Catch da Flava On-Line

Regent Park residents are having trouble accessing amenities in their own neighborhood Regent Park is currently in it’s last phase of revitalization. The community, once entirely composed of social housing and lacking in proper facilities, is now a mixed-income and mixed- use neighbourhood that features a number of new state-of-the-art amenities, including a new community centre, soccer fields, parks, an aquatic centre, playgrounds, and skating rinks. The new spaces have created tremendous opportunities for Regent Presidents and their families to gather, socialize and engage with each other. Unfortunately, more and more Regent Park residents are voicing the opinion that the new amenities are not for them. Furthermore, some residents have even claimed that they have been denied access. Considering that Regent Park residents spent years advocated for new facilities and participated in numerous meetings related to the building and design on these facilities, why is it that th

People’s Elite holds a Peace and Unity event in Regent Park On August 20, 2021, a grassroot organization named ‘People’s Elite’ held a Peace and Unity in the Community event on the Regent Park’s Athletic Field. The four-day community event used basketball to engage youth in life skills, business and entrepreneurship and mental health. The activities included yoga, speakers and journaling. Co-founders, Foad Karimian and Duane Spencer, decided to hold this event so they could cater to the youth of Regent Park who have had a difficult year and a half due to the Coronavirus and spread unity since there has been some discordance among youth in the community. The organizers decided to use basketball as their teaching tool due to its inexpensive nature and its ability to integrate other learning lessons such as life and entrepreneurship skills. According to Karimian, youth in Regent Park don’t have opportunities to engage with professionals, “these youth have more opportunities to mingle

Miguel Avila-Valarde, a resident of Regent Park, is charged for the toppling statue. Regent Park and the surrounding neighbourhoods of Moss Park and St. James Town, are some of the most diverse neighbourhoods in Toronto. These neighbourhoods are also home to a significant population of indigenous residents. Toronto itself is situated on the traditional territory of many nations including the Mississaugas of the Credit, the Anishnabeg, the Chippewa, the Haudenosaunee and the Wendat peoples and is now home to many diverse First Nations, Inuit and Métis peoples. Both locally and nationally there a is heightened awareness regarding the legacy of systemic racism perpetrated by White European settlers against the Native people during the period of colonization (1788 - 1901), and which even today persist in many facets of contemporary life, including the commemoration of key historical figures who contributed directly to various oppressive and discriminatory practices; such as the re

A conversation with William Mendes, the Director of Program Delivery for TCHC Radio Regent is a 24-hour, public access radio station in the heart of the Regent Park community. The station is managed by the Focus Media Arts Centre. One of the weekly shows that is produced on Radio Regent is the 4GetAboutIt! Youth Collective. In this episode of Radio Regent’s 4GetAboutIt! The youth collective invited William Mendes, the Director of Program Delivery for Toronto Community Housing, to be a guest on their radio show to discuss and learn more about the 4th and 5th phases of the Regent Park redevelopment. As anyone who has been living in and frequenting the downtown east neighbourhood of Toronto over the past 15 to 20 years, you may have noticed that Regent Park has been going through a significant large-scale revitalization. Once entirely made up of aging social housing managed by Toronto Community Housing (TCH), the neighbourhood is now entering the final 4th and 5th phases of p

The St. James Town Food Co-op launches an emergency food Pop- Up On August 12, 2021, the St. James Town Co-op launched an outdoor emergency food distribution pop-up in an open space behind the swimming pool located at 275 Bleecker and Wellesley Street. Located in the middle of the neighborhood, this pop-up was a temporary substitute for the regular food distribution in the Wellesley Community Centre. The Wellesley Community Centre, located at 200 Wellesley Street is now been used as a vaccination clinic. The importance of the pop up was to distribute emergency food to residents struggling with food insecurity. Although the Co-op is struggling to secure a place for their food insecurity initiative, making sure that the needs of the community have been met is the Co-op first priority. Yasmine, the Food distribution department manager explains to us how the initiative tries to offer different kinds of food that is culturally appropriate and that would keep the community healthy an

