Meredith Porter has been contributing to Boyle McCauley News even before she became President of the McCauley Community League this spring. She has become very involved in the neighbourhood and only moved here less than three years ago.

“My family and I moved into McCauley in October 2010 when we were ready to move away from Condo living and into a detached home,” she says. “We looked in many central Edmonton neighbourhoods for a multi-suite house as we are an intergenerational family. McCauley is one of the best neighbourhoods in Edmonton for families such as ours. The price was right for our current home, the location cannot be beat – across the street from a park, grocery store, flower shop, etc. – and the house itself met the needs of both of our households.”

Meredith’s immediate involvement in her community was a natural choice, reflecting her values. “I believe in making a contribution to the spaces I occupy – healthy places make healthy people. I grew up watching all three of my parents volunteer on boards and councils, and I saw all of them achieve a lot of meaningful change in the communities we lived in. The Community League felt like the natural place to start, and when I joined, much of the non-market housing moratorium conversation was ongoing, and this was a cause I strongly supported, and still do.”

As the new president of the McCauley Community League, Meredith would like to “facilitate opportunities for residents in our neighbourhood to have access to balance within a mixed community. I would also like to continue the work that was started much before my time – the dialogue around what makes neighbourhoods healthy and safe, why people live where they do, and the potential impacts of spatial concentration and patterning of poverty on individuals and families,” she explains.

Health and safety are two areas in which Meredith has much experience. She graduated from MacEwan University with a Diploma in Social Work in 2006, and is currently pursuing a Bachelor of Science in Nursing, also from MacEwan University, from which she will graduate in December of this year. When she is not pursuing her studies or volunteering with the community, she enjoys reading (“Not surprising as my husband works for EPL”), bike riding, and swimming. “My daughter and I have also recently set aside our weekly evening together for 5 pin bowling.”Meredith Porter: Working Towards Health and Safety