By Chris Brown

Hope, safety, love and kindness

City launches Project Hope to bring Hatters together

Jan 25, 2022 | 2:49 PM

MEDICINE HAT, AB – The City of Medicine Hat’s Community Development department has high hopes for its new initiative.

“Project Hope is really the beginning of what we hope is a community conversation around hope and safety and love and kindness,” says Leslie Jerry, community inclusion coordinator with Community Development at the city.

The city worked with River Heights Elementary School, asking students for their thoughts on those four topics.

Jerry says wisdom resides in everyone but some people get more of a platform than others. She says it’s important to seek wisdom out from all people, and was impressed with the responses.

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“But the children’s wisdom, I mean they just captured so poignantly really important aspects of each of these big topics,” she said. “Their messages are simple on one level, they often speak to our connections to one another and the importance our relationships. But they also, as you’re seeing the messages, you’ll notice messages that are about spending time alone too and finding ways to look after yourself.”

Vice-principal Laura Gale agrees.

“The children offered such thoughtful responses to the questions on love, kindness, safety, and hope,” she writes in an email. “These concepts can be large and somewhat abstract but the words and drawings from our students make it all quite real and very simple.”

The video responses and artwork are being shared online and on city buses, transit shelters and a billboard near the highway. Jerry says new videos will be available at the city’s website weekly and the posters will soon be up at city buildings and public schools.

Jerry adds she was also impressed that the messages from children are action-orientated.

“They really talk about very simple things that we can do for ourselves for our friends and family and for the community in general to inspire more kindness, more safety, more love and more hope right here in Medicine Hat.”

For more on Project Hope visit the city’s website.