Team CIMBY – Community IS in my Backyard!
June/26/19
Team CIMBY (community in my backyard) was born with the intention to counteract the
mentality of NIMBY (not in my backyard) by acknowledging safety concerns and hosting an
opportunity to meet your neighbor! They partnered with Social Planning Cowichan (SPC) to
collect information during local SPC-hosted Safety Audit Walks and created a document with
the feedback; co-facilitated a follow-up dialog meeting, and helped host SPC’s third annual
Beverly / Alexander Block Party.
During April 2019, SPC hosted three safety audit walks in the Beverly / Alexander neighborhood of
Duncan. The walks included youth from schools in the area, staff and residents at the
Warmland House temporary shelter, RCMP, as well as local government staff and politicians.
Team CIMBY created a document for the purposes of being shared with community entities as
well as applying for grants that will help alleviate some of the concerns and stressors
mentioned by the locals.
The Dialog Meeting took place on May 14th at the Vancouver Island University Cowichan
Campus with approximately 20 people. LVI co-hosted the day with SPC to deliver the results from the Safety Audit Walk and gain insight on how the participants would like to share the results and move forward. With some new faces other ideas circulated round.
The Beverly / Alexander Block Party took place on May 23, 2019 and attracted approximately 175 people. The event took place in front of the School District 79 Building from 4 – 7 pm. During the event, the community was able to connect with neighbors, witness the unveiling of two murals, visit booths with helpful local resources and listen to live music over dinner. Team CIMBY was there to share the findings of the Safety Audit Walk and act as ambassadors for the LVI Program.
A special thank you goes out to the organizations who donated food; Save-On Foods, 49th Parallel Grocery, Superstore and Cowichan Green Community’s reFresh program. We would also like to acknowledge the volunteer chefs from Warmland House, the musicians: Jiya Weaver, John Stewart, and Beverley McKeen, all of the community booth hosts, as well as Social Planning Cowichan for giving us an opportunity to work beside them!
