Get involved

Host an event for your neighbourhood!

Build connections and have fun with your neighbours by planning an event.

We can help:

• Find event ideas here
• Apply for a mini grant to help make your event happen.
• Use our gathering spaces map to find a location for your event.
• Borrow our event equipment, like lawn games, tents, tables, outdoor movie equipment and more!
• Have questions? Connect with us by replying to this email.

Nominate a kind neighbour

Do you have an exceptionally kind neighbour? Nominate them for the Neighbourhood Kindness Award Program. All nominated neighbours will get a thank-you package. The package will include a handwritten note signed by the Mayor along with the chance to win a $20 Uptown BIA gift card.

Get inspired

Blast off!

Lincoln Heights neighbours hosted an event that included launching homemade pop bottle rockets, listening to live music, colouring pencil cases, collecting food donations and enjoying freezies on a beautiful summer evening.

To help make it happen, they applied for a mini grant and used our special event equipment rental program!

Heasley Park Healthy Harvest Community Garden 

Heasley Park Healthy Harvest Community Garden recently got an upgrade! 

With help from the Neighbourhood Fund, the upgrades include raised plots and a garden fence for a more functional layout. With the new features, more neighbours could get off the waitlist and join the community garden!

Thank you to the volunteers involved in making this possible.

Get in the know

Official Plan pop-up sessions

The City is reviewing Waterloo's Official Plan, a document that will help shape land use and growth over the next 20 to 30 years.

Throughout August, pop up sessions will be held at local libraries for more information.

Learn more about the Official Plan and pop-up information sessions.



Playground design at White Elm park

The winning playground design for White Elm park has been selected!

The playground will feature a double slide and spiral slide, a small hammock, two climbers, a ground-level spinner and a roofed recreational space with sensory panels.

Subscribe to the White Elm park project page to stay informed about this playground.

More things to know!

• There is a FREE public swim on August 25, from 1:45 to 3:45 p.m. at WMRC Swimplex. Invite a neighbour to join you!

• Don't forget to check out the Active Waterloo guide for summer programming opportunities!

• We're thrilled about the new hospital in Waterloo!

• Stay up to date on projects happening across the City of Waterloo by signing up and subscribing to Engage Waterloo.

• Check out the Waterloo Public Library's website for details on upcoming programs, activities and events. Browse the event calendar or join the summer reading club.

• The Clay and Glass Gallery offers different events and programs for the community to participate in.

• Spectrum Waterloo Region's Rainbow Community space offers a variety of programs and services, check out their website for more information.

• Learn more about reporting Hate Incidents or Discrimination: involving Islamophobia, Racism, Anti-Immigrant Sentiment and religion, disability, sexual orientation, or ethnicity.

• Waterloo Region has a long history of welcoming refugees and refugee claimants. Immigration Waterloo Region shares information on community support for refugees living in our region.

August Diversity Calendar

August 1 – 7: World Breastfeeding Week

August 1: Emancipation Day

August 5: Civic Holiday

August 9: International Day of the World’s Indigenous People

August 12: International Youth Day (IYD)

August 13 – 16: Obon

August 15: The Assumption of Mary into Heaven

August 15: National Acadian Day

August 19: World Humanitarian Day

August 19: Discovery Day

August 19: Raksha Bandhan

August 19-23: Public Service Pride Week

August 23: International Day for the Remembrance of the Slave Trade and its Abolition

August 31: International Overdose Awareness Day

Source: Canadian Centre for Diversity & Inclusion's Diversity Calendar

Thank you for reading this edition of Neighbours helping Neighbours, a newsletter from the neighbourhoods team, with a focus on good news stories, important community updates, and local resources.

If you have ideas for resources to share or shareable stories of kindness, please send them to: neighbourhoods@waterloo.ca

Sign up for updates about arts and culture, recreation and active living, neighbourhood happenings, cycling, smart business, and other city news and stories.

Waterloo Neighbourhoods is published throughout the year to keep residents informed about the good things happening in neighbourhoods across Waterloo. If you have any questions or comments, please call 519-747-8515 or email communications@waterloo.ca. If you’re reading Waterloo Neighbourhoods as a non-subscriber, visit our subscription page to sign up for future editions.

The City of Waterloo is committed to providing accessible formats and communications support for persons with disabilities. If another format would work better for you, please let us know by calling 519-747-8515 or by emailing us at communications@waterloo.ca.

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