Firsthand:
Ottawa police are noticing a new trend with local street gangs. Allegiance used to be based on culture, now neighbourhood ties seem to be stronger. The largest Ottawa gangs are the Ledbury Banff Crips (based around Heron, Heatherington, Walkley, and Russel Roads) and the West Side Bloods—who operate in areas around Ramsey Crescent, Grenon Avenue, Carling Avenue and Ritchie Street (where this patch is located). Ottawa police estimate that the gangs are made up of about 57 nationalities and that each gang has 70 to 100 members. There is not too much fighting between the groups as they mostly respect each other’s territory. Selling crack cocaine and other drugs is their main activity.¹ They have also been known to intimidate people and take over their homes.²

The Landscape:
The Ritchie St. patch is approximately 200m x 225m with 800 people living in 178 Ottawa Community Housing units called Britannia Woods. There is a baseball diamond nearby the patch. Bayshore Shopping Centre and a movie theatre are close by.

Approximately 140 students, including kids from this patch, attend Dr. F.J. Macdonald Catholic School — a culturally diverse elementary school.³

The People:

• Most of the 800 or so residents of the Ritchie St. patch live at or below the poverty line.
• About 65% of the families are led by single parents.
• Approximately 65% of the residents are under the age of 20⁴

In the wider neighbourhood that Ritchie St. patch belongs to⁵:

• The population density is 4,803 people per square kilometre compared with 198/km² Ottawa average.
• Only 49% of residents over 15 have a postsecondary certificate, diploma or degree - compared to 58% in the rest of the Ottawa-Gatineau area.
• The 2006 unemployment rate was 9% as compared to 5.7% for Ottawa-Gatineau and surrounding area.
• In 2006, 38% of residents were considered to have low before-tax incomes as compared to 15% in the rest of the Ottawa-Gatineau area.

The Ontario Government provided summer jobs and other supports for at-risk youth in 11 high-needs Ottawa neighbourhoods, including the community that the Ritchie St. patch belongs to.⁶

The Royal Ritchie Drummers are a group of children between 9 and 14 years of age from the Britannia Woods community (that the Ritchie St. patch is part of). Over the last two years they have been showcasing their African-flavoured drumming for audiences all over Ottawa — despite the fact that they don’t have access to transportation or ongoing funding.⁷

The History:
The Britannia Woods Community House, which opened in 1978, has provided social, practical, recreational, and educational support to families living in the Ritchie St. patch for the past 30 years. Their aim is to improve the quality of life for multicultural families who are living on a fixed or low income. They believe in holistic programs and services that are led by people living in the community.⁸

The Challenge:
Residents of the Ritchie St. patch need Christ-followers to share His love as they seek hope in difficult life circumstances. Will you consider moving in?

Sources:
¹ “City Street Gangs Contain Multitude of Ethnicities,” by Andrew Seymour, Ottawa Citizen, July 31, 2008
² “There is no West Side Bloods,” by Geoff Nixon, Ottawa Citizen, Thursday, July 10, 2008
³ http://www.ottawacatholicschools.ca/profile.php?profileID=17
⁴ http://www.canada.com/ottawacitizen/news/story.html?id=f557af82-84cc-4d84-9da7-39c4c2030621&p=2
⁵ All statistics in this section were taken from census tract profile for 0029.00 (CT), Ottawa-Gatineua (CMA) and Ontario.
⁶ http://ogov.newswire.ca/ontario/GPOE/2008/05/09/c6859.html?lmatch=〈=_e.html
⁷ http://www.royalritchiedrummers.com/
⁸ http://www.britanniawoods.com/