St. James Town is a neighborhood located in Toronto’s downtown core.Comprised of a diverse and resilient community, it represents the best of Toronto. Here are some facts you may not know about St. James Town: Fact 1 It’s one of the most densely populated neighbourhoods in Canada. The population of St. Jamestown James Town is officially listed as approximately 17,000 residents but estimates say there could be more than 25,000 26,000 residents living here. Fact 2 St. James Town is one of the smallest neighborhoods in Toronto. With a land area of just 0.23 kilometres comprised of 19 high rises, explains why St. James Town is regarded as one of the smallest and most densely populated neighbourhoods! Fact 3 St. James Town was once known as the Homewood Estate. Yes, back then (in the 1800’s) it was occupied by upper middle-class residents and the homes and had more in common with Rosedale. Once the car became popular, most of the wealthy folks left for the suburbs. Fa

“Speaking With Confidence” is a free, 6 week public speaking training that teaches Regent Park residents newcomers how to successfully express and advocate for themselves in public settings Part of Regent Park’s Revitalization plan includes significant City of Toronto funding for the Regent Park Social Development Plan (SDP). The SDP aims to foster Social Cohesion and Inclusion in the new Regent Park. This process includes identifying key areas and action projects that meet the goals of building Social Capital in a new mixed income neighbourhood. After a consultation process with the community, four key areas were identified, these were: Safety, Community Building, Communications and Employment and Economic Development. To implement action activities in each of these areas, working group committees were formed. The “Speaking with Confidence” training was an initiative developed by the Safety Working Group in collaboration with Regent Park’s Mother’s of Peace and TD’s Centre f

The federal government announces funding to the Black Community On August 4, 2021, Member of Parliament for Toronto Centre Marci Ien, and Minister of Families, Children, and Social Development, Ahmed Hussen, held a press conference just outside the Daniels Spectrum Arts Centre in Regent Park, to announce a 96 million dollar grant i to support Black Canadian community organizations. According to Marci Ien, “Covid 19 has highlighted the inequities linked to anti-black racism not only in Toronto but right across the country. What this has meant is that many Black Canadian communities are increasingly vulnerable to economic hardships and this represents an opportunity for government, organizations and individuals to change the status quo. This is what our government is focusing its efforts on – to support Black communities right across the country.” In his remarks, Minister Ahmed Hussen reminded attendees that he was once a resident of Regent Park and that the community is close

A youth reporter leads you on a tour of the St. James Town Community. St. James Town is one of the most underrated neighborhoods of Toronto, Ontario. It is home to over 25,000 residents and is one of the most multicultural neighborhoods in all of Toronto. It lies northeast of the downtown area covering Jarvis Street to the west, Bloor Street East to the north, Parliament Street to the east, and Wellesley Street East to the south. St. James Town is like traveling the entire globe within one block. St. James Town has a sea of multicultural restaurants from all over the globe. There are just not enough neighborhoods in the world where you can go out and taste foods from all around the world in a matter of blocks. St. James Town is one of the areas St. James Town has astonishing murals. In a community where there is very little green and lots of lots of buildings, murals bring color and creativity to the community. St. James Town has one of the tallest murals in the world at 200 We

Indigenous artist talks about her performance art – the first in a new Regent Park TV series aimed at collaborating with Indigenous partners and individuals to present Indigenous issues, individuals and stories to the general public. Regent Park is located on the traditional territory of the Anishinabek and the Huron-Wendat. According to Canada's 2016 Census Metropolitan Area statistics, the Indigenous population in Toronto is 46,315. Many of these habitants reside in the down town, low-income neighbourhoods of Regent Park, Moss Park and St. James Town. However, far too often Indigenous residents are invisible and only reflected in issues related to homelessness. In an effort to change this – we present the art of Yoland Bonnell. Yolanda Bonnell (pronoun they/them/theirs) is an Indigenous artist based in Toronto who expresses her identity, ideology, and issues faced by their community in their art. “ I introduce myself in my language because someone once told me that it