Growing an Intercultural Neighbourhood, Growing a Civil Society
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GROWING AN INTERCULTURAL NEIGHBOURHOOD GROWING A CIVIL SOCIETY PAULA CARR 2012 Growing an Intercultural Neighbourhood, Growing a Civil Society A project supported by Collingwood Neighbourhood House and the Carold Institute through the Alan Thomas Fellowship Hello or over 30 years, I’ve served as an to explore and share knowledge about ways to Executive Director of several organiza- advance civil society. tions and worked as a volunteer in F I began exploring the developmental journey many others. I’ve also received services and supports from several community organizations that people and organizations went through as throughout my life. Renfrew-Collingwood changed in diversity and grew in population over a 25-year period. First, as In 1988, I moved to Vancouver and luckily a way to continue development in the local neigh- found a position as Executive Director of the bourhood, second, to help create dialogue with Collingwood Neighbourhood House, a three- other communities interested in this work and, year old organization located in the Renfrew- third, to inform governments, philantropic organi- Collingwood neighbourhood. zations and academics who could further support this kind of development through research, On the first day of work at the Collingwood policies, practices, and resource allocation. Neighbourhood House, I visited a local financial institution at my lunch hour. Coming from the The project Growing an Intercultural Neighbour- Prairies and being known as a friendly person, hood, Growing a Civil Society is the result of this I struck up a conversation with an elderly exploration. Its collection of stories and articles woman in the lineup. Her name was Pacita and reveals how we develop capabilities to grow she was delightful, with this infectious laugh community within what we call an intercultural that made me feel wonderful. She welcomed neighbourhood and, as a result, enhance civil me to the neighbourhood and promised to drop society in Canada. by to see me and continue our conversation. Growing an Intercultural Neighbourhood, Relationships like these made me feel like I Growing a Civil Society captures how, as belonged and have kept me in Renfrew- local residents became engaged in community Collingwood for 23 years and counting. building, the many layers of cultural values and practices created a new culture and spirit. In 2010, I had the great honour to be selected Through our local experience, we valued and as an Alan Thomas Fellow through the Carold celebrated diversity and as a result became a Institute, an organization committed to advancing far more inclusive society. Through visioning, civil society in Canada. This group is currently dialogue and gift-sharing, we created approaches investing in people who have worked in the and solutions that transcended traditional nonprofit sector by giving them an opportunity multiculturalism into interculturalism. Stories of Being, Belonging, and Becoming in Renfrew-Collingwood GROWING AN INTERCULTURAL NEIGHBOURHOOD, GROWING A CIVIL SOCIETY, PAULA CARR 2012 My name is Paula Carr and I started my work in communities as a volunteer in a small town in Saskatchewan. I was 10 years old. Volunteering left a mark on me and subsequently led to my career in the community development field. Interculturalism means we focus on building There are far too many to name individually. bridges and exchanges, between diverse people, This fellowship has provided an incredible and encourage them to bring their unique gifts year of learning and growth for me. Through and approaches to creating solutions around this process, I have been able to know myself common interests. An intercultural journey better, get in touch with my being. I was able requires a degree of introspection on the part to explore my time prior to coming to Renfrew- of the newcomer and the host community, the Collingwood and understand more clearly marginalized and those that are marginalizing- what I brought into this neighbourhood. an integration effort that goes in both directions. It requires a leap of imagination, and courage to As I reflected with others, there is a great sense explore. of pride, seeing all that we have created together. I was completely overwhelmed and touched by At the heart of this intercultural journey are the generosity of gift giving and support that the stories of the people within the neighbour- has become the culture of this community. hood - inspiring stories of being, belonging, and This neighbourhood has given me another becoming. family, close friends, and a sense of belonging and becoming. As I remember my good friend Pacita and my first day in Renfrew-Collingwood, I think of the thousands of other people who