In the last three years since the Cochrane Block Parents program returned to town, the number of times a Block Parent has been used is zero, but if there were any incidents, there are only a handful of registered volunteers in the community to report it.
Cochrane Block Parents, the iconic neighbourhood watch program, which originally began in the 1980s before disbanding, is struggling to increase and keep their volunteers despite the town’s growing population.
“We’ve got 12 homes in Cochrane right now. That’s not very many,” said Wendy Renneberg, chair of the program.
The program was reintroduced to the Cochrane area three years ago when Renneberg noticed a young girl on her daughter’s bus, who walked alone for several blocks to her home.
“If anything happened between here and her home she would have nowhere to go,” Renneberg said.
“She would be so frightened and so out of her mind she would just try and run home. But if there was a Block Parent home close by and she knew that, knew there was one in her community, and if she knew it was closer than her home, she would have that safe place to go to.”
Renneberg said the program is not just for children but for teenagers, seniors or anyone in need of help.
“Anybody that’s being bullied, seems lost, or hurt, or missed the bus. Those are reasons why somebody would use a block parent home.”
Though it seems difficult to pinpoint exactly why the number of volunteers is so low, Renneberg said she thinks potential volunteers may feel they are too busy for the program without realizing it doesn’t require a huge time commitment.
“You just have to be home. You could be watching a movie, making dinner, doing laundry or whatever,” she said. “And if all a person has to offer is five minutes per year – that five minutes could really make a huge difference to someone that is in danger or hurt.”
Block Parents are given a sign to place in their window when they are home and available to provide assistance if necessary. If they are busy or not home, the volunteer can take down their sign.
“I like to call it the only volunteer position you can do from the couch,” she said.
Logistics around how to get the message out and how to educate the community has also been a challenge.
“It’s like a chicken or the egg – which one comes first. Do we educate about Block Parents or get the signs out there then try and educate about it,” Renneberg said.
The Cochrane chapter is also looking to get an education co-ordinator to begin education programs in schools, but Renneberg said that also presents a conundrum of whether they should work on having homes in place first before educating about where to find the homes.
Support from community businesses, participating in town events and holding bottle drives has helped the organization financially.
Last weekend, the group held a booth at the Light Up festival, which Renneberg said generated significant feedback and enthusiasm from community members about joining too.
“We’re hoping people are going to follow through with it. That would give us a few more homes,” she said. “We’d really like to be able to grow, and I think when people see the signs they know people are watching out for each other and think that could have a direct correlation in reduction of crime in an area.”
Still, to become a Block Parent, there is a small paperwork process.
A registration form needs to be filled and any member of the household over the age of 12 must have a police background check including a check in the vulnerable person sector. The cost is $10 and must be done in person.
A representative from Block Parents will then bring over a sign, check out the house, get to know the volunteers and explain how to use the incident report form.
Renneberg said the organization, which is in partnership with the RCMP, is hoping a statistics report can be established regarding how many homes are registered in the program and how many homes are being used each month.
As of now, Renneberg said the majority of Block Parents reside in Sunset
If anyone is interested in becoming a Block Parent, needs a registration form or has questions, Wendy Renneberg can be reached at [email protected].
