Vibrant Communities Calgary

Direxion visits VCC

Last week VCC welcomed 21 participants from a program called Direxion to engage with our city and the VCC community. Direxion is an intensive leadership development program offered by the Canada School of Public Service (CSPS). Participants come from executive development programs from various departments, from all regions across Canada.

Participants took a Jane’s Walk through Winston Heights Mountview from the indomitable Linda Sharp. Linda is a community member there and she conveyed to us her passion and pride in her community – it was wonderful to experience not just her vast knowledge of the community but also her enthusiasm for sharing all the things that are important about that community. She did this all while we were in the midst of a surprise snowstorm – welcome to Calgary!

Despite this surprise snowstorm the group, might I say recklessly and with unfathomable enthusiasm, elected to forge on to our walk through Victoria Park. David Low, Executive Director of the Victoria Park BRZ, led us through part of that community; his willingness to stick to the plan was much appreciated, given the weather conditions. Luckily, by the time we got there the snow had stopped and the wind was barely detectable. David’s knowledge of the history and development of the community was a wealth of information and gave me a new perspective on a community where I spend a good deal of time.

It was particularly interesting to contrast David’s view of community as a member of the business community with Linda’s view of her community as a resident. Both views have valuable insights and it was a good reminder that communities serve many purposes for many different people. We owe Julie Black of the Calgary Foundation a huge thank you for organizing the walks – her knowledge of Jane’s Walks and Calgary communities is a major asset.

Participants then engaged in interviews with people who are part of the VCC community. Our community was full of compliments with the way Direxion participants engaged and asked thoughtful questions. We are unbelievably lucky to have such an amazing group of people who have a vested interest in the work of VCC and seeing an end to poverty in Calgary.

Friday morning, we heard from Tim Richter, President and CEO of the Calgary Homeless Foundation, who shared his insights into the 10-year plan to end homelessness. I really appreciated Tim’s candor, his willingness to dare, and his commitment to people who are homeless in this city and province.

VCC wants to say a big thank you to everyone who participated in the week and to our Direxion guests. Both of my parents worked for the majority of their careers in Federal Public Service and, while they are both very proud of me, they were definitely hoping my career would take me in their footsteps and not to the non-profit sector. I have to say that a week with some wonderful people from across the country who work in public service doing great things for Canadians came close to changing my mind. In the end, I couldn’t be more fulfilled at my choices but I sure am glad that there are people in this country who commit themselves to public service. It is nice to know that the ways we all contribute to the communities around us are valued and that we continue to find better ways to work together. We can get a bit insular here sometimes so a visit from folks around the country gave us some perspective and a chance to reflect on our work as well. Thanks, Direxion participants, I hope you learned from us as much as we learned from you.