(rdnewsNOW file photo)

By Josh Hall (Twitter: @Vancan19)

NEW APPROACHES

Urban Aboriginal Voices Society, ReThink Red Deer get Civil Society Fund dollars for innovative programming

Apr 22, 2022 | 11:12 AM

Two Red Deer organizations are receiving $300,000 for work the provincial government says will improve civil society’s capacity to address a wide range of social issues.

ReThink Red Deer and Urban Aboriginal Voices Society (UAVS) are receiving $150,000 each, to be used over the course of two years.

Kathy Parsons, board chair, ReThink Red Deer, says their funding will help improve the organization’s Common Ground Garden project, which launched in 2021.

The community garden is located on to-be-developed land in Capstone, which the City loaned out for the project. It started during the pandemic, Parsons says, when concerned citizens started speaking up about food insecurity.

“We’ve grown this into a true community space that is very inclusive, and we aren’t just wanting to grow food for people, we also want to teach them how to grow food and bring culture together,” says Parsons.

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An expansion of the garden this year will be wheelchair accessible, and it’s proven an inclusive endeavour as ReThink Red Deer has engaged with newcomers and the city’s homeless population, with the shelter being in nearby Railyards.

Volunteers have coordinated with Red Deer Food Bank, Mustard Seed, Salvation Army and others in order to understand which produce is actually needed in the community.

“The funding will enable us to hire a person or two to coordinate the project’s expansion,” Parsons explains. “Our organization is pretty much all volunteer-driven, and we’ve found this garden was so enthusiastically received that it really needs to be staffed.”

The first phase was largely self-funded, though $35,000 worth of in-kind items that were donated, from soil to straw bales. There have been info sessions for garden volunteers, on subjects such as composting and pollinators.

The project is one step on the road to a permanent urban garden, Parsons adds. Up to 40 volunteers took part last year, which could triple, she says, in 2022.

“This is part of sustainable living — something the pandemic brought a broader scope of people to, who now realize we could all be food insecure at some point in time if our supply chains break down,” she says. “This is why we’re always doing something to promote local food. When people were looking for things to do during the pandemic, many turned to growing their own food.”

RESTORATIVE CIRCLE PROCESS

At UAVS, the endeavour is much different, but important in many ways, says Tanya Schur, community facilitator.

Schur shares that for two years, UAVS and the Justice domain have been developing an Indigenous Diversion Program to be used by the provincial courts. UAVS has collaborated with the Crown Prosecution Service, judges, RCMP, John Howard Society and others. It launches June 1 in Red Deer in partnership with the Central Alberta Sexual Assault Support Centre.

“I think everyone recognizes Indigenous people are over-represented in the criminal justice system, and that there’s been a need for something different for a long time,” says Schur. “Many, many of our offences that happen are because people aren’t connected to community, don’t have the right resources, or are mired in poverty or addiction — issues that aren’t solved by being fined or put in jail.”

The pilot will take place over one year with capacity for 10 files. The hope is that once the pilot is complete, the solicitor general will agree the program is worth funding permanently.

Schur admits that while the program’s design is not innovative, the approach is innovative for central Alberta.

“This will give participants an opportunity to be diverted from the court system and go through an Indigenous restorative circle process, bringing together the person who’s done harm with the party who’s been harmed. They receive supports to work through the incident and come up with an acceptable solution or restitution plan,” explains Schur.

“This process involves elders sitting in the circle, and Indigenous ceremony. This is not a mainstream sentencing circle or a mainstream approach to restorative justice; it is an Indigenous program designed from an Indigenous lens, with, by and for Indigenous people.”

The entire process can take up to six months per file.

“This $300,000 investment into non-profit facilities highlights our governments dedication to community,” says Adriana LaGrange, MLA for Red Deer-North. “This is a sign of our government’s strong support for Albertans struggling with mental health, homelessness, and unemployment.”

Budget 2022 includes $6 million for the Civil Society Fund, for a total of $20 million over three years. Various projects across the province are receiving between $36,000 and $550,000 each.