REACH Rendezvous

Earlier this year I became a Founding Member of the REACH Edmonton Council for Safe Communities. REACH is a community-based organization that seeks to improve safety in the city including crime prevention, harm reduction, working with other organizations, and citizen engagement.

On December 1, REACH held its first annual Rendezvous event at the Sutton Place Hotel. After a short time of food and socializing, several speakers talked about the importance of REACH and its mission, including Mayor Mandel and Fred Rayner, the chair of the board. Several youths performed original hop hop compositions and the keynote speaker was Mark Anielski, who spoke about the Economy of Happiness. In a nutshell - higher income does not always correlate with higher levels of happiness.

The event was well-attended (I am guessing about 100-150 people) and consisted of members, non-members, and people from various community organizations. I would encourage anyone interested in issues of community safety to join REACH and stay connected with its opportunities and findings over the next while. REACH has not been around long but it is growing.

Here are some photos from the evening.