6 SHCHC’s Community Development and Engagement Team is growing - by Monika Séguin-Gervais
Community Development, as defined by the UN, is a “a process where community members come together to take collective action and generate solutions to common problems”. While this appears to be simple, I have come to understand that not everything that is simple comes easily. It takes work, coordinated work and resources, mostly human resources. I have also come to understand that collaborative work between residents, neighbours and partnering organisations is extremely satisfying, and it contributes to innovative solutions to a variety of community challenges. For Gerald Dragon, Team Lead, “residents are meant to be the driving force when designing initiatives aimed at responding to identified needs”. And this is exactly what it is. Understanding that while we may support community members and associations in the development of different initiatives, they are instrumental because the value of their lived experience and understanding of their neighborhood is incomparable. In Ottawa, Community Health and Resource Centres have agreed on four guiding principles to define how community development agents such as myself, often called Community Developers (or CD-ers for short), can inform their work in the community. We must be responsive to community, as well as challenge systemic inequity, power dynamics and support empowerment of the individuals with who we work. We do this through partnership and collaboration, keeping in mind that we aim for transformational practice. While SHCHC has been involved in community development since its inception, the Community Development and Engagement (CDE) department was initiated
in the early 2000s. Through the years, the team has been involved in multiple projects to improve the health and well-being of residents. Currently, the CDE team is made up of four members. My name is Malika Séguin-Gervais; I am the latest addition to this formidable team, and I am happy to get to present the team to you via this article. Our Team Lead, Gerald Dragon, has been with the centre since 2011. Over the course of 10 years, his role has changed significantly, from initially focusing on child/youth programming to ensuring certain services can be accessible to residents, and engaging residents in capacity building activities where they can take the lead and develop initiatives to make their neighborhood better. These past experiences and more have helped prepare him for his current role working alongside colleagues who are equally committed to making sure that SHCHC is responsive to the needs expressed by residents.
Gerald Dragon, CDE Team Lead
Sylvie Roussel, Program Assistant Sylvie Roussel is our Program Assistant. She has been a resident in Strathcona Heights since 2004. Sylvie volunteered on multiple community development initiatives such as the Art and Craft Group for the children in her community, the Strathcona Heights Neighbourhood Circle, the Good Food Box in Strathcona Heights, the Market Mobile, and other. In 2016, she received the SHCHC Award for Excellence in Health Promotion for her continous involvement with food security projects that had a significant impact in the community of Strathcona Heights. Sylvie joined the CDE Team in 2018 as the team’s Program Assistant. Her strong connections with the residents make her instrumental in increasing residents’ participation in numerous programs. Her role is to act as a liaison between residents and multiple community programs offered by both SHCHC and other service providers.
