Summer may be in full swing, but we’re far from slowing down here at One Million Neighbours. Let’s get into it!

• We now have translated summaries of the One Million Neighbours vision available on the website. Currently they are available in Arabic, Chinese (Simplified), French, German, Portuguese (Brazilian), Punjabi (Shahmukhi), and Spanish. We chose these languages based on statistics of people in Waterloo Region who do not understand English: https://onemillionneighbours.ca/vision/#translations
• We’re working on printing pamphlets of these translated summaries to distribute around the community. Do you have an event or a gathering space where we can provide information about One Million Neighbours? Please send us an email to let us know, including which languages you would like.
• What’s next for One Million Neighbours: over the summer, we are looking to increase our capacity by adding new board members and seeking operational funding. In the fall, we plan to faciliate targeted collaborations that bring together non-profits and neighbourhood associations, especially in underserved areas of our region. We’ll work together to make tangible progress towards better services and resources at the neighbourhood level.
• Call for board members: Do you have an interest in preparing grant applications, program design, or community organizing & advocacy? We’re looking for more board members! Contact us at connect@holdthelinewr.org you’d like to get involved.

Do you have an event, project, or opportunity that you’d like me to include in a future newsletter? Reply to this email and let me know!

Food + organizational capacity: Tomorrow is the Food System Roundtable of Waterloo Region’s Annual General Meeting! It’ll be a wonderful night of networking and conversations over local food. RSVP here.

Arts + belonging: The Lullaby Project just launched an IndieGogo crowdfunding campaign. This is a collaborative effort between songwriters in the Waterloo Region and new or expecting mothers to write and record original lullabies for their children. Every dollar will help facilitate the next writing/recording sessions with new mothers that are incarcerated at the Grand Valley Institute, a subsequent concert of lullabies at the prison, and the creation of a documentary to spread the word about this important program.

Public spaces + housing: Kitchener Citizens for Liveable Development are residents who are working collaboratively with one another, with municipal staff councils, developers, and other stakeholders for planning and development that builds livable, affordable, sustainable, socially inclusive neighbourhoods with a mix of housing in and around Downtown Kitchener. Check out their website to connect with their efforts!

Transportation + public spaces: Strong Towns WR’s financial decoder project aims to visualize the fiscal health of local governments through six simple graphs. If you want to help with this effort, connect with them on Discord.

Food + environment: Did you know about the “Taste the Countryside” map which highlights many of the local farms, markets, garden centres and food shops in our Region? Check it out here!

Transportation + public spaces:Citizens for Cambridge is currently advocating for various improvements in Cambridge, including building continued public support for ION Phase 2, and zoning reform to ensure growth occurs within our established urban boundaries to create walkable, transit-friendly neighbourhoods.

Labour + organizational capacity: Did you know Canada’s nonprofit sector employs 2.5 million people – more than any other industry? Yet nonprofit workers face significant compensation gaps and inequities. The new report from Imagine Canada breaks all of this down.

Belonging + public space: Cambridge has launched a new micro-grant program, with funds of up to $2,500 available for residents and organizations looking to improve the health, lifestyle or wellbeing of their community.

That’s all for now! If you have any updates that align with our One Million Neighbours themes, please forward them to me at connect@holdthelinewr.org and I’ll be sure to include them in the next round of updates.