soon!

Click here for a 2011 Registration Form and more info


CED Tool

Communities Matrix - 69 Tools, Techniques, and Resources for Communities

The Matrix is a result of Centre for Innovative and Entrpreneurial Leadership's research and experience in assisting communities to become more vibrant, entrepreneurial, and innovative. The CIEL has noted that communities vary in their ability to make decisions about their future, and in their ability to carry through on identified courses of action. The Matrix divides the community development process into four phases: Chaos, Emergence, Vision, and Actualization.

The tools and resources in this document are designed to be used according to an organization's stage on the communities matrix. CIEL, where possible, sought to classify tools and techniques that were relatively simple to self- administer, easy to understand and relatively inexpensive.

Click here to download the Communities Matrix


National CED News

CED Book Club: Aboriginal, Northern, and Community Economic Development

John Loxley has written extensively on community economic development. In his newest book, Aboriginal, Northern, and Community Economic Development, Loxley examines various approaches to economic development, placing each within a broader theoretical and policy perspective, and considering its growth potential and class impact. Accessible and theoretically sophisticated, the book blends international development theory with northern Canadian and Aboriginal realities.

Learn more about the book


New Report on the social determinants of Canada's Health Care System

Unless governments change their approach to addressing the needs of poorer and socially disadvantaged Canadians, we are destined to continue to spend large amount of dollars on our health care system. Governments must expand their approach to health promotion in order to tackle the major societal factors that lead to poor health and to take pressure off health care budgets.

The report Stepping It Up: Moving the Focus from Health Care in Canada to a Healthier Canada indicates that health disparities play a significant role in health system costs. It states that ongoing spending on acute care and programs encouraging a healthy lifestyle is not enough to improve the overall health of Canadians, particularly those who live in or close to poverty.

Click here to view the full document


Aboriginal Co-op Development Program Accepting Proposals

The newly-created First Nations, Métis and Inuit Co-operative Development Program has issued its first call for funding proposals. The program, created by the Canadian Co-operative Association (CCA) in consultation with national Aboriginal organizations, will fund between five and 10 projects per year for the next five years, with an average grant of $5,000 to $10,000. The deadline for applications is March 1, 2011.

Click here for or more information or for the application form and guide.


New Release for JRCD

The Journal of Rural and Community Development (JRCD) is pleased to announce the release of a special double issue (Volume 5, Issue 1/2) in December 2010. The topic for this issue, Rural Tourism, provoked overwhelming interest. This double issue contains ten articles, three case studies, and one policy evaluation and review. The JRCD is a free online journal based in the Rural Development Institute, Brandon University.

Access the Journal here

(Credit: The RDI Update, January 2010)


2010 CDI Projects Announced

The federal government has announced more co-op projects that are receiving funding in the 2010-2011 round of the Co-operative Development Initiative (CDI)'s Innovative Co-operative Projects (ICP) component.

In December, the department announced that 39 projects in British Columbia, Alberta, Manitoba, Ontario, Quebec and Yukon were being funded, in addition to those previously announced in Quebec, Ontario, Nova Scotia and New Brunswick.

View a full list of the 2010-11 projects

(Credit: CCA December News Brief)


Why Cities? Why Poverty? Tele-learning Workshop

The first call in the Canada's Cities Reducing Poverty series, taking place on January 27, will feature Brock Carlton, CEO of the Canadian Federation of Municipalities. Mr. Carlton will discuss a recent report exploring poverty, income inequality and the concept of social infrastructure. The report introduces the concept of social infrastructure, the support system provided by municipal governments and made up of direct social services, such as affordable housing, emergency shelters and subsidized childcare, as well as public services like transit, recreation and libraries.

Click here to register


Job Postings

For the latest CED postings visit the National and Regional job pages on CCEDNet's website

National | AB | SK | MB | North

Positions to post? Send them to breimer@ccednet-rcdec.ca

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Alberta Newsletter