share acts of An intercultural journey...requires a leap of kindness and support their neighbours every imagination and courage to explore. day. These are often hidden jewels and having the privilege of discovering them as I work in the neighbourhood has been my greatest joy In this document I hope to share lessons and and my greatest growing experience. strategies with others doing similar work and to encourage intercultural conversations and I want to acknowledge all of the people who actions and, ultimately, create pathways have helped me in my reflections both through- toward a new vision for our future and a new out the fellowship year and along the way. society. Stories of Being, Belonging, and Becoming in Renfrew-Collingwood 3 HELLO Acknowledgements I want to thank and acknowledge the generous time, support, and wisdom given by so many during this project. Collingwood Neighbourhood House and the Carold Advisors and mentors Institute My advisory committee: Michael Clague, Mark Sel- Collingwood Neighbourhood House and the Carold man, Leonie Sandercock, Gavin Perryman, Wendy Au, Institute have supported this work financially and Cassandra Ly, and Emily Chan. through their ongoing encouragement. The opportu- nity to reflect on the development work in Renfrew Other advisors and mentors: Margo Fryer, Charles - Collingwood and see the threads coming together Dobson, Bill Warriner, Barbara Grantham, Steve that led to an intercultural community is truly a gift. Boyce, and Maria Hudspith. It is a gift for my personal and professional growth, a gift for all the neighbourhood workers who contrib- Volunteer Team uted and a gift for people doing similar work across Story gathering, multi-media presentations, research, the country. administrative and library support: Adam Mackay Collingwood Board of Directors: Julie Linkletter, Kathie Shi, Hossein Maroufi, Norrullah Zaheer, Erica Kenny Diebel, Patricio Ibarra, Oscar Allueva, Winny Yu, Jane Liu, Hayoung Yoo, Jean Kavanagh, Jackie Wong, Joshua Hergesheimer, Yee Ching Hoo, Bill Bridge, Marianne Gemma, Emanuela Sheena, Katan- McMichael, Rania Hatzioannou, Karthy Sivalingam, nya Yee, Paola Antia, Rania Hatzioannou, Paul Reid, Sara Zhou and Rico Wen. Staff: Jennifer Gray-Grant Lixian Cheng, Melissa Chungfat, Brenden Clyde, (Executive Director); Kulwant Kaur, Sharon Gregson, Janette Leung, Rosanne Lambert, Janet McLeish, Michael Mclenaghen, January Wolodarsky (Staff Neelam Khare, Bill Warriner, Scott Wu, Kathy Dellow, Directors); Bless Manalo, Aurelia Schmor, Zeena Winny Wong, Hee Jin Kim, Reginald D’Silva, Youth Chopra, Maria Nombrado, and Karen Caguioa (Office Media Club. Support) Orchard Design: Carold Board of Directors: Michael Cooke, Michael Yoko Tomito Clague, Kris Frederickson, Arpi Hamalian, Amir Hus- Editing and initial layout: sain, Diane Laberge, Lois Ross, Mark Selman; Julie Cheng and Marey MacDonnell Staff: Juliet Huntly Design, Layout and Branding: Renfrew Collingwood Leaders who generously CA Design (Chas and Angela Bains) shared their stories Chris Taulu, Chas Bains, Tammy Do, Matthew Sheena, Ken Green, Thelma Bureyko, Julie Cheng, Carmen Rosen, Terry Tayler, Don Van Dyke, Marjorie To all my friends, family and co-work- Scarfe, Robert Burkart, Bobbie Duvall, Kerry Jang, ers that encouraged me on this journey. Bill McMichael, Julie Linkletter, Oscar Allueva, Jenni- You are the BEST! fer Gray- Grant, Kulwant Kaur, Michael Mclenaghen, January Wolodarsky. 4 Stories of Being, Belonging, and Becoming in Renfrew-Collingwood GROWING AN INTERCULTURAL NEIGHBOURHOOD, GROWING A CIVIL SOCIETY, PAULA CARR 2012 Contents p. 06 Introduction- Why the project? What’s in it? Who was involved? How to use it. p. 08 The Intercultural Journey Why intercultural work is happening, why it is important and who is doing the work. p. 12 Renfrew-Collingwood as an Orchard: Being, Belonging and Becoming Our community is like an orchard and the process of development is like a tree. p. 15 Our Hidden Jewels: The People in Our Neighbourhoods Local people are often hidden jewels. Eight hidden jewels share their personal stories. p. 18 Local Leaders: Being, Belonging, and Becoming How individual leaders all contribute to the making of a neighbourhood. p. 31 Collingwood Neighbourhood House: Being The roots of staff, volunteers, and participants provide fertile ground for co-creation. p. 40 Collingwood Neighbourhood House: Belonging Building belonging and trust is key to developing healthy, safe and vibrant communities. p. 51 Collingwood Neighbourhood House: Becoming What the neighbourhood house learned as it embarked on new journeys. p. 63 My Being Story The experiences that impacted my life and my work in Renfrew-Collingwood. p. 66 My Belonging Story Reflections on the serendipitous nature of the Renfrew-Collingwood community. p. 70 My Becoming Story The