About us

The Action for Healthy Communities Society of Edmonton is commonly known as Action for Healthy Communities (AHC). We are a registered non-profit community development organization whose key work involves supporting marginalized community members to develop Community Initiatives. We began work in 1995, supporting only central Edmontonians, but expanded in 2007 to include all of greater Edmonton.

We have supported hundreds of Edmontonians to use their skills, knowledge, culture, and values to work with others in developing a shared vision around a hope, vision, dream or need, and to create and implement a plan of action, a mini-project, around it. These mini-projects we call Community Initiatives. With our support marginalized community members have created Community Initiatives (CI) such as senior's learning groups, single mother self-help groups, collective kitchens, training workshops, and cultural and recreational activities for low income children, youth, young families and seniors all free or very low cost.

Action for Healthy Communities is a community development model that implies a multi-method/multidisciplinary approach that comprises five key interrelated elements: relationship building, training, resourcing, … (See Diagram 1). Staff and volunteers at AHC (see Organizational chart) support experiential learnings, based in the action-reflection model of community development, that promote citizenship participation as a strategy for creating inclusive communities. These allow people to connect across cultures and ability levels to collectively identify community issues and create strategies as effective solutions to those issues.

 The AHC vision is "a vibrant central Edmonton full of active citizens committed to using their skills, knowledge, culture, and values to work with others in addressing community health issues and building stronger communities", following the World Health Organization concept "Health is a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity" (1948, http://www.who.int/about/definition/en). In line with its vision, AHC's mission is "to build stronger and healthier communities through a community building process that fosters citizen participation and action to improve the health of the community" (see Strategic Plan).

 Led by the AHC vision and mission, staff and volunteers are driven by principles of cooperation, collaboration and citizenship participation, engaging with individuals and groups to continue reflection and learning to promote community health (see Diagram 2).