Boyle McCauley News

Since 1979 • April-May 2024 • Circulation 5000

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Winter Programs With Inner City Rec

Also: Ethical guidelines for community research.

Phil and Mckayla on the hill. Rebecca Kaiser

Community Research Guidelines
The Boyle Street and McCauley area is heavily researched by academics, social organizations, and consulting companies. While these researchers may have internal ethics reviews, there are no shared community guidelines that researchers must also follow. Instead of ensuring a mutually beneficial research process for everyone involved, current research processes can lead to researchers parachuting into the community, extracting data, and leaving no benefits for participants in the study.

A template for ethical research guidelines was created during a series of community workshops held in late 2019. It will be reviewed by workshop participants on Wednesday, February 12th at MacEwan University. If you are interested in attending the presentation, or have any questions, please talk to a member of the Inner City Rec team, or email Rylan at rkafara@ualberta.ca.

Winter With Inner City Rec
The warmth that filled the homes of families fades out in stark comparison to what the holidays mean for so many of our neighbours, for whom the holidays amplify the effects of social isolation and marginalization. Sometimes people’s eyes glaze over at these words, especially those of people who live in an inner city community, due to the fear and pain associated with them. These words mean not spending the holidays with family, not accessing work to provide for themselves and others, demeaning interactions with authorities, finding ways to cope with the cold and loneliness, and not letting all the expectations of a better year feel so heavy.

Playing through all of this is one of the ways community members cope with the challenges of winter in Edmonton – playing through the cold, playing together, creating together, singing together and continuing to build community in active and meaningful ways. Here are some of the ways the Inner City Recreation and Wellness Program, alongside the community, are trying to build community this winter.

*Youth Snowboarding *
Inner City Rec took youth from YOUCAN Youth Services, Boyle Street Community Services, iHuman Youth Society, and other organizations serving youth snowboarding at Snow Valley to kick off the new year during the month of January.

Weekly ICRWP Activities in February

Floor Hockey: Friday Drop-in Floor Hockey has returned to its regular time on Friday afternoons from 1-3PM at Boyle Plaza. We have new pinnies, so if you have yet to come play with us, come check us out in our new colours!

Soccer: Drop-in Soccer has also returned to the regular time of Tuesdays from 1-3 p.m. at Boyle Street Plaza.

Women’s Wellness: On Thursdays, from 12:30-1:30 p.m., the Iskwew health program continues to offer space and opportunities for women experiencing barriers to accessing physical activity to gather and engage in play, movement, and sharing.

Pet Food Bank: Monday and Friday from 9:30-11:30 a.m. you can drop in to the basement of Boyle Street Community Services and get some food or supplies for your family pet. (Due to Family Day we will not open on February 17th, but we will open on Tuesday, February 18th.) Again, this can be a difficult time of year, especially for Albertans out of work, so if you would like to help out with a donation, please feel free to drop your items at BSCS from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.

Rylan Kafara, Rebecca Kaiser, and Mike Siek are Program Coordinators with ICRWP.

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