Community meeting held regarding ACS's P2P Neighbourhood project
- Ron Giofu
- 3 hours ago
- 3 min read
Community meeting held regarding ACS's P2P Neighbourhood project
By Ron Giofu
The Pathway to Potential (P2P) project that has come to Amherstburg took another step forward last week.
The local P2P Neighbourhoods program is being overseen locally by Amherstburg Community Services (ACS) with a community meeting being held in ACS’ community room last Thursday morning. About a dozen people from the focus area attended the meeting with project co-ordinators Jessica Pedlar and Annette Sak going over the program and what people want to see from it.
Pedlar pointed out P2P is a regional strategy to reduce poverty in Windsor-Essex County that “invests in the most vulnerable residents to help them fully participate in and contribute to society.” P2P is a partnership between the City of Windsor and the County of Essex.
While P2P started in 2008, the Neighbourhoods program that ACS is a part of is a strategy that began in 2024 “to create a thriving, inclusive Windsor-Essex through a holistic, community-driven approach to poverty reduction.” Pedlar explained the P2P Neighbourhoods program recognizes that poverty is more than financial but also economic, environmental and social. She said it is built on community feedback “highlighting barriers like service access, affordability, and infrastructure gaps.”
The program works through collaboration, resident involvement and an equity-focused approach, she said. Guiding principles are to ensure everyone belongs, that residents and others in the community work together, respecting one another, equity and inclusion, transparency and accountability and continuous improvement.
The local P2P Neighbourhoods program was launched late last year and included asset mapping, initial engagement with residents, a survey and the preparation of a neighbour action and engagement plan.
Pedlar outlined goals for 2026, with the focus being health. Ideas for what is the second year of the project include providing workshops focusing on mental, physical and financial health, establishing a neighbourhood yearly event and meeting space improvements. Upgrading a meeting room at the Frank Long Co-ops was identified as a possible project.
Ideas were solicitated from the public with additional concepts being men’s and women’s nights, exercise classes, budgeting classes, book clubs, senior board games, grief counselling, helping identify healthy relationships, Lego workshops and more.
In 2027, otherwise known as year three, the focus is on life skills with such suggestions being cooking and small repair classes, a job skills series, establishing a community garden, a school supply giveaway and a yearly neighbourhood event. Among ideas from the public were canning workshops, home alone courses, financial planning seminars, and a job fair.
In the fourth and final year of the initiative, 2028, would see safety being the focus. Workshops for fraud and scam awareness are suggested as well as emergency preparedness and personal safety in public places. Other initiatives proposed could include a community beautification project and a yearly neighbourhood event. The community’s ideas included road safety courses for children and residential security.
Those in attendance were also asked to identify assets in the target area.
“We just want to see what everyone thinks brings value to the neighbourhood,” said Sak.
ACS executive director Kathy DiBartolomeo said the agency is excited to keep the P2P Neighbourhood project moving forward. She said they welcome new ideas and ways to keep the project moving ahead.
“We have three years to do this,” she said.
To keep further engaged, people were asked to join the P2P Facebook group, become a neighborhood lead, or offer ideas to p2p@amherstburg-cs.com or call 519-736-5471.
The target neighbourhood for the Amherstburg program is bordered by Sandwich St. S., Fort St., Fryer St. and Pickering Dr.
Community meeting held regarding ACS's P2P Neighbourhood project
By Ron Giofu
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