Mighty Neighbourly – Creating a Community of Connection

The Cause

Mighty Neighbourly is an initiative that inspires residents to become better neighbours; a movement of welcoming hospitality that invites everyone living in Chestermere to feel right at home. If you’re a new resident in Chestermere, it is our hope that you are personally welcomed with one of our neighbourly creates full of local information and programming for our city.
Mighty Neighbourly has welcomed over 300 families into Chestermere since it’s inception in 2014. The program works to bring a sense of connection and has created unique opportunities within our community, not just within our organization. It is run by our community and for our community.

Mighty Neighbourly’s dream is to continue to expand and create a culture of neighbourliness in Chestermere. Through Mighty Neighbourly and our partnerships with the City of Chestermere we support a block party program for residents. During the summer months a residents are able to access some free food and a few supplies from the City to throw a block party in their neighbourhood. The community has embraced this program and is excited by it, but it is lacking some of the resourcing to make it accessible to residents.

If awarded, funding will go towards growing the block party program into a more robust neighbourly program. The funding will specifically go towards a new BBQ to cook the food supplied, yard and outdoor games and directional signage for road closures as well as to advertise the block parties.

Mighty Neighbourly has a trailer available to hold all the items of the block party supplies that residents will be able to access upon request. The hope is to fill the trailer with things that can build relationships at block parties and make it available to various neighbourhoods across the city. The funding will go beyond one summer season, but can used for years to come.

The program being offered in this specific way is new to our city. The block parties typically require the residents to manage the work of gathering activities and finding a way to cook the food. If the program is successful, our goal is to see an increase in the people accessing the block party kits and increase in the number of people attending the parties. Although difficult to measure, Mighty Neighbourly’s purpose is to build a culture of connection in our city and to do that, we believe it begins with caring for your neighbours.

Who Will it Benefit?

The Mighty Neighbourly’s block party’s main audience is adults and families between the ages of 25-55. It’s available to current residents and new residents to Chestermere in any of the neighbourhoods. Much of the population in Chestermere is young families, so the focus of activities will be kid friendly that can be adjusted for all ages, an example of this could be something like giant jenga.

Something unique and almost indescribable happens over a shared meal. Sharing a meal opens the doors to conversations and creates a sense of connection. Especially in Canadian culture, we spend much of our time throughout the dark winter months indoors and alone. We lead busy lives and chilly winters leave us rushing inside our houses. Block parties are an opportunity to say hi to that neighbour you’ve seen shovelling the walks, or connect with another family with kids the same age.

In a period of time where our city has seen a lot of pain, transition and economic hardships, there could not be a better time to embrace the summertime to connect with neighbours. We believe to create a caring and connected city it begins right in your neighbourhood.