Davenport Perth Community Ministry is a ministry of the South West Presbytery of Toronto Conference of the United Church of Canada. In partnership with the residents of the neighbourhood, and other community groups and churches, ours is a mission of active visioning – joining with others who hope for a more economically just and a socially more compassionate society and who believe that collectively we can put that hope into action. Our primary role is to engage with others in community development and community organizing in response to the identified needs and dreams of residents in this area. We also provide spiritual care and advocacy as requested. In addition, we are involved in several advocacy and transformation-seeking coalitions.
DPCM is situated within the Weston-Pelham Neighbourhood (City neighbourhood #91) within the provincial riding of Davenport. In this neighbourhood, according to the 2006 census, the majority of people have no more than a high school education. The household income is 40% below the average income. The unemployment rate is high; there are many single people paying more than 30% of their income for rent. The neighbourhood is culturally rich in diversity (Caribbean, African, South Asian, and Latin American) which enlivens the neighbourhood while unfortunately requiring the need for ongoing anti-racist advocacy, especially in relationship to the police.
This has been a very busy year for our ministry. We expanded our programming for youth, initiated the organization of a new community group (East of the Tracks), presented a workshop on Davenport Voting Matters, created new staff positions, and increased our partnerships with those working towards neighbourhood change. We had a field placement student from Humber College social services program, a student community worker from George Brown, and a candidate for ministry as an intern, Svinda Heinrichs, who began her involvement with us in September. In very significant ways, we also walked closely with individuals and families who needed support and advocacy in terms of housing and freedom from violence.
INSPIRING YOUTH: A NEIGHBOURHOOD AFTER SCHOOL PROGRAM
More than six years ago, a group of parents and grandparents came together because they were concerned about helping their children with reading. 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 in their curriculum. In addition, they broadened their participant base and included youth from Symington Place. In the Fall of 2008, recognizing the ongoing need for a safe place for children and educational support, we expanded the program to three days a week. With the help of the Comart Foundation, Toronto Community Housing, Davenport Perth Neighbourhood Centre, CUPE Local 3907, Bathurst United Church, and Fairlawn United Church, we offered a three day a week after school program and hired three youth from the neighbourhood to work with us. During 2009, the youth performed at the Black History Month event at the neighbourhood centre (as a result of the dance program), and also performed at the Resistance Poetry event. We were also fortunate to have a partnership with Arts4All who provided drama programming for the youth which allowed them to participate in a community play.
INSPIRING YOUTH DAY CAMP
With the generous help of many congregations and individuals of South West Presbytery, we received approximately $7000 in donations to support this program. Because of the quick response and amazing generosity, we held an eight-week day camp for youth ages 6-12 at Pelham Park Gardens. With the assistance of Toronto Community Housing (space) and Davenport Perth Neighbourhood Centre (training for staff), we took children swimming, went to the Science Centre, Toronto Island, Wild Water Kingdom, held weekly rookie ball competitions, went hiking, and did arts and crafts. A significant and creative aspect of our program was our Youth Mentor program (youth grade 7+) that was designed to allow youth to have leadership training in the mornings and then assist with a group of children in the afternoons. There were growing pains because this was our first year, but this pilot program gives us the opportunity to join with other agencies as one of the partners in a future larger coalition of groups who will continue to keep the needs of youth a priority. This camp would also not have been possible without the generous funding from the Comart Foundation and a grant from Toronto Community Housing.
VOTING MATTERS: Davenport Peer Educators
In 2008, in response to the imminent election, we initiated a project in partnership with Davenport Perth Neighbourhood Centre and Toronto Community Housing entitled “Community Voting Educators”. With funding from Comart and Toronto Community Housing, we invited neighbourhood residents in the riding of Davenport to attend training sessions that would provide them with the education and tools needed to be peer voting educators in their neighbourhood. This was a non-partisan program, in which the peer educators, at the end of training, were able to answer questions such as “what ID do I need in order to vote?” They also had the opportunity to learn how to ask each political candidate critical questions to discern what actions the politician would be willing to take in terms of housing, child care, social assistance and education, and how they would respond to the needs of the most marginalized people in the neighbourhood. This year, we renamed our group Voting Matters in hopes of publicizing this name on t-shirts to raise our profile in the neighbourhood. We were invited to present our model to the Community Development Institute conference in April, and six of the members were able to attend the conference. We have since broadened the program to invite educators to be involved in all levels of government even in between elections, and hope to use a “case study model” to help us create a plan of action when faced with a neighbourhood dilemma.
