By Faye Wightman CEO
Vancouver Foundation
This month, Vancouver Foundation is asking people across metro Vancouver how they feel about life in their neighbourhoods and their community.
We want to learn more about how people experience day-to-day life. How many really close friends do they have? Do they belong to clubs, or volunteer?
Do they feel connected to the life of their neighbourhood and to the community at large?
Or do certain things prevent people from becoming involved; things like family responsibilities, a long commute to work or school, or other barriers like language?
We will survey 3800 people in four languages.
This survey comes from a broad consultation we did last summer when we asked people in metro Vancouver what issue we should focus on to have a greater impact in the community.
We interviewed 106 community leaders from all walks of life. We also conducted an on-line survey which was completed by 275 non-profit organizations.
We were very surprised by the results. We thought people might choose poverty or homelessness or any of the other big issues facing our community.
And while they did talk about these things, none were chosen as the most important issue.
The issue people said concerned them the most was isolation and disconnection; the feeling that we are separated by ethnic backgrounds, language, income, age, and even geography.
They said this has enormous consequences for them as individuals and for their community.
People said that the best investment Vancouver Foundation could make would be to help create bridges between our various communities — between neighbours and neighbourhoods; between residents of different ages, cultures and backgrounds; between marginalized people and the larger community — with the goal of helping residents of metro Vancouver connect and engage for the greater good.
This craving for connections is supported by research.
When people feel connected to one another — when they trust one another and have a sense of belonging — neighbourhoods are safer, there is less crime, people bounce back faster after illness or other setbacks, and they are mentally and emotionally healthier, with less depression and suicide.
Our children do better in school, and there is less bullying and discrimination.
We are simply better off in many of the ways that matter.
We all need an emotional connection to our neighbours and to our community.
This is what motivates us to take part in activities that promote community, like volunteering, working on community projects, donating blood and so on.
It’s these connections that help us know and trust one another.
We need that trust if we are ever to tackle the big issues like homelessness and poverty, or the small ones like community improvements.
Often, we feel we are just fine within our own groups. We have a strong sense of belonging in our families and within our own tightly-bonded cultural communities and we take part in festivals and activities that are familiar to our own groups.
But we all need to do more.
We all need to participate in activities that help build a truly inclusive and welcoming community for everyone.
And so we are asking people to examine their own lives and ask themselves questions like these:
How many close friends do you have in a cultural or ethnic group that is different than your own?
How comfortable are you living among people who do not share your heritage or mother tongue?
What have you done lately to make your neighbourhood ‘feel like home’ to people living on the same street?
Metro Vancouver is changing.
Statistics Canada projects that by 2031, 70 percent of all people living here will be immigrants or the Canadian-born children of immigrants.
Three people in five could belong to a visible minority. It will mean that every one of us, new or established, must find ways to do our part to build bridges.
Vancouver Foundation will continue to help by supporting projects and initiatives that strengthen people’s connections to and engagement in their communities; to strengthen the ties between the two million people who call metro Vancouver home.
To learn more about this survey go to www.vancouverfoundation.ca.
Vancouver Foundation is Canada’s largest community foundation. Each year we fund hundreds of community projects in a wide array of fields: arts and culture, education, environment, community health, children and family issues, social development, disabilities, and youth homelessness.
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