St. James Town’s Weathering the Storm Research Report

By -

In this episode of St. James Town TV, we feature the Weathering the Storm Research Report. The report was prepared for The Corner and the St. James Town Service Providers Network by Lisa Kovalchuk, a professor of sociology at the University of Guelph. Lisa Kovalchuk’s team of researchers included community residents Priyal Goenka, Tanvir Kaukab, and Lovlyn Dsouza.

The aim of the study was to determine how the Covid-19 pandemic played out in the highly diverse and densely populated community of St. James Town. The study focused on three demographics, youth, newcomers and other immigrants, and seniors.

According to Lisa and her team, in the area of children and youth the study found that parents with infants and pre-teen children reported lockdown impacts that affected child development such as the lack of social interactions and gaining of learning experiences because of the disruption of day-care and the closure of recreational family outing options. Parents of special needs children found that online interactions were sorely inadequate substitutes for programs and classes, and were witnessing distressing emotional fallout in their children. The adolescents and young adults in the sample experienced lay-offs from newly attained jobs, self-development projects stalled or lost, and being cut off from socialization outlets.

In the area of newcomers and immigrants, according to the findings of the study, income loss was one of the most disturbing impacts on emotional well-being as newcomers have relatively thin local social networks to turn to for support. Another impact on newcomer and immigrant well-being was the suspension of long-planned, long-awaited travel to countries of origin. The pandemic also imposed considerable job- and income-related pressures on the immigrants in terms of employment instability.

Another demographic that was severely affected was seniors. The most prominent and troubling effects were increased isolation and loneliness due to the loss of programs and activities for socializing, intensified food insecurity, and other effects of the loss of in-person supports such as Personal Support Workers (PSWs).

Despite the difficulties many people experienced as a result of the pandemic including food insecurity, loneliness, financial and economic challenges, results indicated that the neighbourhood recorded a noticeable degree of bonding and support. Individuals and groups in the area came together to ensure those in need had support, opportunities for connections, food banks and programming.

Watch this episode of St. James Town TV news to hear from Lisa and her team on how the St. James Town neighbourhood weathered the storm:

https://youtu.be/0Z4bjzXtZQM


To read the report click on this link:

https://www.dropbox.com/s/d70ui3skz0fqnlf/Weathering%20The%20Storm%20Sept8%202021.pdf?dl=0

 

Written by
Nea Maaty

Journalist
FOCUS Media Arts Centre


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Regent Park Portrayed in Film and Television

By -
Image
Toronto has a rich history of being a go-to shooting location for many television and film production companies. Some notable films shot here over the years include Good Will Hunting (1997), Billy Madison (1998), American Psycho (2000), and X-Men (2000). Regent Park has also had its share of showcases in film. This article aims to review the general content of movie dramas and televisions shows shot in Regent and explore their relationship to the community. Clement Virgo is a director, producer, and writer from Montego Bay, Jamaica. He was born in 1966 and moved to the Regent Park area in Toronto in 1977. During this time Regent Park was generally populated by low-income families and as a hot spot for drugs. Virgo is most recently known for his roles in Greenleaf (2016-2018), The Book of Negroes (2015), and The Wire (2002) as Director and/or Producer. His first feature-length film, however, was Rude (1995), which was filmed almost entirely in the old Regent Park. “The film told
Read more

Meet Your Neighbourhood Police Officers – PC Mircea Biga and PC Farzad Ghotbi

By -
Image
Community-based policing is a proactive law enforcement strategy that focuses on building ties and working closely with a community’s members to create partnerships and plans for preventing and reducing crime. While community policing will look differently depending on the community it serves, a central feature is that the same officer patrols and works in the same area on a permanent basis. Currently there are 17 community-based police programs in the Greater Toronto Area (GTA), but what most people don’t know is that Toronto’s community policing started in Regent Park in May of 2017. We know this because the original officers involved in setting up the Regent Park community policing program continue to work here today. The officers are PC Mircea Biga, PC Farzad Ghotbi, and PC Edward Parks; the newest officer assigned to the Regent Park community is PC Nigel Thomas (who is replacing PC Melissa Huntley while she is on maternity leave). Symptomatic of the increasing diversity of
Read more

What Social Inclusion Means to Me

By -
I had moved into Regent Park only a few days before I saw the pink, fuchsia, strawberry, indigo, yellow, green, neck streamers and sparkling robes worn by children, parents, aunts, uncles, and elders as they marched passed my kitchen door. Soon, the nearby Athletic Grounds was blazing with colour. Although it was the first time I heard them, the intonations on the microphone were recognizable, even to me, as prayers. It was Eid, the concluding celebration after Ramadan. It was a beautiful sight. I am a White Jewish senior and I hunted for a stairless condo for years before I chose to live in Regent Park and then only because a relative did business with the new seniors’ building there. “Regent Park?” a friend exclaimed. “You are going to have ethnic problems.”  “Not I.  I come from a long line of fiery leftie activists.” I replied. Stage four and five of revitalizing this post-war subsidized development into a multi-income community was just beginning and I jumped in w
Read more