Community is…

“Community” is an easy word to say, but decidedly more complicated to explain. Instinctively, we know it’s about people. But we see communities organized in different ways, we find ways to support communities’ informal and formal institutions, and we recognize people live in multiple communities aligned with their neighborhoods, nationalities, faiths, politics, identities, genders, needs or hobbies. As an experiment, we recently asked our team to finish “Community is…” with three words or less. The responses were as diverse, thoughtful, and unique as our team is.

With the complexity of “community,” I was overwhelmed that over 200 people would sign up to sit with each other on a Thursday afternoon to consider how we can build more community as we build more housing. But that’s exactly what happened on November 16, 2023 when we filled the Walper Hotel’s ballroom with community members, nonprofit partners, housing developers, elected officials, sponsors, Fundholders, and WRCF’s team and Board for our most recent Do More Good Dialogue.

We heard how other cities are reimagining their parks, libraries, recreation centers, and trails to connect people of all backgrounds, to cultivate trust and to create more resilient communities. How community plans can be created by, owned by, and implemented by residents. We shared perspectives about welcoming newcomers, including all voices, and embedding joy. We discussed how can we see our shared spaces, local organizations, and community events as opportunities to foster more engagement, equity, sustainability and fulfillment. We also heard about the challenges many of our community members face, and that people are experiencing "community" in vastly different ways - depending on their circumstances. While we don’t define community in the same ways, it was clear we all crave more of it, especially as our region grows and changes.

That afternoon, we also re-introduced WRCF’s Annual Awards, providing us an opportunity to recognize a few valued members of our local social infrastructure: Allan Cayenne and Sharon Livingstone received the Walter Bean WRCF Community Volunteer Award; Marcia Smellie received the Ken Murray WRCF Community Catalyst Award; and HIP Developments received the David Borges WRCF Organizational Goodness Award. Our community wouldn’t be the same without them, and we thank them for all they continue to give.

If you joined us on November 16, thank you and I hope you’ll continue to connect with us. If you weren’t able to be there, rest assured, this is just the beginning of the ways we’ll be connecting with communities going forward. WRCF is in the process of crafting its first post-unification strategic plan, and the feedback gleaned from that afternoon is already shaping ideas of how WRCF could help strengthen and grow the region’s social infrastructure in tandem with those entities expanding our physical infrastructure.

I’d love to hear what you think. How would you finish the sentence “Community is…”? Drop me a line. Or let’s get some coffee. Let’s figure out how to grow more community, together.

Eric Avner
WRCF President & CEO
eric@wrcf.ca