
Editorial Fellowship: Community Transitions and Resilience
About This Series
Communities large and small enable a feeling of belonging, vibrant culture, local enterprise, of social cohesion and encourage our sense of collective identity. Between a pandemic, climate crisis, digital divides, social isolation, and rapid shifts in work that continue to reshape almost every way of life, we are now noticing the beginnings of deep community transitions across Canada. In partnership with Co-operators, this editorial fellowship will dive into just exactly that - unpacking insights, trends, and patterns from transitioning neighbourhoods and cities, and starting new and powerful conversations about collective resilience for changing communities.
Food prices are still sky-high. How are communities and community services coping?
Food affordability has been a crisis on a steep incline since the start of the pandemic. Now, it’s getting even worse with inflation. While food banks, community kitchens, and other similar services have been in emergency mode, trying to survive, they’re pushing for deeper policy change that will get to the root of these issues.
Communities of colour contribute massively to the co-operative movement. Why aren’t they recognized for it?
While co-ops led by people of colour have been on the rise in the U.S., the same cannot be said for Canada, where co-ops remain mostly white, according to the experiences of people of colour. But, inclusion in the co-operative sector is vital as marginalized groups work to build economic self-sufficiency in a post-pandemic world.
“We don’t clock out”: Frontline workers serving queer and trans youth provide crisis support off the side of their desks — and it’s causing burnout
While dealing with a lack of funding for emergency support, those within 2SLGBTQ+ organizations step up to help their community. This effective form of mutual aid and crisis support have long existed but support needs to exist across the sector. Community-serving organizations need to learn how to incorporate mutual aid into their services and bake it into their structure.
The Indigenous tourism industry’s growth was cut in half during the pandemic. Here’s what that means for communities’ economic and cultural resilience.
Indigenous tourism organizations are preserving and sharing hundreds of unique Indigenous cultures that have been historically silenced — and are a source of economic resilience, too.
Unconditionally safe: how the drug using community helps each other when healthcare services fail
From 2016 to 2021, Canada saw around 26,690 apparent opioid toxicity deaths. Without recognizing the power of peer support and non-judgement, many social service and community intervention organizations may be relying on outdated and colonial methods of doing their life-saving work.
This Indigenous founder moved back home to Northern Ontario to help solve food insecurity — here’s how he’s doing it.
With historically unprecedented inflation rates in Canada, northern communities are facing some of the most drastic increases in food prices. Initiatives seeking to boost food security in these regions need to make meaningful connections with local communities — to go beyond quick fixes and establish sustainable, long term solutions.
Emotional emancipation: This organization is strengthening Black communities by healing from the trauma of racism
COVID-19’s disproportionate impact on Black Canadians exposed longstanding economic and social inequities, and caused significant stress and trauma for the population. The CHN provides a way for these communities to heal collectively.
Rooted in local knowledge: How BC’s community forests are advancing climate resilience
As push for localization remains a big conversation in the social impact sector, Canada’s community forests serve as an example of harnessing local knowledge — and how that knowledge can strengthen and protect local communities.
“Never an individual movement”: Three prominent activists on the state of human rights in Canada
Interconnected efforts and coalitions when fighting for human rights is more important than ever as many crises layer on top of each other, maintaining inequalities and impacting historically marginalized groups.
“Not a burden”: how this refugee-led organization is “cleaning the perception” of refugees everywhere
Refugee-led organizations like L’AFRIKANA are able to understand the needs of refugees more intimately than their non-refugee-led counterparts — their story is an opportunity to learn what works and what doesn’t.