What is The Organization Community Resilience to Extreme Weather (CREW)?

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Formed outside of an emergency meeting held in January 2014 to address extreme weather events such as the July 2013 floods and the December 2013 ice storm. Community Resilience to Extreme Weather (CREW) is a local climate change initiative that was formed by Rita Bijons, an environmental activist, Dave MacLeod, a senior environmental officer, and twenty one community based groups. CREW’s work has proven to be important as they serve low-income individuals in underserved neighbourhoods such as St. Jamestown. 

A big part of CREW’s mission is to promote community resilience by fostering communication. In 2016, CREW developed a Neighbours Helping Neighbours program which was composed of twenty two low income seniors of various ethnic backgrounds. These seniors which are known as Extreme Weather Volunteers gathered a toolkit of materials to reach out to their community. In their outreach work, they focused on building supportive social networks and training their neighbours on how to prepare for extreme weather emergencies. In addition to working with seniors, CREW has also worked with highschool and university students, environmental advocates, neighbourhood associations, etc. While working with different groups and individuals, CREW has contributed to many academic research and municipal initiatives.

In 2022, CREW continues to be active in St. JamesTown and Toronto’s Downtown East community, specifically the St. JamesTown area. Toronto and many parts of the world have been facing extreme heat waves. Volunteers with CREW, specifically Lidia Ferreira and her team, are tasked with checking door-to-door to ensure that those who are isolated and susceptible to the effects of the heat wave are doing well. As extreme weather events are becoming more frequent and produce more severe side effects; CREW’s work is becoming more crucial.



By: Jamelia Parnell

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