The Women’s Centre came together with community groups on March 9 to organize a second annual Women’s Safety Walk. Joined by Ward 9 Councillor Gian-Carlo Carra, we gathered at the Centre to walk through Crescent Heights and Bridgeland. The walks in Crescent Heights were led by resident group, Neighbour to Neighbour and the walk in Bridgeland was led Deb Lee, a resident from that neighbourhood.
Returning to the Women’s Centre for pizza, generously donated by Canadian Pizza Unlimited, we talked about individual and community actions we could take to make our communities feel safer, and shared ideas for improvements that we could pass on to the City.
Suggestions for action included:
- Calling 311 or the police non-emergency line (403-266-1234) to report issues
- Writing letters to city councillors
- Continuing to map spots where women feel unsafe in the community
- Sharing feedback with police
- Challenging stereotypes about folks who are homeless and welcoming them as members of the community
- Holding more self-defense workshops at the Women’s Centre.
Walkers also said a cleaner community feels safer, so we are organizing a team a volunteers to meet at the Women’s Centre (39-4th Street) on Saturday, April 30 at 9am to participate in the Bridgeland Riverside Community Clean-Up. We will be picking up trash on the west side of 4th street.
We are currently working to follow up on the other suggestions. If you identify as a woman and want to share your feedback about safety in your community, or if you’d like to join the clean-up team, please call Sarah at 403-264-1155 or email sarah@womenscentrecalgary.org.
The Safety Walk was made possible in part by the Calgary Foundation, which supports the Women’s Centre’s community development work.