Hooray Winter is here. Happy Holidays!

The CBR team has had an enjoyable and very busy year. We look forward to the next year as we become more accustomed to being truly private sector and broadening our work further to the north, south, east and west of Canada. We have had fun creating our two new workshops the "Next Steps" and "Building Builders". These are two great opportunities for all of you. They will help you acquire further knowledge on the asset focus and community building, and they will provide more hands-on experience in delivering RAFF workshops so you will feel comfortable facilitating your own RAFF workshops and become more comfortable with encouraging community building in your communities. The RAFF workshops are still going strong; as is the facilitation we provide to groups in planning, organizing and making things happen. One of the growing areas of our work has been in assisting communities and non-profit groups in forming and using evaluation that satisfies funders yet also encourages more community involvement, AND responds to the dreams and goals of the community itself. The other enjoyable growth area for us has been working together with various groups to find the most successful ways to integrate and grow Community Building and Internet technology together. I hope this newsletter finds all of you happy in all you do, and still pushing the sides of those boxes out and down just a little bit further. Happy 2001. Cheers !!

ALERT !

• There have been a number of inquires asking for an open Community Capacity Building and Asset Mapping - RAFF It Up Workshop.
• We are thinking of holding the 2 day workshop, here in Edmonton open to anyone from anywhere, in January.
• Please call or e-mail us (before December 15th) if you are interested. We will contact you with possible dates if there is enough interest. - Cost: $225.00 per person (includes a binder and lunch for both days).

Community Building Updates:

The Jasper Place Gateway Foundation

JPGF continues to shine and is gaining momentum as we speak. Friends continue to RAFF on a monthly basis with the fruit of their endeavours popping up throughout the community!

• Planters full of beautiful flowers appeared in the neighbourhoods with two local parks becoming "blooming" sites.
• A 3rd successful Gateway Goldrush saw neighbours gathering and participating in a parade, treasure hunt, games, visiting and eating.
• Lighting of the park lights, decorating the lamp posts by the "Cover Up Club", and sharing good cheer with neighbours are next on the list.

This hard-working and fun-loving group of local people, businesses, and organizations from the west end of Edmonton have made great strides toward their goal of creating positive change in the Jasper Place area - contact Kevin Peterman at 487-7710 for more information or check out their new and growing website at: www.jasperplace.com

JPGF Community Access Network
(JPGF CAN), which is partially funded through matching support from Industry Canada's Community Access Program (the Urban Element) is up and running in six sites throughout JPGF. People are accessing the site to learn more about computers, the internet, e-mail, or are just stopping by to chat with friends and meet other people in the Jasper Place area. The six sites are a mix of locations, reaching a wide range of people. Different hobby and interest groups are beginning to appear, from gardening to chess and even a running group is in the works. The sites include:

• the Jasper Place Gateway Foundation office
• the Royal Canadian Legion - Jasper Place Branch
• Goodwill Industries
• Artra Art Supplies
• Boys and Girls Club of Edmonton - West End Youth and Neighbourhood Centre
• the Saxony Hotel.

Stop by a location and meet a few of the JPGF CAN users! For more information call (780) 487-7710 or check out the JPGF Website.

The Rainbow Riders has wound down for the year, but the volunteers are busy sprucing up the bikes and getting them ready for spring. This "borrow-a-bike" project not only benefits the environment, it also helps the community. Community members who were not able to purchase bikes are now taking advantage of the Rainbow Riders bikes to help them get around town. What a win-win project this has been! If you are interested in helping to maintain the bikes or would like more info give the JPGF office a call (780) 487-7710.

The Community Involved Adolescents (CIA) of Westlawn School, is underway again this year thanks to the generous funding from the Community Mobilization Program through the National Crime Prevention Centre. This is a unique community partnership of the Jasper Place Gateway Foundation, Westlawn Junior High, and Community Building Resources. Junior High students share their gifts and assets with the JPGF community and the community shares its gifts and assets with the CIA! The year kicked off with the CIA building and running a very scary "haunted house" for the Glenwood Community Halloween Party. Young, and some not so young, visitors were seen running from the ghostly building in haste! The CIA are now busy planning Christmas Festivities for their school and the community. Call Angie at (780) 484-9045 or e-mail (angie@cbr-aimhigh.com) for more info.

