Community Development and Engagement Team

2022-2023 was a return to a full complement of in-person programming within the Community Development and Engagement (CDE) Team. While there were numerous activities which took place during the year (Strathcona Heights Fun Day, Winter Carnival, Iftar event), we would like to highlight three in particular.

In the summer of 2022, for the first time, Sandy Hill Community Health Centre provided a six-week camp in Strathcona Heights. Campers participated in a variety of activities on a daily basis, and went on several outings to museums and theme parks. There were 45 participants supported by 7 staff and 15 volunteers. All of the staff were hired as part of the Youth Services Bureau Summer Employment Program (5 of whom were residents of Strathcona Heights), allowing us to meet one of the identified neighborhood needs of supporting young people with employment opportunities.

In the fall of 2022, a re-vamped after-school program was launched. Previously called the Super Learners Club and taking place at Viscount Alexander Public School, this program became a casualty of COVID-19 due to our inability to enter the school space. Running directly in Strathcona Heights, we registered 25 children throughout the year, with a regular daily attendance of 15 students. With the support of a private donor, 3 staff were hired to provide tutoring, mentorship and supervision. Four students from the University of Ottawa, who were completing their Community Service Learning for specific classes, also joined us from January to April for added support. During the program, various engaging activities were offered, such as Awesome Arts workshops with Multi-Cultural Artists for Schools and Communities (MASC), I Love to Dance classes (in partnership with City of Ottawa), soccer (with Ottawa Cougars Soccer), art group (with Ottawa School of Art) and engineering workshops with the University of Ottawa Engineering Department. With the success of this year’s program, we will need to find a larger space to accommodate the demand for critical hours support to families.

January to March 2023 also saw the reappearance of Awesome Arts taking place within schools. Partial funding came from Sandy Hill Community Health Centre, which helped to offer 70 workshops, 12 artist residencies, welcome 186 workshop participants and 200 festival showcase attendees. A new addition was the vernissage held the day after the festival at Arts Court, which saw 30 people come to take part in workshops facilitated by MASC artist Louie Mercier. The vernissage featured the drawings, paintings and murals which were created as part of the program.

Moving forward, the CDE team will be looking to find other organizations to partner with, as well as internal SHCHC teams in order to support a wider portion of the community.