Neighbourhood program needs their CUP filled

By Alyssa Horrobin

A municipal committee has made a decision in favour of funding the city-wide Community Univeristy Partnership.

Ward 5 councilor Ed Sleiman, chairperson of the Social Development Health and Culture Standing Committee, made a motion to approve the CUP during the committee’s meeting on Nov. 4.  The other four city council members on the committee backed him up.

Out of the two agenda reports that had delegations, only the CUP was discussed.  The other item, the Municipal Neighbourhood Liaison Model, was deferred.

The CUP is a program currently active in seven communities in the Windsor-Essex area that connects university students with members of a community that are more secluded or have trouble voicing their issues to their landlords.  This can start with something as simple as chatting over coffee in one of the CUP buildings, which leads to a relationship between tenants and students.  This program builds trust which allows tenants to learn simple life skills, such as the ability to communicate problems to their landlords.

“Until you identify what the problem is you can’t go about solving the problem,” said Jim Steele, chief executive of the Windsor Essex Community Housing Corporation.

Steele said the program also benefits the students by providing them with a better career image and more respect as well as service hours needed to complete their program.  This is gained from the hands-on experience they get from working with the tenants in areas specifically geared towards their field of study.

According to Steele, the relationship that builds between the students and tenants helps change the students’ perspectives on a stigma the rest of Windsor may have about that particular neighbourhood.

“We are leaders in this,” said Debbie Cercone, Executive Director of Housing and Children’s Services. “We are a very unique program that many communities are the envy of.”

Cercone said that Mary Medcalf, Coordinator of Field Education Programs at the University of Windsor and Cheryl Taggart, Field Learning Specialist at the university, have presented this model in communities across the province.

Cercone credits Medcalf as the visionary for the CUP program.  It started as a solution to some crime issues in one of the neighbourhoods and has grown from there.  Cercone said she believes the program has immense value for housing, students and tenants.

The request for funding will be brought to the next available city council meeting where a final decision will be made.