We would like to take this opportunity to acknowledge the traditional territories of the Niitsitapi (Blackfoot) and the people of the Treaty 7 region in Southern Alberta. These include the Siksika, the Piikuni, the Kainai, the Tsuut’ina and the Stoney Nakoda First Nations, including Chiniki, Bearpaw, and Wesley First Nations. The City of Calgary is also home to Métis Nation of Alberta, Region III.
Storywriters: Jaspreet Sandhu, City of Calgary Daljit Gill-Badesha, City of Surrey
A TALE OF TWO CITIES A play in three acts
Prologue City o of Surrey • Prioritized children in municipal planning and sustainability • Re-conceptualized traditional spaces • Influenced local cross-pollination • Enabled collective action and policy reform
Prologue Ci City o of Ca Calgary Investment in children and youth designed to: • Contribute to community safety • Deliver quality, accessible, affordable afterschool activities • Mobilize stakeholders leveraging support and resources
How did we do it?
ACT 1: PLOT Background • Gaps in accessibility for children during out-of-school time • Increased vulnerability among children • 67 hours of discretionary time each week for the average child
• Impetus to act: 24% of chargeable incidents involving youth took place in the hours of 3-6 p.m. • 90% of children in Calgary aged 5-14 were not attached to a program or licensed care
ACT 1: PLOT Setting • Population growth/shifts • Multi-barriered children and families • Absence of key facilities and services
ACT 1: PLOT Characters
• City leadership, Council • Non-profit agencies • Community planning groups • Parks, recreation and culture • Funding bodies
ACT 2: THE OBSTACLE • Stakeholder relations • Elections • Funding opportunities/challenges • Sustainability/greening initiatives • Municipal priorities • Children’s changing needs
Calgary’s Response • Refresh of CAS • Re-invigorate partners to focus on SEL and Trauma Informed Practice • Approach school-space response at a systems level
Surrey’s Response Pilot afterschool programming • Mobilized academia and school • district to create transformative data Advocate for green child-friendly • indoor and outdoor spaces
OUR CHALLENGES • Competing municipal priorities • Resistance to strategic integration • Wavering partner commitments • Advocacy barriers • Funding constraints
ACT 3 : CLIMAX How did we find resolution to the challenges and achieve equilibrium?
• Re-imagined resources • Increased local level community representation • Scaled up reach and breadth of afterschool services • Re-designed spaces inviting play, neighbourhood gatherings, and unstructured activities • Launched Afterschool for All
• Partnership engagement in refreshing Calgary Afterschool Strategy • Changes to hours and program types • Introduction of new partnerships to leverage backbone functions and increase impact in community
What now?
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