Speaking of Glenwood (- one of the JPGF Neighbourhoods) - it has a new multi-seasonal, multi-generational, multi-use, Family Park, with new playground equipment, seating and a gazebo. If you are ever in the area, check it out. Its sure to keep you and your kids entertained, even the big kids (the CIA) love it!

Spirits were high, the music was out of this world and the "trips down memory lane" were entertaining and enlightening for the annual Celebrate Parkallen gathering on June 11th. The talent show, Square Dancers, and bands showed the diversity of the area. Not even the rain could dampen the spirits. Planning is well underway for Celebrate Parkallen 2001!

Beverly Towne Community Centre has moved to new digs - stop in and say hi at: #281 11717 - 42 Street, Edmonton - T5W 48V.

Check out some neat work by Mark Peterson at the U of Arkansas. He has taken RAFF to GIRAFFE and also has created a "magic momentum meter"! - you can contact Mark at: mpeterson@uaex.edu

For those of you wanting to celebrate Alberta's 2005 Centennial
- Over the next five years, the Government of Alberta will encourage and support Albertans as they plan and develop projects and events to celebrate the centennial.
Application Deadline: March 1, 2001 - see the website for further info:
http://www.gov.ab.ca/alberta2005/

CBR Research, Evaluation, and Projects:

The community research group "RIFF RAFF" (Residents Involved in Family Futures-Relationships Action Food and Fun) has been hard at work since May. The group came up with over 200 possible ideas of things to measure that would answer the question: What will tell us the JPGF is successful?

The group's latest accomplishment was presenting their ideas to community members and asking for their input. One of the most interesting things that came out of that input was the strong agreement that "Friendly Neighbourhood" indicators are very important to this community.

RIFF-RAFF has also applied to several conferences from Red Deer to Texas to share what they have learned.

CBR is the evaluator for another round of VolNet. This is an Industry Canada funded project that provides internet access, computer and internet training, and a computer at a reduced rate for not-for-profit organizations in Edmonton and from northern Alberta. Call Garland Coulson at The Support Network (780-482-0198) for more information or to receive an application form.

CBR is also the evaluator for Youth One. Youth One is a community that welcomes youth from all diversities and backgrounds. It will primarily be delivered via the internet and will be supported by community projects and partnerships. It will serve as an on-line resource to information and services, as well as a safe and inviting community network to which youth (aged 13-24) can belong. It is hoped that the site will go live in January 2001. Contact Leo Wong at leowong@youthone.com or check out the temporary website at www.youthone.com.

Where have we been? (conferences, workshops and presentations):

Our two new workshops have been through their initiation stage and we are busy sharing them:

• Building Builders (a training program we have put together to share the Community Capacity Building and Asset Mapping© Workshop experience). This is for people who have attended a Community Capacity Building and Asset Mapping© Workshop, have experienced community building in their own organization or community, and are interested in facilitating a community building workshop themselves. Anyone who is interested in this exciting opportunity should contact Susan.
• The Next Steps Workshop is an opportunity for groups and communities who have already taken the two-day Community Capacity Building and Asset Mapping© workshop to refresh, revisit, revitalize, and RAFF It Up in their community building efforts! This workshop will help groups further build on their knowledge and connections in Community Building and to perhaps begin to create a local asset map.

Our workshops have been widely scattered and have kept Susan and her group of "Building Builders" busy travelling , meeting new friends, and sharing the Community Capacity Building and Asset Mapping© - RAFF It Up Workshop. From the Yukon to Southern Alberta and many places in-between community building is taking hold.

We have been fortunate enough to work with the Alberta Mental Health and their Clubhouses of Alberta as they begin community building within their communities and throughout Alberta. We have had fun meeting staff and members from Wetaskiwin, the Grande Prairie Clubhouse, the Prairie Winds Clubhouse in Claresholm, Prosper Place Clubhouse in Edmonton, Rising Sun Clubhouse in Ponoka, and Potential Place Clubhouse in Calgary. The clubhouses support people with severe and persistent mental health challenges and are working to connect and share their gifts and assets with the community.

Susan has had many other wonderful opportunities to meet new people and make great connections.

