Who are we?
The community of Manor Park benefits from the hard work of three different groups of volunteers and a few paid staff:
- Manor Park Community Association (MPCA) promotes the interests of Manor Park residents. For example, we worked tirelessly with the community against the proposed Kettle Island Bridge. MPCA works co-operatively with governments and other public and community associations and advocates for responsible community planning and development.
- Manor Park Community Council (MPCC) is a not-for-profit organization that has been providing recreational programs in Manor Park for more than 35 years. More recently, MPCC has also been able to offer licensed child care.
- The Chronicle, our local newspaper, provides news and information specific to our community.
MPCA also assists in production and co-ordination of community activities designed to foster good citizenship and fellowship, and supports activities that safeguard and enhance the quality of life in our neighbourhood. Our current Board has 11 community volunteers elected by the community at the Annual General Meeting.
How Are We Doing?
After many years of first, reacting to and then subsequently, being immersed in planning and development issues, we have decided to rethink how we operate. We want to test whether or not we are doing the right things given the challenges and opportunities ahead for our community. Our community has almost 8,000 people, enjoys a diversity of cultures and places of origin and is economically very mixed. Did you know that according to the Census we have 210 single parents in our neighbourhood?
Manor Park is nestled between some of the wealthiest and most challenged communities in Ottawa.
This Spring, MPCA created a Strategy Sub-Committee of three of its board members. Our first task was to do an “environmental scan” in order to understand fully where we are now and what challenges and opportunities our community will face in the future.
We have now interviewed over 2O leaders from the east end of Ottawa and benefitted greatly from the latest Census information.
Of course, we started with MPCC to get their feedback on our work, and how they see the needs of community. We have met with the Member of Parliament, the Member of the Provincial Parliament, our City Councillor, the Presidents of the community associations in Cardinal Glen, Lindenlea, New Edinburgh, Overbrook, Rockcliffe Park and Vanier. Our local public school principal and our community police officer opened our eyes to the many challenges facing our east end neighbourhoods. We have met with local developers, community organizations and the Business Improvement Council. We also work closely with the Rideau Rockcliffe Community Resource Center.
This has been a listening exercise – and it has been a humbling experience.
Over the next month the Board will reflect on the information gathered. What does it all mean for the MPCA and citizens here in the east end? We know we enjoy of a wealth of assets…smart educated people sharing the value of being good neighbours, enjoy the amazing green spaces and a proximity to downtown that creates many opportunities.
Many concerns have been raised. To name a few: traffic congestion, condo development and a real estate market that is squeezing out family-friendly, affordable housing and community safety concerns. There are also increasing issues arising form our aging population, an education system that too many areas do not address our diverse needs, the lack of sufficient programs for kids and teens, the challenges of unemployment and poverty and amazingly, the spectre of hunger affecting some of our neighbours.
We will be sharing our findings with the community at our upcoming Annual General Meeting and through this website. We will seek our community’s advice about how we can best operate in the future at the Annual General Meeting and through other means.
One thing is for sure, Manor Park is not an island. Working for Manor Park means working with other community associations and organizations in the east end to leverage our effectiveness in maintaining and improving our quality of life and increasing opportunities for the next generation.
We hope we can look forward to your involvement as we move forward!
