Catch da Flava Online

By Dawar Naeem Dawar Naeem, a community journalist with Focus Media Arts Centre, interviews many people at the big celebration to honour the 10th anniversary of the Daniel Spectrum Centre, including people who have initiated and facilitated some of the many programs there, those involved with its building and development, and many people who have participated in many of its programs.  Daniels Spectrum is a community hub in Toronto’s Regent Park neighbourhood. Its is located at 585 Dundas street east. It opened to the public in September 2012. Daniels Spectrum is home to many outstanding arts-based and community-focused organizations that make Daniels Spectrum a special place to work, play, study and get creative. Daniels Spectrum is named in recognition of a bighearted gift from The Daniels Corporation and The John and Myrna Daniels Charitable Foundation. It is a joint venture between Artscape, Toronto Community Housing, The Daniels Corporation and the Regent Park co...

Welcome to RPTV Weekly News Show Episode 42. In this weekly news show hosted by RPTV reporters Kedar Ahmed, Fred Alvarado, Jabin Haque, and Victoria Nanneti, we present news that impacts on Toronto's Regent Park and the surrounding areas. Episode 42 features the following stories, which also includes segments from recent, longer programs by Focus Media, (full program times indicated) including: City of Toronto announces the recipients of the 2022 Regent Park SDP Grant and conditionally allocates 2023 funds (01:23 min); A feature "In Memory" of Barbara Helen Castledine (07:15 min); and another "In Memory" of Christian Yombo (09:56 min). Report of Changing Cultures of Regent Park—A multimedia final exhibition (11:15 min); Healing As One Celebrates the FIFA World Cup Final (20:05 min); Advocates call for more access to warming centres (21:40 min); Toronto City Council approves 2023 Housing Action Plan for the 2022-2026 term of  Council (22:46 min); C...

 The Regent Park Neighbourhood Association hosted a meeting for the residents of Regent Park on the 3rd floor of Daniels Spectrum. Regent Park Neighbourhood Association (also known as RPNA) is an association that “seeks to foster an inclusive, diverse, and healthy neighbourhood association in which all residents feel at home.” The purpose of this meeting was to update and engage community members on the Re-zoning application submitted by Tridel and Toronto community housing for the phases 4 and 5 of the Regent Park revitalization. The meeting was centred around the important knowledge of what was happening around the Re-zoning, what were the community benefits related to the project, to urge people to join the Regent Park Community Benefits Coalition, and teach people how to engage and support each other during the critical time for the community. The Phases 4 and 5 of the Regent Park revitalization are bordered by Gerrard Street and Oak Street to the north and south,...

  The Regent Park celebrated the 10th Anniversary of the Daniels Spectrum, the Daniels corporation and its stakeholders. Daniels Spectrum is a community hub in Toronto’s Regent Park neighbourhood. Its is located at 585 Dundas street east. It opened to the public in September 2012. Daniels Spectrum is home to many outstanding arts-based and community-focused organizations that make Daniels Spectrum a special place to work, play, study and get creative. Daniels Spectrum is named in recognition of a bighearted gift from The Daniels Corporation and The John and Myrna Daniels Charitable Foundation. It is a joint venture between Artscape, Toronto Community Housing, The Daniels Corporation and the Regent Park community. Daniels Spectrum is open to the community, and it is made for a variety of cultural uses. Within these walls you’ll find dancing, art-making, singing, music playing, learning, socializing, community building, mentoring, collaborating etc. The Daniels Spectrum is animate...

Femme is a collective of two young women reaching out to other you women to join their community group called “Femme”. They meet up and discuss important events and issues, while doing workshops and cool activities. The goal of the project is to allow culturally diverse young women to create new and memorable experiences, make new friends, gain sisterhood, and build leadership. Located in Regent Park, in the Daniel Spectrum Arts Center. Meetings take place in the third floor community meeting room, every Wednesday from 5:30pm to 7:30pm. The program started in July 2022 and will be completed in April 2023. The experiences gained during the project could have life-long benefits. Offering young people in the community an opportunity to create a youth oriented magazine. Participants would be engaged with photography, print journalism, and magazine design. An honorarium of $300.00 is provided to each participant. Some of the members have claimed the project is both fun and entertain...

The Moss Park Coalition works specifically within the Toronto Downtown East community of Moss Park. The aim of this community-led program is to provide residents and stakeholders in the Moss Park Community with important information on social issues which may impact their daily lives. Currently, the Coalition is working to bring light to the many developments being planned in both the public and private sectors which will bring to change to Toronto’s historic Downtown East. Some of these developments include the Moss Park Subway Station, condo development and changes to green space. The goal of our coalition is to ensure the voices of the community are heard and these voices can help guide developments of their own community to better address the needs of their neighbours.

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 p...

City of Toronto is pleased to announce the recipients of Redefining Regent Park: Youth Leadership Grant. The Redefining Regent Park: Youth Leadership Grant was developed through a private donation by Chris Brillinger, to fund programs in Regent Park. Chriss Brillinger was a former employee of the City of Toronto. City of Toronto Community Funding Unit received 12 applications totalling to $869,986 (Eight hundred-sixty-nine thousand, nine hundred eighty six dollars), in requested investments. The Youth Application Review Committee with the support of City of Toronto staff recommended four projects with funding totalling $250,000. (two hundred fifty thousand dollars). Here is information about each of the projects: 1. Mental Health Matters in partnership with Youth Empowering Parents receives $70,000. Mental Health Matters aims to educate and enhance the mental health and wellbeing of Regent Park youth between the ages of 15-25 by (1) providing a safe space for dialogue, (2) incr...

A new parkette is coming to the River street area. The parkette is expected to open in 2024 as part of a residential development project at 1 Defries Street, located just east of River Street and Shuter Street, between Marks Street and Labatt Avenue. The new parkette at 1 Defries Street will be about the size of a basketball court. A portion of the parkette will be located on the existing Labatt Avenue and will be part of a residential development. The parkette will be accessible and include various amenities and seating areas. A dogs off-leash area will not be included in the design due to the parkette’s limited size. The parkette’s design will evolve through consultation with nearby schools, area residents and the general public in order to design a space that meets the needs of the growing community. If you have ideas for this new, take the online survey to share your thoughts. The design team will use the community feedback to help develop design options for the new parkette. T...

In Regent Park, a community that is in the process of a massive transformation, from Canada's largest social housing complex to a mixed income/mixed use neighbourhood, the outcome of elections, be they Municipal, Provincial, or Federal is of profound interest to area residents. The Community Civic Engagement Collaborative (CCEC) is a grassroots collective of agencies and residents in Regent Park, Moss Park, St. James Town and Corktown neighbourhoods, working to increase civic engagement in elections and beyond, through non-partisan community organizing. On Wednesday May 18, 2022, the CCEC organized and hosted an all-candidates meeting (held at the Daniels Spectrum, 585 Dundas St E, Toronto) and invited candidates to share their respective party's platforms regarding the key issues facing the Toronto Centre riding, which includes Moss Park, Regent Park, Cabbage Town, Church Wellesley Village, and St. Jamestown.  The meeting was moderated by Ina Labuschgne and Walied Khogali. ...