Davenport Perth Community Ministry is a community ministry of the Toronto West Presbytery with the United Church of Canada.  Our ministry, in partnership with residents of the neighbourhood, to “live the Gospel” by demonstrating the concern of the church for all people especially those who daily face economic, physical and social barriers. Ours is a ministry of active visioning – joining with others who hope for a more just and compassionate society and put that hope into action alongside their neighbours.

DPCM is situated in the provincial riding of Davenport, and works especially with people in the southern portion of the neighbourhood (#91) of Weston-Pelham Park.  The primary role of the ministry is to engage in community development and community organizing partnerships inspired by the needs and dreams of the residents of this area. In addition, the community ministry is a member of several political and advocacy coalitions working to eliminate poverty and its social and economic consequences. Finally, the community ministry offers pastoral care to volunteers and other community members.

This has been a year of tremendous growth for our ministry.  We have expanded our programming, provided employment through new staff positions, and have increased our partnerships with those working towards neighbourhood change.

Inspiring Youth: A Neighbourhood After School Program

More than five years ago, a group of parents came together because they were concerned about helping their children to read. They created the Pelham Reading Circle. Parents, grandparents and children met together for 1.5 hours once a week and offered literacy games, crafts and celebrity readers. At the end of 2007, these women with support from DPCM expanded this program to two days a week and included JUMP Math and included children from other parts of the neighbourhood.  In the Fall of 2008, we expanded the program again. With the help of the Comart Foundation, Toronto Community Housing, the Davenport Perth Neighbourhood Centre, CUPE Local 3907, Bathurst United Church and Fairlawn United Church, we are now offering a three day a week after school program that includes: literacy, math, dance, photography, drumming, performance poetry, cooking and group games.  Our hope is that we will find a stable funding source that will allow us to provide this program over the long term and on a year-round basis. With 42 children registered in this program, there is definitely a need for a program that gives youth the opportunity to be inspired and be inspiring.  In addition to our five to six dedicated volunteers, we have hired 4 part-time staff to ensure that the program has long-term consistency, and we are pleased the young adults in the neighbourhood have the opportunity of this employment.

Video/Photography Program

In May 2008 we engaged in a pilot project video and photography program in partnership with Trinity Square Video and Davenport Perth Neighbourhood Centre. The children and youth (ages 8-13) created videos and photographs around the theme, “Our Community: What is and what could be” and these were exhibited at the Pelham Park Open House. The adult and youth participants were thrilled at the opportunity of self-expression and at gaining new skills.

Community Voting Educators

This year, we started a project entitled, “Community Voting Educators” in partnership with Davenport Perth Neighbourhood Centre and Toronto Community Housing. We invited neighbourhood residents in the riding of Davenport to training sessions that would allow them to become peer voting educators with their neighbours. At the end of the training, they were able to answer questions about the basics of voting such as: “what ID do you need to vote?”,  “can a person who does not have permanent shelter vote?” “What if someone doesn’t speak English?”  In addition, community organizers within the neighbourhood came to educate us about issues related to the federal election including: housing, seniors, families and children, the environment and the needs of newcomers. Thirteen neighbourhood people attended the sessions and, in a 10-day period, these trained peer educators spoke to more than 2000 people in our riding: in the neighbourhood center, at the Bingo Hall, at the flea market, at the Galleria Mall and at Dufferin Grove Park. We were able to pay the trained peer educators for their work as a result of funding from the Comart Foundation. Again, we are very thankful for this funding because it has allowed us to provide opportunities for people to gain knowledge and skills, be more empowered as citizens, and add to their employability. The group has indicated their desire to continue into 2009 and we hope to include municipal, provincial and federal elections as part of our outreach strategy. In April, we expect to present our project at the Community Development Institute.

Beat the Winter Blues

In response to a fire in our neighbourhood, in partnership with Davenport Perth Neighbourhood Centre, we organized a community event entitled “Beat the Winter Blues” 150 people attended this event which was held in the church sanctuary, and we had several musical artists from the neighbourhood, an arts and crafts table for the children, and food for everyone. It was a PWYC event to ensure that everyone could attend, and we used it as a fundraiser for our neighbours who were left homeless as a result of the fire. We raised $1500. We hope to continue this event on an annual basis to provide an opportunity for people to have some sense of community and financially accessible entertainment.  One of the wonderful outcomes of this event is that people came from many different pockets in the neighbourhood – increasing a sense of community, affordable entertainment and a sense that we are here to care for each other.

Partnership with Bathurst United

We have continued our slow but steady partnership with Bathurst United. During the summer we had a joint DPCM and Bathurst potluck. One of the members from this church is now our Office Assistant, and another member was a valuable member of the Community Voting Educators group.

Fifty Plus Social Group

We conducted a focus group with people aged 50+ living at Pelham Park Gardens. They indicated a desire for a social drop-in group a couple of days a week. Our hope is to pursue this need in the coming year.

Labour Day Picnic

Over Labour Day weekend, we had a picnic at Pelham Park Gardens. We barbequed hot dogs and played picnic games. In addition, we handed out backpacks to 60 children as a result of the generosity of congregations, including Runnymede United and Humbercrest United.

Community Economic Development

Although we were unsuccessful in our attempt to get funding for a CED program that would have allowed people to come together to learn how to develop a co-operative social purpose enterprise, we have done the initial planning for such a program, and we hope to further this work in the coming year. There is a high need for employment in our neighbourhood as well as a need for some new business which can provides goods and services that are more easily accessible to the residents.

Summary

It has been a year that has required lots of energy and patience. It is always a balancing act to ensure, as you grow, that people do not lost in the tide of growth. It has also meant that the community minister is wearing many hats, and must be able to transition from the chaos of 40 enthusiastic children drumming to the quietness of mind needed to provide spiritual care. In addition, DPCM has been involved in facilitated conversations with Davenport Perth Community Church that we hope have contributed to a greater understanding of both the differences and commonalities of our separate and yet interdependent ministries in this neighbourhood. Adding new staff has put pressure on our office space and our administrative resources, and our goal for 2009 is to use available technologies to allow us to work on-site and off-site as needed.

I have been blessed by the volunteers of DPCM as well as the members of this neighbourhood.  They have gifted community ministry with their passion and creativity and their commitment to collective action towards the betterment of the lives of all the people who live in this community.  We could not have done this work without the support of our major funders: Mission and Service Fund and the Toronto West Corporation. Finally, we could not engage in this ministry of social transformation without the amazing support of the members of presbytery who are committed to our work.

Thank you!!!!

Respectfully,

Karen Williams
Community Minister
Davenport Perth Community Ministry
(416) 657-1558
This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it