weMap: A Non-Profit Mapping Collaborative

Why weMap?

Community Information is:

• not displayed in an intuitive manner
• difficult to find
• often not customizable

You have to

• Go to multiple sources to find what you are looking for
• Contact many agencies that reinvent the wheel again and again

How about

• Customizable map of social services, public listings and businesses
• Simplified and centralized access
• Visual representation of services in the neighbourhood
• Multiple data partners sharing their information?

We want to

• Give people one place to get their community information.
• Give it to them in a format that is easy to use and understand.
• Collaborate with data partners who have excellent information
• Create an open source, creative commons solution that can be used by anyone in the community

But That’s Not All

Sure, we want to start with community data, because that’s what we know and work with. But here’s the dream.

A person comes to a site. Let’s start with one of ours – Settlement.Org. They’re a new immigrant coming to Canada in a few months and they’re preparing for their arrival.

They’re looking for ESL classes, schools and day care for their kids, places to get employment help, and information about where to get their official documents (Driver’s licence, health card, Social Insurance Number, etc.). The map shows them where those offices a located.

But, they’re looking to settle in a neighbourhood. They’ve heard that people from their ethno-linguistic background settle in a particular area of Toronto. They want to find them, and they want to see how much apartments cost in that area, is it transit accessible (they likely won’t buy a car right away), are there stores/markets that cater to their lifestyle and food choices?

So, they also choose the demographic layer, click on the average rental rates, choose the transit overlay and then choose grocery stores.

How?

Because we’re working with the local 211 service (comprehensive community/government service info), the local ESL referral service (most up to date information about classes), Statistics Canada neighourhood (census data), rental pricing data from the Canadian Mortgage and Housing Centre (CMHC), transit information from the TTC, and retail information from a business directory (say Yellowpages or Zip Local).

All in one place. All easy to find. All relevant to their needs.

And, why shouldn’t it be?