Community Development in Action - Meet Tabia!
CDLI is spotlighting Community Development in Action! Meet Tabia!
CDLI has partnered with the City of Calgary Community Hubs Initiative to capture Community Development in Action. We recently spoke with community builders about their experiences leading community projects through neighbourhood grants.
Tabia is a junior high student here in Calgary. Her favourite colour is blue, and she loves mangoes, reading books and tea. She’s also passionate about community placemaking and contributing to her community, using her love of art and colour to bring smiles to people’s faces. Tabia created a Community Wishing Wall at the Bridgeland apartment building where she lived during the pandemic to share a little positivity in the neighbourhood and to get people involved in a community building initiative. She created kits with all of the items in them and dropped them off to units in her building and invited her neighbours to write positive wishes, quotes, words, sayings or drawings on ribbons before hanging them on their outside fence.
We recently chatted with Tabia about her community building - here’s what she shared with us:
What do you love about Bridgeland that you want the rest of Calgary to know about?
I really love the community I grew up in, most of the people are nice and supportive and if we ever needed help with anything like babysitting, help moving furniture, anything like that, there would always be people. It was just a really nice community to grow up in.
Tell us a bit about yourself, your project, and what made you apply for a neighbourhood grant?
I’m Tabia and I'm almost 14 years old. For my project, it was actually tied in with a school project for grade seven. I’m currently in grade nine right now but near the end of grade seven, we had an assignment that had a goal to help out the community we lived in, so I chose to do a Wishing Wall near the front of my apartment, so when people walk by or drive by, they just see a blob of colour and hopefully it just makes them happy or surprised. Because back then, we just started with Covid and lockdowns, so most people couldn’t go to each other’s houses or do anything with other people so I just wanted something that would put a smile on someone’s face after a stressful day. This would bring in all sorts of backgrounds of people into one fence and when a person walks through the sidewalk, they will hopefully feel welcomed when they see and read the Wishing Wall. Once I came up with the idea for this project, I talked to the Bridgeland Community Social Worker because I figured that would be the best way. I also needed permission from the people who owned the building, so I figured asking the Community Social Worker would be the easiest and not as scary. Once I told her about the project, she thought it was really amazing and also mentioned that I should apply for a neighbourhood grant, so I did.
Tabia’s Community Wishing Wall
“I realized that there are a lot of programs in Calgary that will allow people to do what they want for their community.”
What relationships/connections did you make through this project, and how did those connections help the project?
I met a lot of new people at that apartment that I used to live in so I built a lot of new relationships with them and I still keep in touch with the Community Social Worker as friends. I feel like I got closer to my community because I was doing something that would potentially stay for a couple of years - my project is still up. They’re redoing the apartment complex so it probably won’t be up for long but I think it made me feel more connected with my community because a lot of people, like my neighbours, were really supportive that I did this and thought it was really nice that I’m so young but still doing these things.
How has being involved in community work through projects like yours helped develop your confidence and leadership skills?
I think when I was doing this process, when I was in the middle of handing out the packages to each unit at the apartment, I think it helped build my confidence because I’m not really a social person, I don’t talk with a lot of people, so since I met so many new people at my apartment, I think it helped me just be more comfortable talking with a lot of people. And I also think it built my confidence by showing me that if I ever want to do something, whether it be a community project, or anything, I can do it and it’s not as hard as it seems to be. Because in the beginning when I did think of this project, I thought “Am I sure I’m going to be able to do it?” because it seemed super huge back then but with the help of a few other people, I broke it down.
What knowledge & skills have you and others developed through this project?
Being more comfortable speaking with people. For the knowledge part, I think I realized that there are a lot more programs in Calgary that will allow people to do what they want for the community. And I think it showed me that in the future, when I’m older, I could also do a program so people like me could get the access they want when they want to do community projects. I think it just inspired me a lot to learn about these different programs and people who are willing to help with whatever you need.
Given your experience, what is one step or action you recommend for others wanting to explore neighbourhood grant possibilities and engage in community work?
If anyone did want to do a project for their community, if they do have a community social worker in their neighbourhood, I would say go there because they really know a lot about the community and about how to help with different types of situations.
“I hope that as we progress further into the future that my community, and others, open their eyes toward climate change and try to do their part so in the future, we could have a green community.”