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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...

Yael explains why St. James Town is a perfect habitat for the St. James Town pigeon. The St. James Town pigeon is well known to area residents. They can be found in the neighbourhood mornings to night. One of the favorite places where the St. James Town pigeon calls home is at Food Basics. Food Basics is an area which is densely populated, and where there is people – there is food. More precisely people willing to provide feed. And even more precise seniors! The pigeons in this vicinity are commonly referred to as the Food Basic Pigeons. Food Basic Pigeons differ from most other St. James Town Pigeons by their lack of fear for not only people but for cars. In fact, when not focused on cosying up to seniors, pooping on cars is one of the favorite past-times of the Food Basic Pigeons. The competing Rose Ave School pigeons, find begging for bread crumbs from seniors a little below them. Considered far more educated than their peers, the St. James Town Rose Avenue School Pi...

The 519 Community Pop-Up Vaccine Clinic shows why the strategy of Community Pop-Up Vaccines work. On June 29, 2021, a community Covid-19 Pop-Up Vaccine Clinic was held at 519 Church Street, located in the down town east side of Toronto in the Wellesley-Church corridor. 519 Church Street is the home of 519 Org, a not-for-profit organization dedicated to the advocacy and inclusion of LGBT communities. The aim of the 519 Covid-19 Pop-Up Vaccine Clinic was to create a barrier free space for members of the LGBTQ2S community and their allies to receive a first or second vaccine dose. Increasingly, as more people get vaccinated, the City of Toronto is shifting away from mass immunization health clinics to a strategy of community pop-ups and mobile clinics. The strategy is based on the belief that people feel more comfortable and more likely to get vaccinated when there is a community environment, where people are familiar with the places they know and where they have a chance to be with...

Understanding the SDP’s Employment & Economic Development Committee’s Community Research Report. The Employment & Economic Development Committee (EED) is one of the four working groups of the Regent Park Social Development Plan (SDP). The goal of the EED committee is to increase employment rates and entrepreneurial opportunities for residents of Regent Park. Considered among the lowest income neighbourhoods in Toronto, antidotal evidence suggests that many Regent Park households are struggling with employment barriers related to language, lack of skills, lack of accreditation, mental health, Islamophobia, systemic racism and more. To improve the employment and economic situation in Regent Park, the Employment & Economic Development Committee (EED), hired a Research Lead, Ayesha Amin, a resident of Regent Park, to prepare and design a report. The aim of this report is to provide a current employment and entrepreneurship overview of Regent Park, to form a better unde...

St. Jamestown is located on the northeast side of the downtown Toronto area, the high populated community is filled with high-rise buildings and constant construction. With so much city life in the neighborhood, do the people in the community take notice of the environment around them? Why is it so important to keep a sustainable environment around us, and what is St. Jamestown doing to help? Having a well-sustainable environment is very important to the community. Conserving natural resources can protect global and local ecosystems and contribute to ones’ health and well-being. In St. Jamestown, there are not many green spaces in the community. On top of that, streets are filled with litter and unwanted garbage. This litter, whether on sidewalks or near housing buildings, reflects on the community and gives a negative impression of the neighborhood. Environmental sustainability at the local level should focus on how residents should take care of their carbon footprint and what reso...

St. James Town is a community known notably for its high-rise buildings. However, few people realize that you can eat cuisines from around the world all within a few blocks. You can find restaurants specializing in Korean, Filipino, Caribbean, Indian foods and more - all in St. James Town. Here are three must-visit restaurants in St. James Town. Tinuno is a Filipino restaurant located at 31 Howard Street, located near Sherbourne Street & Howard Street. Tinuno means to cook on a grill or over a hot with extreme heat. They have a wide variety of Filipino cuisines like Tapsilog consisting of smoky beef tapa, garlic rice, 2 eggs + salad. Another interesting dish is Bangsilog. This dish consists of Bangus belly, garlic rice, 2 eggs + salad. To top it off, I recommend that you can end with a beautiful suman dessert. In the words of one dinner,“ the food here delicious, a perfect spot to bring your girl on national girlfriend day ha, ha..” At Tinuno, you can eat foods from all ove...

With an astonishing four playgrounds available for children and youth, St. James Town is really lacking in parks and playgrounds. St James Town has a sea of tall residential buildings like trees in Redwood National Park. Having 19 high rise buildings and 4 low rise buildings with a population of approximately 17,100 to 25,000 residents, St James Town is one of the most highly densely populated neighbourhoods in Toronto. With an immense population of youth and children, lack of playgrounds and parks can lead to negative impact on their health. In 2014, there was a plan to rejuvenate the tennis court beside 260 Wellesley St building and to replace the court with a massive playground. I remember the planning of the park. We had a party at our school organized by planners of the playground. At the party they presented the final designs of the playground being built that would replace the tennis court. Information was given to us to take home to our parents with petitions for them to si...

The Regent Park Social development plan is a plan that ensures that old and new residents alike would be engaged and feel part of the community. As anyone who has been living in and frequenting downtown 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 social housing managed by Toronto Community Housing, the neighbourhood is now entering the final 4th and 5th phases of physical revitalization. The physical development plan seeks to transform Regent Park into a new, integrated and thriving mixed-income community boasting new Toronto Community Housing (TCH) buildings, multiple new market rent condos, state of the art sports and recreational facilities as well as new businesses and streets. The Regent Park Revitalization process is unmatched not only due to its large-scale build over multiple decades but also for its support for a social development plan that accompanies th...