Moving is NOT an Option

2012-01-02T13:47:00.000-08:00

Project takes a New Direction for 2012

Moving is NOT an Option starts the New Year joining a new initiative! With continued funding from the Hamilton Community Foundation, we're now part of the Neighbourhood Action Plan team, with a focus on helping communities across the city create neighbourhood plans.

Partnering with the City of Hamilton, this project aims to create plans inspired by local residents in 11 communities over the next 18 months.

The communities selected for 2012 -2013 are: Beasley: Catch: Crown Point: Jamesville: Keith: McQuesten: Riverdale: Rolston: Stinson: South Sherman and Wever.

Here's a map of the communities :

This year Julia and Moving is NOT an Option in a new role as Community Development Worker, will be focused on the Stinson (marked orange on the map) and Crown Point neighbourhoods (in purple). The project will continue to work on environmental issues, as well as bringing workshops on sustainability to schools, community groups and offices.

Here's some more information about

the City of Hamilton's

new Neighbourhood Development Strategy:

The aim of this Strategy is to work in partnership with different communities in Hamilton to build neighbourhood plans. These plans lay out a vision for the future of a neighbourhood, mapping out concrete actions and projects that help work towards that vision.

Neighbourhood residents will be invited to give their ideas and be part of developing the plan. They'll join a steering committee which also includes business owners and service providers.

The City provides support such as facilitating meetings and helping neighbourhoods identify projects that need funding, as well as helping the communities apply for that funding. The Hamilton Community Foundation is partnering with funds to ensure each neighbourhood is assigned a Neighbourhood Development Worker.

2011-10-12T13:26:00.000-07:00

"I believe I won't die of poverty;
pollution will get us first."

Our project works with residents to help them protect their environment. Some of our city's North End Residents successfully had their letter published in the Hamilton Spectator recently.

Here's the unedited version of what they had to say:

Dear Spectator

The City of Hamilton has done a good job on reducing lead levels in our children (Study quiets alarm over lead, Monday Sept 26th 2011).

Now can we please set our sights on what we're breathing? As the Vital Signs Report stated, Hamilton lacks sufficient air quality monitoring stations.

North End families like ours never know from day to day what the air outside our front door is going to be like. With industry in our back yards we live at the whim of apparent perpetual mechanical malfunctions that operate under special legal exemptions. Weekdays, weekends and in the middle of the night we wake up to dirt or an acrid smell that affects our throats and makes our eyes burn.

There's a double standard when workplace safety inside plants are more stringent than those for the community living outside their walls.Some may argue that's the price of living in an industrial area; what do you expect? Well the reason we live here is because it's affordable.

Pushing to change regulations doesn't seem to work because ministries and politicians are more concerned about keeping jobs than having healthy communities. But we can have both if industries are pushed harder to upgrade and invest in their technology.

The children who had their blood tested for lead were brave - no-one likes needles. Now we need our leaders to be equally brave to push harder for legislation to clean the air ultimately all of us end up breathing.

Code Red showed that if your home is in the North End you'll live 20 yrs less than if you lived up on the mountain. Poverty was cited as the reason. Yet there's large pockets of poverty all over the city where residents have higher life expectancies.

I believe I won't die of poverty; pollution will get us first. We deserve better - we're worth it.

Lorna & Barbara, Hamilton

2011-10-03T11:26:00.000-07:00

Tool Lending Library Now Launched
& In the News!

Thanks to everyone who came out to the Jamesville Community Centre last week. We were in the News, on CHML Radio and also in the Hamilton Spectator (click here).

More tools have been donated - and people have now begun borrowing what they need.

Just so you know, anyone in Hamilton can borrow from the library, so if you need anything from a step ladder to a hammer, screwdriver, garden rake or saw, drop by the Jamesville Community Centre, run by HARRRP (Hamilton Association for Residential and Recreational Redevelopment Programs) at

209 MacNab St North

click here for map

Opening hours are:

Weekdays 9am - 9pm
Saturdays 10am - 6pm.

2011-09-16T07:40:00.000-07:00

Hamilton's 1st Tool Lending Library!

HARRRP's Tool Lending Library opens

Friday September 30th

9.30am

Jamesville Community Centre

209 MacNab Street North

Thanks to a city-wide appeal for donations, Hamilton'sfirst tool-lending library opens its doors in the North End.

The lending library came into being when residentsbegan borrowing tools from Christ's Church Cathedral on James St North.

