Cultivating connections

Social support network size

• 50% of adults have four or more people to confide in or turn to for help
  Source: My Health My Community Survey, 2014 

Sense of trust

• 50% of adults feel a neighbour would probably or definitely return a wallet containing money
  Source: My Health My Community Survey, 2014

Volunteerism

• 52% of adults volunteer at least once a year
  Source: My Health My Community Survey, 2014

Municipal voter turnout

• Voter turnout in the most recent local election was 43% (2014)
  Source: City of Vancouver, Elections Office

Children in foster care

• 35% percentage of children in care in the Coast Fraser region who are Indigenous (2015)
  Source: Cases in Care Demographics (BC Ministry of Children and Family Development)
• 3.8 overall rate per 1,000 children 0-18 of children in care in the Coast Fraser region (2015)
  Source: Cases in Care Demographics (BC Ministry of Children and Family Development) ; Population Estimates (BC Stats)  

1. Create a Sharing City framework and strategies, and identify other key public and private partners.
   • Results: We will proactively promote the beneficial outcomes of sharing initiatives and reduce challenges or issues that prevent sharing city activities.
2. Examine regulations, policies, and processes that affect our relationships with and between residents - past, present and future.
   • Results: We will ensure that a broader diversity of residents are engaged and participating in civic life more often.
3. Build on the Engaged City recommendations to create new social connection initiatives, connect existing initiatives, and magnify their collective impact in collaboration with partners.
   • Results: We will increase Vancouverites' participation and sense of belonging as a result of better alignment and leveraging of city resources and/or activities.

Catalyzing a social movement around connection and belonging

In December 2016, we partnered with Vancouver Coastal Health and Metro Vancouver to host “Connect,” an action-oriented forum looking at social connections and belonging in the region.

The forum brought together approximately 200 systems-builder (including local government, non-profit organizations, community groups, and funders) to share tangible tools, initiatives, research, and best practices to increase collective impact and enable greater positive change.

Workshops included:

• Boosting social connections in multi-family housing
• Creating neighbourhood empowerment networks to enhance community resilience
• Accelerating inclusion of hard-to-reach populations
• The role of art and culture in creating more engaged and connected communities
• How to measure social connection

The event included an explicit focus on building a network of practitioners, and on initiating next steps and follow-up actions.

Thanks to Vancouver Coastal Health, United Way of the Lower Mainland, Vancouver Foundation, and posAbilities for supporting this event.