EAST OF THE TRACKS NEIGHBOURHOOD ACTION
East of the Tracks Neighbourhood Action group was formed in response to the flood of resident complaints in the response to the construction on the rail corridor that runs right through our neighbourhood. Go Transit/Metrolinx created a construction project that required the use of pile drivers. These created noise levels over 100 decibels, and vibrated homes so badly that foundations began to crack. People with illness, and seniors without access to transportation were stuck in their homes while their ears were pounded day after day. In response, DPCM invited residents to a community meeting, and 70 people came to express their complaints in writing. These complaints were then used to make our submission, on behalf of the community, to the Canadian Transportation Agency. After much media coverage, a second community meeting, meetings with Go Transit, and meetings with various political representatives, as of the night of writing this report on February 3, 2010, the Federal Court of Appeal has ruled in our favour that Go Transit must follow the ruling of the CTA which found that the impact of the noise and vibration was unreasonable, and must be stopped. The community minister of DPCM was a representative for East of the Tracks on the West Diamond Community Group who made the formal complaint to the CTA and the federal court of appeal. As a result of her representation, both neighbourhoods (east and west of the tracks) worked together to ensure that Go Transit construction would only continue in such a way that the residents were no longer harmed by their work. We will continue to advocate for the needs of the residents in our neighbourhood.
ADVOCACY AND PASTORAL CARE
Over the course of the year, the community minister, intern, and admin staff advocated on behalf of several individuals in our community. Because we are a neighbourhood-based organization, people have come to request our assistance in helping them to leave a violent housing situation, and to facilitate a meeting with police and community to deal with complaints of police disrespect and brutality. We have been to family court with residents, taken people to the hospital, supported children in need of protection, and created a circle of care for people whose needs fall through the cracks of social services.
UPCOMING COMMUNITY FUND RAISER FOR HAITI
At the end of this month, we will be hosting a coffee house style fundraiser for the whole neighbourhood and we have invited the neighbourhood centre, the DPCC congregation, Arts4All, Pelham Youth Resource Centre, the Early Years program and local artists, and musicians to join us to raise money for Haiti. So far, in our planning, we have a least eight professional musicians (including our own Jennifer Noble, Administrative Assistant) who are willing to donate their time. We hope to see you on Friday, February 26th, at Davenport Perth Neighbourhood Centre at 6:30 p.m. to enjoy the food and the music. PWYC –and help us give to Haiti!
SUMMARY
It has been a very busy year. We went from one full-time community minister and one part-time office administrator to a staff team of six people. That meant a steep learning curve in terms of growth in human resources responsibilities. In addition, our budget almost tripled because of the additional funds that we received for programming, and that brought a heavier administrative load. It has been somewhat of a challenge to have a quiet workplace with many staff in and out of the office. Yet, it was also a year of amazement. We developed new community partnerships, and brought people together from diverse situations within the Davenport area to join together on a collective project. Our profile has been raised, and even people within our own neighbourhood have begun to contribute financially to our youth programming.
We have some unknowns for the future because certain funds have been depleted, and so we need to change and transform ourselves again in response to this reality. I want to express my immense appreciation for the members of our staff team: Jennifer (Admin), Svinda (Intern), Bernie (Program Assistant), Karuna (Team Leader for After School), Rut (Program Leader for After School) and Dominique (Program Leader for After School); and for the amazing volunteers on the Steering Committee, the volunteers at the After School program, and all the people in the neighbourhood who have offered their help and their resources. And, of course, for all of you in the presbytery who have supported us financially and with time and other resources – thank you!
With hope in the power of God, as expressed in compassionate collective action for social transformation,
Respectfully yours,
Karen Williams
Community Minister
Davenport Perth Community Ministry (416) 657-1558
