Catch da Flava On-Line

A discussion with TASSC about Indigenous needs in the St. James Town area St. James town is one of the most populated, diverse and multicultural neighbourhoods in Toronto. It has a population density of 44,321 many of whom are from immigrant and newcomer communities. However not many people know that St. James Town is also home to approximately 1000 indigenous residents. Who are the indigenous communities that live in the area and what are their needs? To help answer these questions we turned to the Toronto Aboriginal Support Services Council (TASSC). TASSC is an organization made up of 18 different native organizations that are serving communities across the city in different areas. It offers many services like housing and shelter, employment, education, in addition to cultural and many other support services. According to Lindsay (Swooping Hawk) Ketschmer - The Executive Director of TASSC, the needs of indigenous communities could vary from an area to another. However

“Revitalization” is coming to St. James Town North in the way of safer, greener and more accessible spaces for residents. St. James Town, which is bounded by Bloor Street East to the North, Wellesley Street to the South, Jarvis Street to the West, and Parliament to the Street east; is considered to be one of North Americas most densely populated neighbourhoods, and research by the Wellesley Institute has identified that St. James Town suffers from: “overcrowding, lack of green and public spaces, poor building and neighbourhood maintenance, and a general lack of resources for serving the large and diverse population.” There are 19 high-rise apartment buildings ranging in 14 to 32 stories in height, with a population density of 44,321 people per square km (Statistics Canada, 2016 Census of Population. Neighbourhoods data set at: www.toronto.ca/open). Many of the buildings are named after major Canadian cities, The Winnipeg, The Halifax, The Vancouver, The Montreal, The Calgary,

In celebration of Black History Month, The Corner in partnership with St. James Town TV, is interviewing inspiring leaders from St. James Town whose circumstances, struggles, and challenges are ones that most of us may be familiar with. In these interviews these leaders have been generous with their times and have opened their hearts by and sharing their stories and experiences with the community. In this article we are going to talk about a woman we are proud of who came out of our community in St. James town. Her name is Marci Ien. Black History Month is an annual observance during February every year to celebrate and appreciate African History and the histories of Peoples of African descent here in North America. It began in 1926 as a way of remembering important people and events in the history of African Americans. February was chosen because it coincides with the birthdays of two important figures in African American history that black communities had celebrated since the lat

The corner has announced restarting COVID-19 testing again in St James Town. Testing is being carried out by Sherbourne Health Center and is taking place at the St. James Town Community Corner (The Corner), located at 200 Wellesley St. East. The testing will last from January through March, 2021. It is free of charge and anyone could pop up to do the testing without an appointment. The results come up within 2-3 days and health professionals are sure to contact those who got positive covid results to inform them, and see if they need any help with staying home in quarantine for 14 days. In addition, The Corner offers multiple wrap up services including gift cards, free meals for those experiencing food insecurity, grocery delivery and information on isolation rooms as well as any kind of financial or medical assistance that residents could be in need of. This is not the first time The Corner has offered the free pop-up testing clinic during the pandemic. “Public health

The COVID-19 pandemic has wreaked unprecedented upheaval across the globe. Millions have tested positive, and hundreds of thousands have died. In more than the 200 countries in the world that coronavirus has taken hold, health systems have been devastated, unemployment is rampant, and populations have been in self-isolating lockdowns for months on end. And while our scientists desperately search for vaccines and improvements to testing, there is another dimension to the pandemic that is emerging; it is the staggering realization that disproportionately the most vulnerable are the hardest hit – the poor, the elderly, the marginalised, and those in low income but vital jobs. In Downtown Toronto East including the areas of Regent Park, Sherbourne-Dundas, Moss Park, Cabbagetown, St. Jamestown and the Church and Wellesley neighbourhood where many of the most vulnerable members of our society live, there is a crisis brewing. Homeless encampments are springing up everywhere leading to conflic