By Randy Boswell
Carleton’s “Here for Good” motto certainly captures the spirit of a new initiative spearheaded by J-School alum Hilary Duff (BJ ’12). Hilary, an Ottawa-based media relations and communications specialist with Nature Canada, is coordinating a community outreach network to support isolated and vulnerable residents of Ottawa’s Sandy Hill community during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The launch of the Sandy Hill Community Response Team was recently featured on the front page of Image, the neighbourhood newspaper, with a photo of Hilary posting a notice about the network.
“I’ve experienced first-hand the importance of community-building in tough times,” says Hilary, who has worked around the world as a multimedia journalist and communications consultant since graduating eight years ago.
“In the first days of self-isolation orders, we were seeing a lot of folks wanting to step up and help, but not necessarily having an outlet to do so,” she says. “Our system is about connecting these generous offers with neighbours who need that support. The City of Ottawa and established social services are understandably strapped and this leaves the space and need for community groups to step in and fill the gaps.”
Described as a kind of “buddy system” to pair volunteers with those seeking support, the Sandy Hill network was modeled on a similar initiative in neighbouring New Edinburgh, and was launched in collaboration with the Action Sandy Hill community association.
“In a practical sense, it’s important to have this hyperlocal system in place in case Ottawa faces more restrictive lockdown measures on par with what we’ve seen in Europe,” notes Hilary. “These measures could restrict our geographic movements further and mean that response would need to happen at a neighbourhood level versus through city-wide services.”
She adds that the network also recognizes a need “to help Sandy Hill residents feel more connected” to each other. “Helping or ‘meeting’ a neighbour can be a great way to do that, and I believe it also temporarily shifts the focus to action and problem-solving as opposed to worry.”
Hilary’s career path since her time as a Carleton journalism student has been all about finding ways to create positive change in the world.
“My focus has been sharing solutions-oriented stories related to entrepreneurship and the environment,” she explains. “I recently completed a project where I travelled to six continents writing about the connection between human health and man-made environmental change. The multimedia case studies I produced will be used as course material at Harvard University. I continue to advocate for this type of cross-sectoral thinking in my new Ottawa-based role with Nature Canada.”
Thursday, April 16, 2020 in General, Journalism News
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