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Community Organizations and Local City Councillor Call for Action to Acquire Vacant Sherbourne-Dundas Property for Real Affordable Housing. On Monday March 7th, members of local agencies and organizations along with local city councillor Kristyn Wong-Tam gathered outside at 214-230 Sherbourne St. vacant property (just south of Dundas St. East) to intensify their call on the city to acquire the seven-lot parcel, which has sat vacant for more than a decade. They also want the provincial and federal governments to support the City of Toronto by providing funds to purchase this prime development site as well as address Toronto’s housing and homelessness crisis. “Losing this property to developers would be such a huge blow to the community and it would create further gentrification,” said social worker Sheryl Lindsay of Regent Park Community Health Centre’s advocacy committee, which organized Monday’s news conference/rally and has long advocated for the city to expropriate or purchase the

Regent Park Youth involved in the Climate Conversations radio show, speaks to Michelle Bird, Operations and Project Manager with RESCo Energy In the third episode of Climate Conversations, a show where young people from Regent Park discuss various aspects of environmentalism with experts, organizers, and artists in the field, Jabin Haque and Victoria Nannetti, sit down and have an engaging conversation with Michelle Bird, the Operations Manager and Project Manager with RESCo Energy. They discuss the company’s role in the solar power industry, barriers the industry has faced, who their target audience is, and the upsides and downsides of using solar power in our modern world. In this interview, Michelle Bird describes RESCo Energy as a “one stop shop” for all of your solar energy needs. Created in 2006, RESCo has been providing solar PV services to commercial and industrial customers across Canada, on their website, they describe themselves as “setting the bar for turnkey expert l

Presenter Joy Henderson, stresses the importance of Allyship as practice to counter the inequities brought on by privilege and power. The Regent Park Neighbourhood Association (RPNA) was formed in early 2015 by an equal parts small group of both Toronto Community Housing Corporation (TCHC) resident & Market resident living in Regent Park. The Association looks to represent the interests of all resident of Regent Park by providing a broad range of advocacy services, as well as building community through events and meetings. Mission: “The RPNA seeks to create a safe space where where resident voices are amplified on issues that are important to our neighbourhood & take action.” - RPNA In the first of a series of monthly meetings, the RPNA hosted a virtual community meeting to celebrate Black History month. The featured guest was Joy Henderson, a former Regent Park resident, and Afro-Lakota Child and Youth Care Practitioner/Professor, and writer. Joy Henderson's has

It wasn’t so long ago that young people growing up in the low-income community of Regent Park, once Canada’s largest community housing complex, would venture outside their community to neighborhoods and the city beyond.  Today, with the popularity and use of cell phones, Regent Park youth have the world at their fingertips.  The advent of modern technology is something that shook the core of the world. It fundamentally changed the way we perceive our own humanity, has changed our habits, exposes us to new worlds, connects us to the larger world, and has completely uprooted the established normality of the upbringing of young people. The current generation of young adults, teenagers, and kids are growing up in a world with resources that would be beyond belief to previous generations of Regent Parkers just a few decades ago.  Because these young people were born into a world where these technological advancements were in the process of being made as they grew up, they lack the con

Agencies serving the Indigenous community in Toronto estimate that there are 70,000 residents living in Toronto. Many indigenous habitants reside in the downtown, 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, there is a need for stories that better reflect the diversity of Indigenous communities. In recognition of this fact and in honour of international Women’s Day, we present a conversation with Sandi Bourcher. Sandi Boucher is an Indigenous author, story teller, social activist, and motivational speaker who identifies herself as a Red Thunderbolt woman of the Moon Clan, and a proud member of Seine River First Nation located in Northwestern Ontario. Sandi feels that her role in life is to empower people by renewing their beliefs in themselves and by increasing their awareness of their own capacity and their own