The church’s Reverend Sue-Ann Ward is alsoExecutive Director of a community organization called HARRRP (Hamilton Association for Residentialand Recreational Redevelopment Programs). HARRRP has one of its three sites inthe city at the Jamesville community centre on MacNab StNorth. She’d been impressed when she visited a tool-lending library in Kitchener- and brought the idea back home.

Now local residents can borrow tools at nocost, choosing from an impressive collection of more than 250 items that rangefrom hammers, screwdrivers, other hand and power tools to painting equipment, gardenrakes and snow shovels.

Sharing resources like this has manybenefits: it’s good for the planet and builds community. Residents can improvetheir homes and at the same time the library frees up money to spend onhealthier food and enrichment activities for children.

HARRRP Tool Lending Library
at Jamesville Community Centre

Moving is NOT anOption helped to get the project going, offering support with gatheringthe tools and compiling an inventory. Severalindividuals donated pinboards and helped put up shelving.

The tool-lending library will be officiallylaunched on

Friday Sept 30^th at 9.30am
and after that will be open atthe community centre:

Weekdays 9am-9pm and
Saturdays 10am-6pm.

If you live in the Jamesville area and would like to borrow a tool, please drop by the centre or call 905.525.3069

Project Update - First Summer with Camp Programming

2011-08-15T13:19:00.000-07:00

Environment Hamilton went to summer camp for the first time this year! Moving is NOT an Option went looking for people and organizations with exciting environmental programs - & then we brought them to children across the lower city.

The games & workshops were educational, but we made sure everyone had fun at the same time.

As well as samples of the items they made - everything from necklaces from pasta to toothpaste - the kids took home ideas to help save money, stay healthy and be planet-friendly. In-house workshops developed by our staff included: Top Local Chef, Natural Laundry Soap Making, & the Clean Air Shuffle.

See below for photos and more about the programs.

Top Local Chef Game

This game shows how far our food travels to us and how trucking or flying in produce causes unnecessary air pollution when we can buy fruits and vegetables that grow close to home.

The children were given recipes & had to find the ingredients, seeing how many were grown locally. They were excited to try our Eat Local recipes at home and understood the connection between fresh food, supporting our farmers & helping to keep our air clean.

The hope is they'll look for the Foodland Ontario logo when they go shopping with their families.

Making Natural Laundry Soap

This was a step back in time, making laundry soap the way our grandparents did! It works just as well (we tested it!) & is far cheaper.

Before we began, we discussed how chemicals in many of our store-bought cleaning products go down the drain and end up in our lakes - affecting aquatic life and our drinking water. It was impressive to find out how much they already knew! The children took home a bottle of the soap they made, together with a recipe.

We researched local stores to make sure people knew where to buy the ingredients in their neighbourhood.

Clean Air Shuffle

The Clean Air Shuffle is like a high activity game of musical chairs - but when the music (and dancing) stops, you have to find a clean air space. Developed by Katie, our Good Neighbour Campaign colleague, the kids were shown images of activities that are bad for our air quality - like trucks & planes - & pictures of things we can do to improve our air - like cycling, planting trees & eating local food.

Making Natural Toothpaste

What chemicals are in toothpaste, deodorant & face scrub? We were lucky to have Amina Suhrwardy provide ingredients to make natural alternatives. The room smelled amazing! The children took home samples they made & recipes to try later.

*For more information on the chemicals found in everyday household products, the film Chemerical! is an excellent resource. There's a 45-minute version available to watch online at: http://www.chemicalnation.com/content/.

Pain in the Drain Game

What should you put down the drain? The kids took part in plate-scraping contests put on by Chris Wilson from the City of Hamilton. Relay games & puppets helped spread the message that oils, fats and greases should go in the green bin - & not down the drain.

Butterfly Nature Game

How easy is it to be a Monarch Butterfly? Here one camper is assigned to pretend to lay butterfly eggs, hoping spiders won't find it.

Jen Baker from the Hamilton Naturalists' Club brought the Nature Game t kids about o help kids understand the struggles Monarchs face in our city - from metamorphosis to migration. The kids had a great time and asked many questions.

Funtasia

A tea party with a difference. North End resident Barb LaFlesche hosted a lovely workshop called Funtasia that teaches the importance of respect for oneself, others, & the environment.

Through sewing, sharing tea, and discussing one's personal style, girls learn to appreciate who they are & how to create their own unique style without breaking the bank. Their motto is: All for one and one for all!