By The Lowertown Community Resource Centre
It is early afternoon on a sunny fall day and a group of people are gathered in conversation in the Murray Street cul-de-sac—a stone’s throw east of King Edward Avenue, where Murray Street merges into St. Patrick Street.
A few metres away, a homeless man is asleep in a heap of blankets on a small patch of grass next to the wall meant to block the sound from St. Patrick Street traffic. On the south side of the street, there is a beige brick building on the corner and next to it is a two-storey century-old house undergoing a complete renovation. One of the people in the group, Gordon, is the owner of a small construction firm which has purchased the property and is investing time and money to restore it. Others there are Lowertown residents, Sandra, Ifrah, Ruweida, “David”, Aicha, Ottawa Police Constable Martin Riopelle, as well as Aysha Farouk and Anabelle Gisanza, staff from the Lowertown Community Resource Centre,. They are part of a special initiative called SafeGrowth, which is being piloted for the first time in Ontario.
Constable Riopelle describes SafeGrowth as a structured approach “…of engaging residents in identifying problematic areas in their neighbourhood. Then, in collaboration with law enforcement, local businesses and other stakeholders, they create their own local crime-prevention plan and preventive strategies.” It is coordinated by the Ottawa Police Service, which received a grant from the Ministry of Community Safety and Correctional Services to carry out the project. “The typical police role is responding to calls or complaints,” says Riopelle. “However, this approach allows us to work differently with residents with a focus on prevention.”
The small corner of Lowertown where the group is meeting has been identified by participants as a “hot spot”. Resident Sandra explains: “We chose it for safety issue: people are sleeping there, there are discarded needles, there have been violent incidents.” Residents of the community said that they no longer felt safe walking through this part of their neighbourhood. Thefts of bicycles and other items from backyards break and enter of vehicles and also violent crimes have been reported by residents in the vicinity.
Working on an initiative like this can be quite complex. There are many underlying issues—feelings of safety for residents, homelessness and addiction, property values, respect for the rights of all citizens including marginalized people—and even more points of view on how to address them. Where does individual responsibility begin and societal responsibility end? How far should the mandate of an organization addressing homelessness extend? The local residents have mixed feelings of anger, frustration and sadness. David recounted how “many residents expressed compassion” for those who find themselves living on the street. Says Ruweida, “It is sad they have nowhere to go.”
The residents carry out their work as they consider these complexities. They are visiting the site at different times of day to make observations and knocking on doors to talk to neighbours before formulating a plan. Solutions might include proposing increased inspections and patrols from police and residents, working with homeless-serving organizations and pushing for changes to the physical space (lighting, sight lines, removal of recesses and hiding places). The group, as well as two others, presented their findings and recommendations on November 9 at the Field House in Jules Morin Park.
The Lowertown Community Resource Centre’s role in SafeGrowth is part of our community development and outreach work. While offering much needed services and activities like after-school activities and a food bank are a key part of what we do, equally important is being connected to residents’ preoccupations about their neighbourhood and supporting them in creating a safer and more vibrant community. Another way we do this is via Lowertown Our Home (LOH), a collaborative initiative focused on making Lowertown East a safe, welcoming and inclusive community. The Centre coordinates LOH by convening residents and local organizations to work together on issues related to neighbourhood crime and safety. To learn more about SafeGrowth and Lowertown Our Home or to get involved, please contact Aysha Farouk, afarouk@crcbv.ca, 613-789-3930.
Lowertown Community Resource Centre: http://www.crcbv.ca/
SafeGrowth: www.safegrowth.org/