livingcover
where you want to be, with things to do,” she says,
and her efforts clearly show that it can be that place,
and that residents are getting involved. They just need
that ever-important face-to-face interaction along
with an invitation to participate.
It wasn’t until Kathy and her husband, Max, drove
around the neighbourhood that they began to see
what it was becoming–empty businesses, neglected
houses, cluttered alleys and walkways. “We basically
have all the socio-economic woes within,” says Kathy,
adding that the community is also situated next to the
downtown core and homeless shelter. “There are so
many needs that are being neglected. We’re a very
diverse community, and one of the oldest,” she adds.
One of those needs was the safety of the
community’s residents, so Kathy and Max joined the
Lethbridge Neighbourhood Watch and soon found
they were the only two members who signed on from
the Senator Buchanan neighbourhood. At this point
it was recommended to her that she go door to door
to find a few more willing neighbours to participate.
And she did. Kathy went to every residential door in
her community, over 850 homes housing over 2,000
people. She took the time to listen to the residents,
each one if she could, about what they thought of their
community, and what they thought could be done to
improve it. She learned that her neighbours didn’t feel
safe in the community; some
even told her they didn’t feel
safe in their own homes,
and they also told her they
were tired of dealing with
all the garbage and debris
cluttering the alleys and
sidewalks. As a result
of her dedicated efforts, Kathy was able to recruit 180
people to the neighbourhood watch, and garnered
enough support to establish an association.
With the help of the council, Kathy and a group
of neighbours formed the Senator Buchanan
Neighbourhood Association, and although it’s only
been 14 months since it was created, Kathy says the
group of “young, savvy people” have been able to
execute some very effective initiatives to connect
residents and tackle the issues of safety and garbage.
They’ve established a website, public and communityonly access Facebook pages, a community newsletter,
and hosted various Party in the Park events and
impromptu family-friendly activities. The association
was also able to bring the successful Clean Sweep
program into the community. The program, originally
developed for the downtown core, employs persons
experiencing homelessness to clean up the alleys and
sidewalks. All of these initiatives started to make
residents in the Senator Buchanan neighbourhood
feel safer and more connected.
As more citizens step forward and associations
become
established
in
all
of
Lethbridge’s
neighbourhoods,
the
Council
of
Lethbridge
Neighbourhoods will transition into assisting
associations in a greater capacity. The future involves
establishing the council as a charitable organization,
which would allow it to fundraise for associations
that are unable to do so themselves, and to provide
seed funding to emerging or small groups to launch
basic projects and events. The council also intends to
get associations connected with City departments so
that they can get their messages to the City to have
their needs met, and also work more closely with
land developers and homebuilders