McCauley Community Safety Meetings are a great way for community members to come together to discuss the creation of a safer neighbourhood for all. They are a means for engagement, connection, sharing, learning ,and empowerment. They have connected attendees to one another – and to useful information and resources. However, attending meetings is not a commitment that all community members can make.

The process of creating a safer McCauley should be inclusive and accessible to all, regardless of circumstances. With this in mind, a McCauley-specific website – safermccauley.ca – has been developed to allow all stakeholders to stay connected to the process and to contribute on their own time, in their own space and at their own pace. The website serves as a hub for all things related to Community Safety Meetings, including information on past and future meetings and links to safety-related resources.

The best solutions to a community’s challenges often come from within the community itself. As such, safermccauley.ca now contains interactive exercises that invite input from all community members. These exercises are designed to collect community knowledge that can play a central role in the development of community-driven solutions to safety concerns.

One exercise, for example, is designed to identify community members’ Priority Safety Concerns. And another allows community members to define their Criteria for Safety by answering twelve basic questions, like:

“Which geographic areas in McCauley do we need to focus on the most?”
“Who are the people we are making McCauley safer for?”
“What values are most important in a safer neighbourhood?”
“Who should we be working with to help us make McCauley safer?”

The data collected will help determine how to focus resources and has the potential to be a benefit to many parties, including EPS, the City of Edmonton, community groups, service agencies, and businesses.

Visit safermccauley.ca to have your say. The summaries of the results are living documents and will be updated as your answers come in. And, if you have any safety resources that you would like to share via the website, please let us know.

Do you have an idea for a community initiative to add to the work that EPS and the City do to promote safety in McCauley? A community-connecting event? A positive street-level activity? A community walkabout? A dog walking group? A litter clean up crew? Don’t hesitate to share your ideas with McCauley Safety Council Chair, Elisa Zenari (elisa.zenari@gmail.com) or REACH Edmonton McCauley Community Convener, Mark Davis (mark.davis@reachedmonton.ca).

Attend a Community Safety Meeting or visit safermcauley.ca. A connected community is a safer community.

Mark is the REACH McCauley Community Convener.