• She was the Master of Ceremonies for the Spruce Grove Chamber of Commerce Business Gala
• she facilitated a RAFF Session at the Rural Physicians Spousal Network Conference in Jasper, Alberta, and
• flew to join Yukon friends in Haines Junction and Ross River at their Yukon 2000 Health Summit.

In a four week span, Susan spent 2 nights in her own bed! Does she love the travel and work? You betcha!

Gatherings:

The monthly "Chat and Chew's" have been a neat opportunity for community builders to share ideas, experiences, and resources with people from other communities. This group is the spark behind the fifth Community Building Gathering (CBG V) happening December 1st and 2nd. The Jasper Place Gateway Foundation and CBR are the hosts and the City of Edmonton Planning and Development Department and the Muttart Foundation are assisting with the financial side. At the gathering we are focusing on collaborative land use planning and finding creative ways to sustain community initiatives.

Karl Kehde from Smart Land Development will share his thoughts and ideas about how land use can be a community builder on December 1st. On December 2nd the gathering participants, and special guests from municipal, provincial and federal governments, the Rotary, and a leading Edmonton Entrepreneur will share and find ideas for "creative ways to find the bucks".

Watch our website for a full update on how the gathering went.

Community Building Power - (tips, thoughts and resources)

RAFF Tips:
Try some of these ideas to encourage RAFF in your community building.

• Never go to a meeting empty handed, not only do you need pen and paper, but try bringing a few muffins and a container of juice! (Food)
• A great ice-breaker: Pass a roll of toilet paper around the room and tell people to take how ever much they wish. Then have everyone count the number of squares they took and for each square have them tell the group something about themselves or something great about their community! You might want to put a limit of 3, so those that didn't have Kleenex and took lots don't feel embarrassed! (Fun and Relationship)
  

• Don't ask Johanna to make Zatziki, or... at least, get her to hold the garlic!
• Create an asset map and add to it as your group and connections grow. Use a Crossword Puzzle format - which makes it even more fun!

New Resources that CBR Uses

• The role of asset-based community development in promoting the health of Edmonton citizens. Buchanan, Mary Jane.
  Congratulations to Mary Jane who graduated with her MSc on November 16, 2000.
  - This is her thesis submitted to the Faculty of Graduate Studies and Research in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science - Centre For Health Promotion Studies.
  It is a neat piece of work by Mary Jane that looks at Asset Based Community Building and CBR. She even created a conceptual model.
• Education for Sustainable Development Tool Kit by McKeown, Dr. Rosalyn. Center for Geography and Environmental Education, Knoxville, TN.
  - A Great Tool Box! Some great exercises to use and some that could be adapted for Community Capacity Building and Asset Mapping. We have added a new game to our RAFF Workshop that is adapted from this tool box - we call it the Dice Game!!
• Liveable Communities - An evaluation guide by Pollak, Patricia B. (1999) Published by AARP Public Policy Institute, Washington, DC.
  - A guide to help people "assess whether their community has the physical features, program, and readily accessible services that will enable older persons to remain independent". The "community survey" is the primary tool for this assessment. This survey is a good guide for looking at infrastructure, but could use the concept of third place, gatherings, etc. - the social elements. This is a good resource.

What's New With CBR?

We work very hard at keeping our website current by up-dating the information monthly. If you have any community building ideas, thoughts, initiatives that you would like to share, just let us know and we will put it on our site for the next month.

We have updated and re-printed our book called: OurBook Is YourBook - this edition has an updated reference list in it. We decided to put a "text version" on our website, so feel free to download it at: http://www.cbr-aimhigh.com/main/ Our_Book_Textonly.htm.

We continue to share new and useful ideas to nurture RAFF and community building, as well as update sources for funding for community building initiatives. Check us out at: www.cbr-aimhigh.com/main/raff_ideas.html, and keep checking back every month for new ideas that can help you and your community be successful and have fun doing it.

As usual our group grows, shrinks, grows, shrinks......