Community ambassadors promote Covid-19 Vaccine Awareness With the emergence of the new COVID-19 variant Omicron residents of Regent Park along with community organizations have mobilised to confront the specter of this new challenge. Rallying around getting the word out about where to go and what to do has always been the mainstay of Regent Parkers sense of community – no matter the issue – Regent Park people tend to look out for one another. In this short video, Lamisa Ahmed, a youth ambassador with the Vaccine Engagement Regent Park, and Murshida Samsun Mueen, community ambassador with Regent Park Community Health Centre, join Walied Kjolagli Ali, a community vaccine educator to unpack the plethora of new and old phenomena that now crowd the corona virus landscape. With so much information competing with one’s attention, no one can be faulted for losing sight of even the most fundamental concerns, and so it is no surprise that Walied asked Lamisa to once more remind people

Regent Park Youth Video-Podcast, Climate Conversations, speaks to Assistant Professor Rochman of the U of T Trash Team Our new youth video-podcast, Climate Conversations (CC), led by Jabin Hauqe, Victoria Nanneti and Harris Ali, focuses on learning about and discussing climate change, environmental consciousness and issues. In this very first episode of CC, the Regent Park youth hosts spoke to Chelsea Rochman, Assistant Professor and researcher at the Ecology and Evolutionary Biology Department at U of T, as well as the Co-founder and Program Lead for the U of T Trash Team. Rochman spoke to Jabin, Victoria and Harris about the Trash Team initiative, waste management/research and waste literacy. Getting us thinking about small changes that urban communities like Regent Park can implement in our daily lives, to have an impact on reducing plastic pollution. The U of T Trash Team is a 5 year old organization of students, early career researchers, U of T staff and volunteers whose goal is t

TCHC launches the 2022 scholarship program for TCHC youth residents ​​​​​​​​​​​​The Investing in Our Diversity Scholarship Program recognizes the commitment of young people involved in anti-racism, diversity initiatives, and in building safe and healthy communities such as Regent Park and the surrounding areas. Between the cost of tuition, books, food, and transportation, it can be tough for many students to find the money to cover the cost of postsecondary school. Regent Park youth can apply today for the Investing in Our Diversity Scholarship. A scholarship recipient can receive:  Up to a $4,000 scholarship award towards tuition fees for the first year of postsecondary education or training (college, university, trade school, or apprenticeship).  Opportunity for second-year scholarships of up to $4,000 to be applied directly to tuition fees, if you attend one of the following institutions: Ryerson University, University of Toronto, York University, Humber College, George

Miguel is a long-time resident of Regent Park area. He is also a member of the Regent Park Neighborhood Association, the Coalition for Community Benefits, and the Tenant Representative for 220 Oak St, a Toronto Community Housing building. Miguel is also an Indigenous man originally from Peru. Miguel’s activism is born from his personal lived experience as an indigenous person, and as someone who is living with physical and mental issues. In his own words, Miguel has said, “my life long project.. is to leave a better society, a better place for everyone, and a living legacy.” In May of 2021, with the discovery of residential school burial grounds of indigenous children, Canadian society was rudely awakened to a history that had remained hidden, forgotten and set aside… a history of oppression, and some say genocide. “The remains of 215 children, some as young as 3 years old, have been found buried on the site of what was once Canada's largest Indigenous residential school —

Award winning and popular Regent Park hospitality hub PaintBox Catering & Bistro closed indefinitely according to a letter written by its founder and owner Chris Klugman and published in the restaurant’s website and social media, citing being defeated by the pandemic. “PaintBox is closed” says a written statement to customers and partners.   “I am writing this letter with a heavy heart to inform you Paintbox is closing effective immediately – and to apologize for any inconvenience or challenges this may cause anyone. This was not an easy decision to make. However, like many companies and organizations, this 22-month long pandemic with no end in sight has simply been too much to manage. With a new surge and other variants on the horizon, with a renewed government lockdown and cancelled catering, Paintbox is out of financial resources and no longer tenable.” Klugman said in the letter. Chris Klugman expressed his deepest thanks to Daniels Corporation President and CEO, Mitchell