Meet Your Street

We all want to live in a neighbourhood where we feel at home, feel connected, and feel safe. Get to know your neighbours and start building a community you can trust and rely on.

The Town of Sidney has launched a new neighbourhood connectedness program:

Meet Your Street – Create Resilient Neighbourhoods.

About the Program

This program aims to address widespread feelings of loneliness, social isolation, and mental distress that have been amplified by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Meanwhile, many people express a willingness and desire to reach out and offer support to complete strangers. However, the impact of this program goes beyond simply matching needs with resources at a neighbourhood level, it also works to build interpersonal connections that contribute to long-term neighbourhood resilience.

While resiliency can come from a variety of sources, an essential component involves the social and emotional support of others. Social ties, trust, and relationships are preconditions to the health, success, and longevity of any community. Social connectedness not only enables communities to be proactive, build local capacity, and meet essential needs, but also improves social cohesion and happiness.

The most sustainable form of social connectivity is one that is led by residents. The Town of Sidney will play a supportive role, one that encourages the natural human tendencies to initiate contact with their neighbours, and to offer help when and where needed.

Examples of resident-led neighbourhood activities include:

• Outdoor Coffee Shop
  Bring your own chairs and coffee for a brief gathering on a front lawn or driveway.
• Chalk your Block
  Create chalk street murals with the kids on your street.
• COVID-19 Mutual Support
  Check with neighbours to identify COVID-related needs and resources on your block.

These are just a few ideas to get you started, but whatever the event may be, it is meant to be fun, safe, inclusive, and low stress.

Contact Information

For more information, tips, tricks, or project ideas and to register as your neighbourhood leader, contact Donna Barner at dbarner@sidney.ca or 250-656-2121. Ask for your free Resource Guide and start bringing your neighbourhood together.