Record Article Highlights Neighbourhood Challenges

United Way KW is committed to strengthening our local neighbourhoods through the exploration and development of a more comprehensive neighbourhood strategy. Melinda Dalton’s May 4th article in The Waterloo Region Record - “Residents work to take back neighbourhood, honour slain friend” - offers a powerful reminder of the challenges some of our neighbourhood’s face. It inspired me to write the following Letter to the Editor, which was published May 12th:

I applaud the residents of the late John Ferreira’s Kitchener neighbourhood for their efforts to clean up and reclaim their section of our community. Out of the tragedy of an untimely and needless death has arisen a wonderful legacy of unity and caring.

Unfortunately, the long term answer to preventing future tragedies of this nature lies with proactivity, not reactivity.

Covering up graffiti and cleaning up garbage will not eradicate the issues that plagued John Ferreira’s neighbourhood. We must, as a community, take the necessary steps to resolve the underlying issues and circumstances that led to these negative behaviours in the first place.

While Waterloo Region neighbourhoods may vary in terms of demographics and income levels, ultimately their residents all share the same basic wants and needs, including the desire to feel understood, valued and respected. Creating such a caring and welcoming atmosphere requires a willingness to trust and the ability to respect diversity rather than fear it.

There’s a famous line in Robert Frost’s poem “Mending Wall” that states, “great fences make great neighbours.” The implication is that putting up boundaries and encouraging neighbours to both literally and figuratively keep their differences to themselves will result in a safe and peaceful community. I’d argue, however, that what masquerades as peace and security in such a situation is really fear and distrust.

What really makes a neighbourhood great is the ability for residents to accept each others’ differences and work together for the common good to bring about positive change.

It is an unfortunate truth that it often takes a sudden and tragic event before circumstances are deemed critical enough to merit action. By identifying and addressing the underlying root causes of neighbourhood issues, hopefully the necessary changes can by identified and actioned before history repeats itself.

Until then, however, to expect that another innocent individual won’t suffer the same fate as John Ferreira would be simply naïve.
 
Working with our community partners, United Way KW is taking steps to learn more about the challenges within our region’s neighbourhoods and to determine appropriate actions and investments for the future. With your support, I know something can – and will – be done.

Jan