Strength in Numbers!

When community members get together to solve a problem, great things can happen. Read these stories to see how community organizations changed the face of their neighbourhoods. 

Transforming Hintonburg

The Security Committee of the Hintonburg Community Association is made up of dedicated volunteers from the Hintonburg community, who work together with city councillors and staff, local police, and other community members to reduce crime in their neighbourhood and across the City of Ottawa. One of the Security Committee’s most notable contributions is its involvement in the creation of the Ottawa John School, a program aimed at reducing street- level sex trade by stopping men’s solicitation of sex trader workers. 

The pilot project, launched in the Hintonburg neighbourhood, saw men charged for solicitation, but if they had no previous record and took responsibility for their actions they were offered a pre-charge diversion to attend the John School instead of going to court. If they completed the program, the charges against them would be dropped. 

Giving these men the option to avoid a criminal record and to learn something about their actions was an innovative approach. It forced men to acknowledge the consequences of their actions on this community, the potential health risks they faced and the laws they were breaking. It also taught them about the reality of why prostitutes are on the street - often due to drug addiction. 

Following a three-month pilot and an extensive evaluation from law enforcement, the project was deemed successful. It was taken city-wide in 1997, and since then at least 1200 men have gone through the school and a very few have re-offended. The sex trade in the Hintonburg neighbourhood has also decreased significantly. 

A neighbourhood needle pick-up program is another successful Security Committee initiative. In the late 1990s the issue of discarded needles was growing. Volunteers from the Security Committee would scour parks and playgrounds early in the morning to collect the sometimes thousands of discarded needles before children arrived. In 2000, responding to pressure from the Committee, the City of Ottawa began funding a pro-active needle pick-up program, making parks, school yards and public spaces safer for everyone. 

Other successful initiatives include the long-running Task Force on Problem Properties, a partnership started in 1995 that works to highlight properties, most often drug houses, to the city and police who then work together to find ways to deal with them. Through the Hintonburg Safety Partnership gaps in legislation that allowed these problem properties to exist for years were examined. The Security Committee has also lobbied for supports to help people with addiction issues. 

The Security Committee also runs the One House at a Time Program, working with property owners and often supporting them to evict bad or criminal tenants. The committee organized a number of community walks to draw attention to problems and to demonstrate the community’s willingness to take action. Because the existence of drug houses brings the sex trade and many other crimes, the fight to rid neighbourhoods of this root cause of crime has been a foundation for the Committee’s crime prevention efforts. 

Good things happen when Neighbours Unite

In 2007, a concerned and committed group of residents from Ottawa’s west end approached the Pinecrest-Queensway Community Health Centre to discuss rising crime in the area and to partner with the organization to do something about these challenges. The centre helped the residents apply for funding through Crime Prevention Ottawa and the United Neighbours project was born. 

In just two years, United Neighbours has transformed the neighbourhood. More than 50 community members, including community leaders, faith leaders, service providers, private renters, homeowners, tenants associations, law enforcement officers and local business owners have contributed to the efforts of collectively finding solutions and improving the quality of life in Ottawa’s west end. The work has included door-to-door campaigns, public speaking engagements, and the development of a website through which the community keeps up to date on upcoming events and police news. 

In the spring of 2008, United Neighbours carried out a survey in four languages – Arabic, French, Somali and English – which received more than 800 responses from adults and youth in the community. Following the survey, a community forum was also organized in an effort to encourage neighbours to work together towards a common goal of a safer neighbourhood. As a result of both of these initiatives, four working groups have been developed in the areas of:

* Environment and Beautification;

* Community safety;

* A programs and services inventory; and,

* Drug and alcohol prevention and intervention

Each working group meets once a month to discuss issues, projects and new initiatives, with a common vision to combat fear and misperceptions about youth violence, racism, and immigrant populations. Each of the working groups has planned, implemented and evaluated a number of projects in the community, including:

* A community forum, which highlighted the need for a holistic community approach to drugs, alcohol and mental health issues, with a particular focus on youth and early prevention;

* Community clean-up days and the creation of a park in one of the social housing neighbourhoods; and,

* Crime Prevention Coffee Houses, which offer a safe space for all community members to come together to discuss issues that concern them and to find solutions together in order to increase safety in their neighbourhoods.

 The four working groups continue to build momentum, awareness, relationships and healthy neighbourhood cohesion by planning and implementing a variety of initiatives that are relevant to community members. A new initiative for youth, based on the successful Coffee Houses, involves creating Smoothie Stands specifically for youth to come together and talk about issues relevant to them.

 United Neighbours is an example of a community-based action plan that works to educate and mobilize the community on crime and safety issues. The group has grown into a vital support network for Ottawa’s west end, providing a foundation for a healthier and more cohesive community, and a much safer one.