A progress report being presented to city council on June 9 shows that more action items are being launched, more community partners are involved, and momentum is growing as the Community Safety Plan (CSP) heads into its final two years.
Launched in 2021, the CSP is a five-year roadmap to help make Kelowna a safer, more inclusive place to live. It was built with input from nearly 900 people and more than 30 local organizations, and endorsed by council in 2022.
“The CSP is a pragmatic five-year action plan which provides a strategic framework through which diverse agencies collaborate and coordinate their efforts to reduce risk, vulnerability, and harm,” the report states.
Several complex issues are being tackled by the CSP’s Stewardship Team, which includes senior representatives from the city, RCMP, Interior Health, Ministry of Children and Family Development, Okanagan College, School District 23, and KCR Community Resources. They’re supported by operational Action Teams that do the hands-on work of implementing ideas.
Of the $250,000 allocated in 2022 for the plan’s five-year roll-out, 29 per cent ($72,600) has been spent, 18 per cent ($45,000) is earmarked for ongoing work, 53 per cent ($138,000) remains for the final two years.
Notable initiatives:
Initiated – Domestic and Intimate Partner Violence led by the Ministry of Children and Family Development:
- Expanding programs that teach healthy relationships and parenting;
- Creating campaigns to help people recognize and report IPV;
- Pushing for more funding for wraparound services that help people transition out of shelters.
Planning – Peer-Led Safety Projects
- An action item focused on peer involvement in community safety is in the works. The city’s social development team is working with Downtown Kelowna Association, Uptown Rutland Business Association, PEOPLE Lived Experience Society and the Lived Experience Circle on Homelessness.
Executing – Strong Neighbourhoods Program
- This initiative has grown significantly. So far, 84 neighbourhoods have established “Block Connectors,” a promotional video was released, and an asset-based community development workshop was held.
The city has launched a new CSP dashboard, available on its website. The goal is to increase transparency and highlight the work of more than 55 project partners.
The report says the CSP has not only produced real action but also changed how local agencies work together.
“More importantly it has changed how we work in the community safety space,” the report states. “It has shown the importance of a collaborative, strategic approach among partners versus isolated efforts which sometimes duplicated the work and created competition for resources.”
