Welcoming Community
Our initial diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) project goals to engage and empower leaders within the Destination Stratford business, public and community catchment area to identify and dismantle personal and systemic racism and other biases within organizational structures, practices, and policies; and provide internal Destination Stratford board members and stakeholders access to learning experiences (skills, language, and tools) designed to understand how to identify and dismantle racism and bias, were completed as of May 2021. In 2022 and 2023, we collaboratively defined what it means to be a “welcoming community” and brought this definition to Stratford City Council for formal recognition to continue EDIAR awareness and action within our community, especially for our front-line tourism teams and residents.
We teamed up with Mending the Chasm to facilitate sessions that explore our collective aspirations in becoming a truly welcoming community and to provide a draft Welcoming Community Statement. Participating organizations in this work include, but are not limited to:
- City of Stratford
- Stratford Festival
- Downtown Stratford BIA
- Stratford Public Library
- investStratford
- United Way Perth-Huron
- Stratford & District Chamber of Commerce
- Stratford-Perth Pride
- Stratford Perth Museum
- Destination Stratford
The Welcoming Community Statement was presented to City Council via delegation presented by Mending the Chasm, July 10th, 2023.
WELCOMING COMMUNITY STATEMENT REPORT 2023
Round 2
COMMUNITY CONVERSATIONS AROUND THE DRAFT WELCOMING COMMUNITY STATEMENT – MARCH/APRIL 2023
We have received the Draft Welcoming Community Statement and Report from Mending the Chasm, and now we need community input. Access the full report here or just the Draft Welcoming Community Statement below.
There were two community conversations to virtually discuss the Draft Welcoming Community Statement: Monday, April 3rd 6-7PM and Tuesday, April 4th Noon-1PM.
The questions we engaged with during these discussions include:
- In what ways does this statement align with your vision and dream for a Welcoming Community?
- What feedback or suggestions do you have to improve the draft statement?
- What ideas do you have for actions we can all take to achieve the vision in this statement?
- Do you have any other feedback you would like to provide at this time?
We also invited feedback via a public survey on Engage Stratford that closed on Thursday, April 6th, 2023.
DRAFT Welcoming Community Statement – Stratford
Although there is a history of exclusion and harm within Stratford that continues to oppress people in our community, there is a collective desire to address these acts and ways of thinking to move forward as a welcoming community for all. This current draft statement has come together through a process of broad community consultations and discussions in the Fall of 2022 and the Winter of 2023. This statement will continue to evolve as we invite further community feedback in the coming weeks.
Welcoming Community Statement
Stratford strives to be a welcoming community: healthy, vibrant, and accessible, where everyone’s sense of belonging, dignity, and safety is a shared priority. In Stratford, we work collectively to ensure all individuals feel valued and included.
Additionally, a welcoming community is committed to:
- Curiosity and an increasing capacity to change as our community continues to grow and thrive.
- Meaningful and visible inclusion of all
- Nurturing a community ecosystem where access to information, connections, spaces, and resources is open to everyone.
- Celebrating and valuing everyone for their presence, gifts, and their inherent capacity to contribute to and shape
- Building and supporting a culture of measurable and appropriate accountability to address harm and hurt, and ensuring safe and effective mechanisms are in place to report harm.
Upon adoption of the Welcoming Community Statement by Stratford City Council, the commitment is made to review and update this living statement every two years to ensure it continues to reflect the aspirations and vision of the community. This review and update will identify progress toward the successful implementation of the Statement through measurable actions which have had an impact on the community, including recording and sharing data from a variety of sources, anecdotal evidence, and best practices.
If a community is a tree, a welcoming community holds a collective responsibility to tend to the roots (history), the trunk (present), and the branches (future) of our community tree.
Round 1
COMMUNITY CONVERSATIONS
We hosted four virtual community consultation sessions, with each session offering separate breakout room spaces for community members to participate from their experience of an aspect of their identity. We brought this group design to this process in an effort to prioritize safe sharing and participation.
- Black, Indigenous, and Racialized community
- 2SLGBTQIA+ community
- General community
- Youth
- Disabled community
- Migrant Workers/Immigrants/Newcomers to Canada
- Faith Communities
- Seniors
- Black, Indigenous, and Racialized community
- General Community
- Residents with Lived Experience of Poverty
- Seasonal Residents/Tourists
- 2SLGBTQIA+ community
COMMUNITY CONVERSATION AGENDA
- Welcome & Indigenous Welcome
- Introductions
- Overview of Welcoming Community Community Consultation Process and Questions
- Review of Community Agreements
- Community Consultation Questions (in breakout discussions):
- What comes to mind when you hear the word community? What does community mean to you?
- What does it mean to be a welcoming community?
- Can you remember a time when you truly felt welcomed? What is present when you feel welcomed and included? What does it feel like to be welcomed? What is absent when you do not feel welcomed and included?
- What are some examples of communities and spaces where you have felt welcomed?
- Conclude and Close of Session
COMMUNITY CONVERSATION GUIDELINES
Due to the nature of the conversations we invited, and that we are committed to creating a safe and accountable space for virtual community consultation spaces, we responded to any instances of discrimination, hate, or prejudice that arise while we are in this space.
The community guidelines we held ourselves accountable to in this process are as follows:
- Listen with curiosity and compassion.
- Double Confidentiality: No stories offered here are meant to be shared outside of this space and also, no stories shared in this space are invitations to inquire further outside of this space.
- Our impact is more important than our intent; we move with good intentions and remain committed to repairing any harm we may unintentionally cause.
- We avoid making assumptions about other people, including assumptions about their history, race, or lived experience.
- We center lived experience in equity, inclusion and anti-racism work because we recognize it as valuable insight and wisdom.
- Consider what other agreements might be necessary for you to feel safe enough to participate and we will invite you to offer them when we open each session.
We reserved the right to remove anyone from the consultation space who caused harm and fails to take accountability. Anyone who is removed from the virtual consultation space will be invited to complete the online survey in lieu of participation in a virtual session.
COMMUNITY SURVEY
We also invited your participation and feedback via the community survey, if you were not in a position to participate in a virtual consultation session.
This project is made possible with funding from Destination Stratford, RTO4 and Downtown Stratford BIA.