• Angie Dedrick has been busy juggling home life (with her two pre-schoolers, a husband, an 18 year old basketball playing boarder, and a new puppy!!!), and coordinating the new group of CIA's. She has a new CIA partner, Trevor Rezeski. He is the teacher liaison with the project, and a real keener!
• Susan Roberts has been kept busy this fall - not only with work, but with making sure her cat who is "mistress of the house" does not eat her newly adopted kitty, Tigr!! She also found time in her busy schedule to put together a huge birthday bash in Prince Edward Island, for her life partner Jack. That alone is usually exciting enough but Jack was also running in a 42K Marathon in Kentville, Nova Scotia just prior to that. Unbeknown to Jack, Susan also coordinated to have "surprise" runners join him at points in the race!! He might not have been the "fastest runner", but he was the most "envied". Everyone wished they were Jack, with all those supporters popping up along the race course. How did everyone know about Jack's well wishers???? - everyone of them had a "Go Jack" T-Shirt on!!
• Jocelyn Edey continues to hang her hat, coat, sweater … here with us (she has really made herself at home). She is gathering community stories and pictures of the successes of the Jasper Place Gateway Foundation's community building efforts and is racking up the air miles so she can fly to LA to visit Darryl.
• Johanna Walkner has been kept busy holding the office together, but finds lots of spare time to play with Abby, her granddaughter. A wedding for her daughter Carolyn has just wrapped up and Johanna and Ed are looking forward to some down time during the Christmas break.
• Kristie Finnegan is a Practicum Student from the U of A Recreation and Leisure Studies program who has spent the last 3 months with us working on specific projects and she liaisus with Angie and the CIA. The major project she had was the Community Building Gathering V. The great "gift sharing" gathering would not have happened without her hard work and extraordinary efforts - Thanks Kristie!
• Graham Mitchell has temporarily left the CBR Nest to take his Masters of Environmental Studies degree at York University in Toronto, concentrating in Urban and Community Planning. He and Deanna made the big move the end of August and have settled back into the unsettling life of a student! Graham is just an e-mail away and will continue to do small contract work with us from afar. It was great that Graham was able to join us at the Community Building Gathering V.

Below ia a poem from a book called Song of the Street, Volume IV,
edited by Linda Dumont , published by The Songs of the Street Art Foundation and distributed by Our Voice Magazine, Edmonton, Alberta.

Community

Love your neighbour as yourself - He said
Don't see colors of their skin
Don't see their style of dress
Don't think of their country of origin
See instead what He sees
The kindness of heart
The value of an open mind
The beauty beneath the skin
The beauty of their soul
if we all see what He sees
We will be a part of the community of Mankind

Anonymous

Are you heading to the Maritimes?

• Check out this website - www.liveinnovascotia.com or phone this toll free number 1-888-865-4647 for some good information. This was passed along to us by a fellow Community Builder - Gale Abby.

Thanks for keeping in touch………………..

Thanks to Jerry Endres of the Institute for Collaborative Studies at California State University, Monterey Bay who has shared with us a very interesting article titled "Family Development Outcomes for Measuring Family Progress". This includes a Family Development Matrix Outcomes Model, A Strengths-Based Approach to Case Management. Contact Jerry at: Jerry_Endres@monterey.edu or contact us at CBR to receive an e-mailed version of the paper.

David Scott also e-mailed us to share about a very successful and fun community building event from last June. Seventy five Ontario residents from Hearst, Mattice,Hornepayne First Nations and Constance Lake First Nations joined together for a 17 hour bus ride to Menominee First Nation in Wisconsin. The purpose of the trip was to learn how the Menominee First Nations sustains its own economy, of course pertinent to these communities who are still developing economic diversity. To read more about this interesting event check out CBR's December RAFF Page or contact Dave at (david.scott@mnr.gov.on.ca).

Thanks to all of you for the feedback on our last newsletter and for keeping us up-to-date on your projects; it was great to hear from some of our Alberta connections: Charlene, Doreen, Margo, Marci, and Jeff from Edmonton, Anne from Grande Prairie, Doug from Claresholm, and Yvonne from Grande Cache; Kathleen and Christine from Saskatchewan; Kim from British Columbia; Graham, Deanna, Jane and Dave from Ontario; Frank from the Yukon (now basking in the sun in Australia); Darla and Gale from Nova Scotia; Dave from New Brunswick; Connie from Spokane; Jennifer from Kansas City; Leo from Georgia; Jerry from California; and Mark from Arkansas. We have just named a few of our connections and connectors as we are not writing a book!! - but keep the sharing door open and continue to let us know what's up!!! Keep up the great work

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