Mainland North: Enquiry Phase
Who are you and what hub are you with?
Wendy McDonald, 'enquiry stage for something in Mainland North'
How would you describe your hub? Would you say that it's intentional or accidental?
non-existent
How old is your hub?
0
What stage of development would you say you're in? Where along the hub 'spectrum' would you put yourself?
negative 1 or 2, ie pre hub stage
What is your governance structure? Do you have a board of directors?
No
Who are your key partners? What roles do they play?
Searching for partners
In context of your community, are you a functional or geographic hub?
Geographic
Are you a resource for other community projects?
Not yet but beginning to share ideas
How much of your space is accessible to the public? Is there an open space to just sit down / linger?
No space
Story Questions
What is the story of your hub? How did your hub come about? What is its history?
We realize that there is no community space for individuals or groups to sit and engage. We lost the HRM space...Northcliffe, where groups met and created community.Currently, the library is attempting to create that void but space is a premium and there is no permanency for agencies/clients to meet in a closed space or even host a little meeting without very advanced planning. So understanding this void, we started looking around...so far, no luck.
What are your challenges?
Understanding how HRM elected officials see/don't see the community challenges.
What has been most valuable for your community about having a hub?
Even in the preliminary networking activities, its interesting to see how groups realize that they are working in a vacuum. They have failed to engage community. Lets hope the elected officials will 'engage' themselves as well.
What do you imagine your hub will be like in 5 years? 10 years?
A physical space serving all ages in a central location, sustainable.
What motivates your volunteers?
Survival
What is your group doing to encourage different groups / individuals to meet one another and network / build social capital?
We have had only 2 meetings so far so early days, all word of mouth at this point but asking folks to please bring a 'newbie' on board...still lots of gaps...all being done by volunteers at this point with guidance from an HRM Community Developer.
Future Needs
Do you think it would be valuable for the the neighbourhood hubs convening project to continue in some way? If so, how often would you like to meet?
Yes, most definitely. Monthly is good.
Considering the challenges faced by your hub, what - if any - skill building/learning opportunities do you think could be helpful?
Fund raising. Working with others in a positive way....networking towards a common goal ( so 'turf sharing' is a positive result). How to engage those groups that are inder-represented.
Is there anything else you’d like to say here?
Thanks for sharing and considering all those who are to to officially join the 'band-wagon'...its the up and coming community success story. The upcoming Dal Planning school conference 'Engage' will help guide some decision makers in a more psitive manner, hopefully.