Point Douglas Residents Committee

The Point Douglas Residents Committee (PDRC) is a volunteer-run organization that has been active since the 1970s, working in a variety of ways to improve life in the community.  

The purpose of the Residents Committee is:

• to be a voice for the Point Douglas Community;

• to be concerned with the physical, social and economic aspects of Point Douglas;

• to set priorities for the improvement and development of Point Douglas.

In recent years the Residents Committee has seen a dramatic increase in community involvement and has accomplished much, through the support of the community. The PDRC has a volunteer Board of Directors, numerous committees actively addressing such concerns as safety, housing, environmental issues and recreation.

Amongst the initiatives of the Residents Committee are:

• regular community clean ups;

• tree planting along the river bank, tree banding against canker worms and Dutch Elm disease;

• community safety and housing plans;

• successful and ongoing campaign to shut down problem houses and rid the community of gangs and crime;

• working with partners to increase the variety and quality of recreation programs for children and young people.  

In the past year its capacity has grown with the opening an office and through funding to employ an Executive Director (Chris McCarville), a Community Development Coordinator and two summer staff researching for the Living History Project Phase I.

Amongst the new initiatives are:

• a comprehensive community survey to identify and meet community needs;

• a survey of local businesses to meet their needs, address their concerns and provide opportunity for their greater involvement in the community;

• SummerFest - a weekly celebration held at Joe Zuken Heritage Park featuring a different event each weekend throughout the summer to encourage community members to gather and meet and enjoy the festivities together;

• a Welcome Neighbour! program to welcome new community members and provide them with the necessary resources and information to make them feel at home;

• focus on youth employment opportunities;

• community economic development;

• traffic and safety issues in the community;

• building upon the historic nature of Point Douglas;

• development of a community-wide volunteer program.

The Residents Committee holds monthly meetings for Community Discussions. The meetings are open to all members of the community. They are held the second Thursday of each month, at the Filipino Senior's Centre, 49 Euclid, from 7:30 to 9pm.

Community Discussions are a forum for the residents of Point Douglas to:

• Voice your concerns
• Hear what is going on in your community
• Hear presentations from various groups who have an interest in our community
• Become active in committees

Please come out and meet your board of directors and have a say in what is going on in your community.  
 

PDRC Board of Directors 2010

Executive   

Roanna Hepburn         Chair 

Tyson Cormack            Vice Chair

Elaine Bishop              Treasurer  

Karin Streu                   Secretary

Members at Large

Get Involved!

Below are listed the various volunteer-run committees operating under the Residents Committee. Anyone is welcome to join these committees.

Environment Committee:    Tyson Cormack - tyson.musicfirst@gmail.com

Volunteer Opportunities: 

• Volunteers for year-round community clean-up – picking up garbage and making note of any large items on their route that the city needs to come and take away
• Making note of graffiti, dirty yards, broken windows, etc.
• Volunteers needed on committee to manage community signage and beautification project (Entranceways into Point Douglas, etc.)
• Volunteers needed to do work as designated by the committee

*****************************************************************************************************

Housing Committee:    Heather Geddie - heathergeddie@shaw.ca   801-3086

Volunteer Opportunities:

• Someone to go around the neighbourhood after the first of every month and note rental housing and ‘For Sale’ signs
• Someone to note broken windows, unkempt properties, newly boarded up houses, etc.
• People to possibly help landlords repair and maintain their properties
• Volunteers to conduct streets and alleys inspection
• Need mentors who have had fix up grants to help others who haven't, to help go through the process

******************************************************************************************************

We'd love to start a Safety Committee.

If you are interested in volunteering, please call us at 927-3827

************************************************************************************************************

General Volunteer Opportunities   927-3827

Volunteer Opportunities:

• Volunteers needed to pick up items donated to the Residents Committee and deliver them to people in the community
• Volunteers to help maintain Rental Properties registry by touring neighbourhood monthly to update rental properties available
• Volunteers to assist property owners in maintenance and repair of rental properties
• Handyman for minor home repairs
• House cleaning help for people in the community
• Volunteers to assist with Welcome Neighbour program
• A tall volunteer to go around to the playgrounds and make sure the swings haven’t been thrown up and wrapped around the top bars, and clean off the slides
• Volunteers for Snow Angels – to shovel snow for elderly and handicapped
• Volunteers to take people without cars shopping, or pick them up afterwards
• Help get children to and from school if mother or father have a number of other small children
• Adult volunteers to supervise kids in parks and playgrounds, work in pairs
• Year-round community clean-up
• Clean up for the river trail, done in teams of two
• Volunteers to become a big sister or big brother, through that organization
• Volunteers for child minding at day time programs such as Moms & Tots
   

Historic Point Douglas – Where Winnipeg Began