Melissa Sundardas
Contributor
Following a number of safety concerns and distressing events in the Village, York administration and York’s student union are making safety a number one priority.
From distributing 3,000 Good Neighbour Guides—brochures that provide information about municipal bylaws, services, as well as tenant and landlord rights—in the Village, to creating multi-language versions of these guides, York is working to make safety information available to students who need it.
Village resident Krista Gallant says she hasn’t seen the brochure yet, but thinks it’s a great idea to get the word out there about the services York has to offer.
“There is still a lot that needs to be done, but this is a significant step forward,” she says. “I like the idea of taking a more personal approach and reaching out to community members.”
Vanessa Hunt, president of the York Federation of Students (YFS), says student input was a vital part of ensuring that the Good Neighbours Guide stays accessible.
“[This] ensured a lot of the things that were mentioned in [the guide] were on the progressive side,” she says.
Rob Tiffin, York’s vp students, noted the guide has already been translated into Mandarin and will be distributed to international students through the York University English Language Institute (YUELI). He mentions the university is looking into translating the guide into other languages, such as Korean and Arabic.
“YUELI offers some short term courses as well, and we know that many of those students end up renting rooms in the Village,” says Tiffin. “We want to make this resource available to them.”
Calum MacKechnie, director of YUELI, says providing Good Neighbour Guides in another language is definitely helpful.
“Many of the YUELI students who live in the Village can handle that sort of information in English,” he says, “but I think it gives us an extra level of comfort knowing those that do not speak English as well will also be getting that information in their native language.”
With files from Kate Hudson
