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Community Partnerships Strategy

The following is a summary version of the CHC Community Partnership Strategy 2023-2026

Calgary Housing Company

Community Partnership Strategy

Summary Version

2023-2026

Why Partnerships?

Calgary Housing Company’s (CHC) mission is to make life better for Calgarians by providing safe and affordable housing that enables positive social outcomes. Achieving this mission requires understanding and acknowledgement of the multifaceted components of poverty, the dynamics involved in living on a low income, and the ways housing can impact the lives of individuals and families.

Housing is a key pillar of the social determinants of health, and is connected closely to other areas such as income, education, food security, and early childhood development. It can, on its own, produce some positive benefits. However, a far more powerful and effective approach is to consider how housing interacts with other life areas, and to ensure people who may be struggling are connected to other resources and supports to support housing stability and improved quality of life.

Community partnerships offer a powerful way for CHC to leverage its own work and services to achieve more than could be achieved alone.

Why a Community Partnership Strategy?

Community partnerships offer CHC enormous potential to leverage and amplify its work to achieve more together with other organizations than it can alone. However, partnerships are not the answer to every challenge or opportunity. Establishing and fostering community partnerships can be challenging and resource intensive. A Community Partnership Strategy can help CHC make effective decisions on its investment in partnerships, build on its strengths, and improve its capacity and abilities to engage in partnerships effectively.

What Do We Mean By Community Partnerships?

The term “partnership” is a common term that is used in a wide variety of different ways and contexts. For the purposes of this strategy, partnerships are defined as:

An ongoing relationship between two or more organizations who are sharing risks and rewards and working towards common goals to enable positive social outcomes.

– adapted from the Oxford English Dictionary, as quoted by the Partnership Brokers Association.

There are different types of community partnerships in scope for this strategy that can be conceptualized across a spectrum:

An Illustration of the partnerships spectrum showing three different types of community partnerships in scope for the CHC Partnerships Strategy. They are: Programs and Services; Community Response; and Systems Change.

How Do We Work With Partners?

The Partnering Cycle

The partnering cycle is designed to support organizations in navigating the partnership process over time. The partnering cycle developed by the Partnership Brokers Association[1] includes four phases, each of which require significant attention at different times in the partnership.

[1] More information and resources about the Partnership Brokers Association can be found at https://partnershipbrokers.org/

The four phases Partnering Cycle illustrating how a partnership relationship develops over time.

Partnering Principles

The key partnering principles outlined below have been adapted from by the Partnership Brokers Association partnering principles. These principles will guide CHC’s community partnerships work and set the standard of how partners are expected to engage in return.

Six partnering principles: Diversity, Equity, Openness, Mutual Benefit, Courage, and Responsiveness.

What Are Our Community Partnership Priorities?

An illustration of CHC's two primary goals - Preventing and mitigating the impacts of social isolation and poverty for residents and applicants, and enhancing CHC's maturity and capacity in community partnership management.

Who Do We Partner With?

CHC will prioritize partners who align with the following attributes.

Alignment

Contribute to our identified focus areas and needs and align with our values

Principles

Engage with CHC in a manner that upholds and promotes our partnering principles

Impact

Demonstrate high impact

Customer Focus

Build relationships with and/or knowledge of our residents and applicants

Inclusive

Prioritize and actively work towards Reconciliation, Anti-Racism, and EDIB

Flexible

Creatively look for solutions that best suit the situation and needs of customers

Reliable

Demonstrate organizational stability and consistently meet agreed upon obligations and expectations

Reputable

Maintain a strong reputation in the community and reinforce CHC’s reputation

A diverse group of happy people of a wide range of ages.

Have Your Voice Heard

In early 2024 we will be reaching out to residents to gather your experiences, opinions, and ideas to inform our Anti-Racism Strategy.

You can participate by:

  • Completing the survey that will be distributed in early 2024
  • Volunteer to join a focus group (this will be available through the survey)

 

Watch for more information coming soon!