Why I'm leaving my Community Association

After serving two years on the board as Lincoln Park Liaison with the Rutland Park Community Association, many community members have been asking me why I am stepping down.

I want to tell you about my experiences while on the board, why I initially joined, why I am leaving, and why I hope for this work to continue.

To start, why I joined. I saw an interest. The President of the Community Association (CA) saw value in the community, the work we were doing, and took an interest. For me, I wanted to see more engagement from surrounding community, regular events taking place for people who struggled to afford it at the hall, and the stigma of my neighborhood lessen.

My experiences: Almost completely amazing. All board members have treated me with dignity, respect, and take my ideas into serious consideration. They have listened, encouraged, and supported me. There have been a few disheartening moments.

On September 26, 2016, the parents, kids, artist, the Calgary Foundation, Calgary Housing Company, our Calgary Police Community Resource Officer our City Councillor, our MLA and our community gathered for an unveiling celebration of our communities "Painting Hope" project. All board members of the CA were aware of this and not a single board member showed up. That discouraged and angered me.


A few other issues came up, such as communication. But not within the board itself. By the Calgary Housing Company, City of Calgary social worker, Bethany Chapel, and the CA. There were tons of things going on in the community that the board had no idea about, and that even I, had no idea about, because there was no communication.

Also as soon as I started to trust and develop a good working relationship with a City of Calgary worker, they would leave and we'd have to start all over again.

The board and the social event coordinator worked extremely hard on bringing in events to the CA, unfortunately, the CA hall has limited space. So we looked for our community assets outside of the hall.

There has been a lot of success. Of new spaces taking on different projects to create community in our neighbourhood.

Now why I am leaving. During my initial start of joining the board. I had finally started to develop a good working relationship and trust with an organisation I used to hate. We worked on community events together, we solved problems together, and through that organisation there were some digital communication experts to speak with.

Unfortunately, the community worker with the organisation moved, I was left with a new person. The communication with the digital experts I began to depend on, and things spiralled out of control.

I won't, and cannot go into details. Let's just say there was errors on both sides of this. Mine and them. It ended with me being banned from all of their events. So, to work with my community in a healthy way, I have to communicate with this organisation, and now I cannot.

My lawyer has informed me that I cannot go into details, so I apologise for that. It leaves a lot of questions unanswered.

The reasons why I am leaving are many.

1. I want my community to be healthy, productive, thrive, and excel. I do not feel I can help with this anymore.
2. From what I understand, I have been the first Calgary Housing tenant to sit on a community board and be a liaison.
3. Our time in Calgary Housing is limited, it is time for another tenant to take over and become a leader for our community. For me to stay on, is defeating what I want to see done, my neighbours become leaders.
4. Because I have been banned and cannot work with this organisation in a healthy, respectful, positive role; I do my community a disservice, and I am not willing to do that.

What I hope for my community:

1. That they will continue to see the value in having a Lincoln Park liaison on the board.
2. That they will treat them with the same respect, courtesy, and value as they have done with me.
3. That the communication will improve among all members.
4. That the community thrives and we are all more involved in community events as a whole.

I do not regret my time with the board. They have been a fabulous team to work with. It had it's ups and downs. As a CHC tenant, I can say that I had been personally attacked by community members while on the board, but I would do it, all over again.

It's just time to move on.