Impact Stories

Saddle Ridge is a vibrant, diverse community, home to people of many cultures, religions, and heritages. This diversity sparked an idea for an event to bring the community together when one resident expressed a desire to share her Sindhi heritage with her neighbours. What began as a single idea quickly grew into a shared vision as the community rallied to make it happen.

Sindhi culture reflects the heritage of the Sindhi people from the Sindh region of Pakistan, celebrating traditions through language, music, dance, food, and community rituals. It emphasizes family, hospitality, and shared cultural values, bringing people together through festivals, art, and storytelling.

As planning got underway, the power of collective effort became clear. Residents offered their time and resources, volunteers stepped in to support logistics, and the Saddle Ridge coalition worked alongside community members at every stage. From organizing the schedule and arranging the space to promoting the event and welcoming attendees, everyone played a role in shaping the celebration. The collaboration and shared energy created a sense of ownership, pride, and excitement that carried through every detail.

The event, held in December 2025, became a true celebration of community. The highlight of the evening was seeing the resident’s two young daughters proudly stand beside their mother, helping her emcee the event. Their joy reflected the pride felt by everyone involved—proof of what can happen when neighbours come together to support and uplift one another.

Beyond celebrating Sindhi culture, the event strengthened bonds across the neighbourhood, fostering connections among neighbours who had never met before and deepening relationships among those who had. It demonstrated the power of collective action, showing that when a community collaborates, shares responsibility, and values each person’s contribution, incredible outcomes are possible. The celebration served as a meaningful reminder that connection, collaboration, and shared purpose make a community not only stronger but also more vibrant and resilient.

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The Shawnessy Youth Council demonstrated youth leadership in action by organizing and delivering a free-of-cost community movie night in May 2025.

Through planning sessions and bi-weekly meetings, the youth council members led every stage of the planning and execution process. They led every step of the process—choosing the date, time, and location, selecting the movie, creating promotional materials, and organizing roles for the event day. Throughout this process, youth strengthened their leadership, communication, and teamwork skills while learning how to turn an idea into a successful community initiative.

Their goal was to create an event that fostered connection and belonging in the Shawnessy community while empowering young people to lead. By placing decision-making directly in the hands of youth, the council created an inclusive space where peers could connect, new friendships could form, and families could come together.

On the night of the event, youth leadership was visible in action. Council members welcomed attendees, supported event logistics, and attended alongside friends they had invited to learn more about Planet Youth Calgary and the Shawnessy Youth Council. The event brought together 35 attendees, including families from across the Shawnessy area, many connecting with neighbours for the first time.

This youth-led initiative reflects an upstream, preventative approach by building leadership capacity, strengthening peer relationships, and creating positive community experiences before challenges arise. It also supported key pillars of wellbeing, including family connection, peer engagement, and accessible leisure opportunities.

What began as a planning opportunity became a meaningful example of how youth leadership can strengthen community connection and belonging.

The story of a new mural at Cardel Rec South began in the Fall of 2023, when a member of Cardel Rec South’s Board of Directors attended a Shawnessy Community Coalition meeting. Inspired by discussions about community connection and youth wellbeing, they connected with staff from Antyx Community Arts to explore how art could reflect Cardel Rec South’s values of inclusivity and belonging — and align with the Planet Youth domains that guide our work.

Over the next 3 months, Antyx facilitated semi-weekly art sessions with a group of 10–15 youth, who collaborated to design and paint a mural to be displayed in the shared space between Cardel Rec South and the Shawnessy Library. The project created a positive leisure and recreation opportunity for youth, offering a safe, structured, and creative outlet after school.

Through the process, participants strengthened peer connections, developed new skills, and built confidence as artists and community contributors. The project also fostered strong community and family engagement, as parents, staff, and coalition members supported the youth throughout their creative journey.

The mural’s final design celebrates diversity and mental wellness, embodying themes of connection, care, and belonging that are central to the school and community environment domains of Planet Youth.

In May 2024, more than 100 people gathered for the mural’s unveiling — a true community celebration. The event reflected not only the creativity of the youth artists but also the shared vision of a community working together to nurture wellbeing and belonging for all.

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After launching the Shawnessy Youth Council in September 2024, participants met bi-weekly from January to May 2025 to plan their first major project — a community movie night. With guidance from facilitators, the Youth Council members took the lead on every decision, from choosing the date, time, and location to selecting the movie, promoting the event, and managing logistics on the day.

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Empowering youth to design and lead this event reflected several Planet Youth domains in action. The planning process fostered peer connections and strengthened leadership and teamwork skills, while the event itself provided a positive leisure and recreation opportunity for both youth and families. It also created a welcoming community environment where residents could come together, connect, and enjoy a free, family-friendly evening.

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70 people attended the movie night, including 20 Youth Council members who helped set up the event space, check in attendees, hand out snacks, and clean up afterward. Their enthusiasm and commitment highlighted the power of youth-led initiatives in building community pride and belonging — a true reflection of community spirit.

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Why I decided to have my basketball court painted and what it means to me

The basketball court in my neighborhood has always been a place for me and other kids like me to lay back and enjoy ourselves. Every day after school, in summer, all the kids in the community would gather around the court to play basketball. I think one of the reasons people like basketball as a sport is because it doesn’t matter whether you are small or big, tall or short, fast or slow; it just doesn't matter. It is a great way to have fun with friends and a great place for the community to gather.  

Due to constant playing overtime, the court paint had faded to the extreme. At one point the lines started to completely disappear, and graffiti became a huge issue. Inappropriate drawings had been made time and time again but most of them faded away and gradually as the paint faded so did the number of children and youth playing at the court. At one point I stepped outside expecting to see a few people at the very least, but there was no one and I kind of just stared at the ground for a little, I didn't have an idea besides wanting to bring my community back together again with a sport we all enjoyed and nothing more.

I emailed my Team Lead, the Community Social Worker at Bob Bahan Community Hub about the idea expecting nothing more than a simple yes and I had to spray it on myself, but thank goodness she's smart, and she transformed my tiny dream into a reality, so she deserves some props too. With her help and connections, we got to turn my idea into a whole event gathering and brought the whole community together so that kids in the neighborhood can rejoice again.  

Now, when I step outside the only thing, I can hear is laughter from kids enjoying the sport.

Discussing the mural ideas was a challenging process, but we did get it done after a while, and with the design, ideas and preparations all made, we were good to go. To me, this finally means that the kids in the community that I play with no longer argue over rules and points; this also meant I could welcome fresh faces to the sport due to the graffiti being covered by the beautiful mural created by the youth and volunteers from the community, Surafiel from Planet Youth, Jeff from Antyx and his crew. This finally meant that this once beautiful basketball court had been rejuvenated and had to life.  

Now, when I step outside the only thing, I can hear is laughter from kids enjoying the sport. I now enjoy the court myself and to see such life grow from our community, neighborhood and even Forest lawn area gives me just an overwhelming sense of happiness. Now that the graffiti had been covered up, the lines were painted back and the youth had something to look forward to after school and on weekends, I can finally rest easy knowing my community can thrive once again.