Calgary continuously ranks within the top 25 best city to live in the world as well as ranked the cleanest city in Canada (Mercer Consulting 2007). Since Ward 3 is the largest ward in Calgary with a population of over 90,000 residents, Helene believes that bringing about a higher quality of life and standard of living is part of the process in building this great city. Public safety, investing in life improving facilities, support for affordable housing as well as the lobbying of Federal and Provincial Government to fund essential services all contribute to making Calgary a great place to live and work.

Ward 3 serves as a great example of how Calgary promotes those aspects. Helene has ensured that there was funding to build a fire hall and a temporary EMS station in Saddle Ridge (Helene speaks more on this issue in the Delivering Accessible City Services section).

With the economic boom in Calgary, Calgarian's have seen housing price increase and to tackle the issue, City Council is committed to building at least 200 affordable housing units per year between 2006-2008. Recently city council decided to spend all of the $63 million dollars allocated by the province for affordable housing and rent supplements. The city has already decided that the majority of the funding to go into new projects such as the Vista Grande project in Ward 3 which includes 41 units, 4 of which will be completely wheelchair accessible. Upon completion, Vista Grande will account for 21% of the cities affordable housing goal. Helene was proud to be at that special groundbreaking ceremony which promises to allow for low income families to settle into this city and benefit from the economic boom rather than being punished. Helene is also an avid supporter of the Habitat for Humanity projects within Calgary and is proud to have supported the developments within the communities of Taradale and Evanston. Initiatives by NGO's such as Habitat for Humanity ensure that Calgary is a city that welcomes families and individuals from all walks of life to settle in the city.

One new and exciting project that will benefit the lives the residents North of McKnight is the North East Center of Communities (NECC). This multipurpose recreational facility is estimated to cost over 68 million dollars will house a new library, a resource and sports recreation center, as well as offices for the Saddle Ridge, Martindale and Taradale community associations. This state of the art multi-purpose facility will be jointly run by the YMCA and the City of Calgary. To date, Helene and her colleagues on council have approved $2 million dollars for the design and development of a concept plan while council is considering to provide $37.5 million for the development of this facility. Helene is also providing support for this centre in various other ways such as actively locating sponsors for the NECCS Annual Golf Tournament to raise funds to construct the facility and has secured over $15,000.00 worth of donations and prizes. Helene is also supporting the NECCS by using $1,500.00 from the Council Strategic Initiatives Fund (CSIF) to support their First Annual Golf Tournament to raise awareness of this great project.

Family and community development is also an important aspect to building a great city. Through the Family and Community Support Services (FCSS), the City of Calgary is able to provide funding to a large variety of agencies to ensure that Calgarian's can gain access to various needs. To ensure that clients of the FCSS funded agencies are able to continue with their service now and in the future, Helene has recommended the mayor to lobby the provincial government for more funding to be allocated to this program.

A great city is not built by one person alone, and this is why Helene believes that she has a responsibility to work with constituents, community and business groups to reflect their visions on what makes a great city.