Wellington City Council Housing: Community Action Programme making a difference for residents.

A special project involving some exceptional people is coming out of the Wellington City Council (WCC) changing how many Wellingtonians feel and act in their community.

Rosie Gallen is one of these people and she loves her job; fostering friendships between neighbours, supporting budding artists, gardeners, hip hop musicians and occasionally picking up a paint roller. She's part of a team working from strength-based community development approach and is making a difference in Wellington city.

Rosie and four others form the WCC's Community Action Programme (CAP) team, which works ‘to increase social inclusion, community spirit and pride within City Housing tenant communities'. The team understands that to achieve their goals, they must "take the time to build relationships and trust with the community and that quality engagement requires innovative thinking and commitment".

The team works within communities of the Wellington City Council's 2,400 city housing units between Miramar and Tawa, encouraging tenants to be a part of solutions for their community improvement.

CAP was created as part of the Council's 20 year $220 million housing upgrade plan which seeks to make homes safe, warmer and lift the standard of living in the greater Wellington region. City Housing Unit Manager Vicki McLaren says the work CAP does ensures that resident communities receive the same care and attention as the renovated properties do. With significant numbers of the housing estates being categorised as high density, the CAP team face both challenges and opportunities in considering not only the physical environment but the wider social wellbeing of individuals, families and neighbourhoods.

"The CAP programme is based on the recognition that housing is the foundations of communities and provides the base in which bonds are formed with the outside world. Internationally recognised research demonstrates that a strength based community development was justified on the grounds of social equity, capacity building and asset management", says Vicki.

To achieve their goals, CAP has identified a pyramid of seven strategies, each having a specific programme of work. Community Safety is the foundation and Social Inclusion the peak - the team's ultimate goal for residents.

Each month the team provides a written update to residents on progress made on each strategy.

"Community Action is an integral part of the revitalisation of City Housing as it recognises that well-being and social inclusion in a social housing context is more than just improving the built environment. It offers an opportunity for tenants to create their own concept of community, develop some new skills, socialise and positively contribute to broader community activities."

CAP Project: Complex Creative Art Exhibition May 2010. Vicki McLaren (Manager WCC City Housing) and tenant Nga Tran with her floral oil paintings.

Connecting residents with the bigger community picture

CAP sees the residents they care for as part of an active and contributing Wellington population. To this end they assist the residents in being involved with the Housing Upgrade Project and seek where possible to create opportunities for capacity building that can lead to employment along with serving the immediate community (e.g. gardening skills).

CAP's intention is to facilitate, not provide community initiatives. The team encourages residents to be part of the solutions that affect them so aid them in creating connections they will then hopefully take ownership of.

To empower residents to participate in and enjoy what the city has to offer, partnerships have been facilitated with local service providers like Recreation Wellington. This partnership increase  tenants' awareness of the range of recreational and leisure facilities available to them, like swimming pools, fitness circuits and training to run their own events.

To up-skill residents, Emergency Preparedness and First Aid training are facilitated, and Health Days are held with organisations like Barnardos and Plunket.

For residents this all seeds a sense of value, and grows a reality of belonging in and contributing to their neighbourhood.

The big picture focus also means CAP ensures residents receive benefits of regional and national strategies like those promoting getting active, eating healthy, and improving access to broadband internet - computers and training are provided for tenant use at two housing complexes and there are plans increase this.

Among all this the team's role is, intentionally, low profile. "If we're doing our job right, we don't look like we're anywhere" says Rosie Gallen.

What do residents think?

"They see us as that warm fuzzy lot", says Rosie with a grin.

"The residents have come to trust us now and that opens up new possibilities of what we can offer them. We can ask them what they are interested in and suggest things to get them out of their flats and involved in their immediate community".

Rosie and her team have spent a lot of time with residents to build this relationship which she indicates is important for successful implementation of the Community Action Programme strategies. "It's all about relationships" she says.

The flavours of activities emerging are unique to each housing location and its residents, ranging from weaving and sewing groups to youth cultural programmes. In one complex, tenants helped design their own playground and are currently working with contractors on constructing it. In another, an empty flat is being used for a tenants' community room including housing the tenant art group, the ‘Hen House'.

The Community Action team's role is clearly to enable, and not to ‘own' any of what is happening. All the credit for the positive results being achieved in the communities belongs with the residents says Rosie. "If you bring people together with a purpose, amazing things happen".

CAP Project: Bringing Health 2 U - Arlington October 2009

Charting success

The best things about CAP, says Rosie, is that there are very enthusiastic tenants wanting to make a difference in their tenant community.

This is seen, and measured, in various ways including attendance at capacity building classes and first aid training courses. Dental checks provided and even tenants' graduations are all counted.

Preliminary results of satisfaction surveys conducted among tenants indicate that those who have heard of Community Action and participated in activities report a higher sense of wellbeing.

For examples of community building projects for residents in government housing:

• Toronto City Housing approach
• Riverwood in Sydney:
• Atherton Gardens in Melbourne:
• Community Renewal New Zealand

For more information:

Check out the WCC website, or contact Rosie Gallen on 803 8141 or Vicki McLaren on 803 8120.

CAP Project: Computer Hubs - ERider Programme. Graduation Group November 2009

CAP Project: Film Group April 2010. May Palemia, Puke Tapara, Hisham Zaoui

Community Action Programme (CAP) Team left to right: Angelique Jackson - Community Action Engagement Advisor; Joanna Burleigh - Community Action Project Coordinator ; Andrew Morrison - Community Action Advisor; Rosie Gallen - Community Action & Engagement Manager; Corrina McGregor - Community Action Senior Advisor; Anna Hobman - Community Action Recreation Advisor