Civic Impact

Bridgepoint Hospital unlocks future to better patient care

Wednesday, March 13, 2013

Toronto's Bridgepoint Hospital has been under renovation since the fall of 2009. The $1.2 billion earmarked for the project -- the result of partnership between Bridgepoint, Infrastructure Ontario and the Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care -- went towards the construction of an updated, environmentally sound, and aesthetically-pleasing healthcare centre for Bridgepoint's staff and patients.

Last Wednesday, the results of that massive undertaking reached a climatic milestone. In a public ceremony, Plenary Health, the building company behind the project, presented Bridgepoint president and CEO Marian Walsh with a celebratory key to the new building.

The oversized key was a symbolic gesture to celebrate the near-completion of the massive hospital overhaul.

Built 150 years ago, Bridgepoint is located at the edge of Riverdale park, at the corner of Broadview avenue and Gerrard street East. While the building has had numerous uses in its long history, in recent decade Bridgepoint Hospital has served a unique niche in Toronto's healthcare scene. It is the only healthcare centre in the city dedicated exclusively to providing care for individuals living with chronic health conditions.

The renovations not only provide more space and updated facilities, they also include new design elements meant to encourage interaction and connectivity amongst patients, staff and family members. In addition to larger living spaces and larger therapy spaces, Bridgepoint now has a larger therapeutic pool, outdoor green spaces, and a brand new green roof.

"Today, we celebrate the success of an incredible partnership between our design firms, our construction teams, project partners and the Government of Ontario," said Walsh at last Wednesday's celebration. "Together, we built a hospital that sets the new standard of treating patients with complex chronic health conditions, a hospital that will be the model of how future hospitals are built not only in Ontario but throughout the world."

The renovation project also included the restoration of parts of the nearby former Don Jail. The jail will serve as the hospital's administration centre and teaching arm, the Bridgepoint Collaboratory for Research and Innovation, and is connected to the hospital by glass catwalk.

Staff will begin moving into the hospital as early as April 6 and the first patients will follow by April 14. The hospital’s official opening will be celebrated in June.

Writer: Katia Snukal
Source: Bridgepoint Hospital

Toronto Public Library and Toronto Fire Service announce fiery pick for city-wide book club

Wednesday, March 06, 2013

For the eighth year in a row, the Toronto Public Library is hosting its month-long Keep Toronto Reading Festival. The festival is essentially a city-wide book club--albeit a book club with thousands of members, its own website, and an entire month of events and readings across the city.

Each year, an entire month of programming is based around just one book.

And in a press conference last Wednesday at Yorkville Fire Station 32, City Librarian Jane Pyper announced this year's selection: Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury.

The location of the announcement was not insignificant--the Library is co-hosting this year's festival with the Toronto Fire Service. Fahrenheit 451, set in a dystopian future, features firefighters more interested in burning books than in fighting flames.

"We decided to go with a classic this year, a book you maybe haven't read in a long time, or one you'd always been meaning to read. Fahrenheit 451 fit that bill perfectly," said City Librarian Jane Pyper at Wednesday's announcement. "It was published in 1953, but is remarkably relevant today. Its depiction of a media-saturated world will resonate with anyone who reads or rereads this small but powerful book."

The festival officially begins in April, and the full event line up will be posted at keeptorontoreading.ca on March 14.

Throughout the month of April, members of the Fire Service will be guest blogging about the book on the festival website and will be visiting library branches to discuss their favourite books and stories.

Writer: Katia Snukal
Source: Toronto Public Library

Metropolitan Tea Company wins award for its solar roof

Wednesday, March 06, 2013

The Metropolitan Tea Company, an Etobicoke-based tea distributor, is the latest Toronto area business to install a solar roof using the Ontario Power Authority's (OPA) feed-in-tariff program (FIT).

FIT, a program established by the Green Energy and Green Economy Act in 2009, helps subsidize green energy by paying a premium price for renewable energy generated by businesses and homeowners. Since Toronto Hydro is the city's local distribution company, any Toronto business or homeowner that gets approval from the OPA for the FIT program goes through Toronto Hydro to get hooked up to the grid.

The Metropolitan Tea Company project is the largest of Toronto Hydro's solar-roof FIT projects to date, and has a generating capacity of up to 500-kilowatts.

The project kicked off in March 2011, when, shortly after moving in to its new building, the Metropolitan Tea Company contacted Toronto Hydro wanting to install solar panels on the roof of its new headquarters. The building is located on Butterick Road in south Etobicoke.

"When they applied to us, we thought this was a good project and we went through the process with them," says Gary Thompson, supervisor of generation planning and transmission capacity with Toronto Hydro. "We helped them with an environmental assessment, we visited the site, and we were able to offer them advice and direction and put our engineers' expertise at their disposal."

Toronto Hydro also helped connect the Tea Company with suppliers of solar panels and helped them facilitate their payment agreement with the OPA.

The installation earned the company a Toronto Board of Trade Sustainability Award in November.

Writer: Katia Snukal

Source: Toronto Hydro, Gary Thompson

New symposium encourages girls to explore non-traditional career paths

Wednesday, March 06, 2013

Yesterday morning, at an event at Centennial College's Progress Campus, 200 Toronto girls aged nine to 14 were given hands-on experience in a wide range of non-traditional jobs. Among other things, participants were given the chance to change tires on a Smart car, draw blood from a synthetic patient's arm, and learn about the inner workings of a helicopter.

It was all part of Centennial's first-ever Strong Girls, Strong Women Symposium, which is meant to educate young girls on the breadth of career options available and open to them.

"Strong Girls, Strong Women was the vision of Centennial College President Ann Buller," says Mark Toljagic, communications officer at Centennial College. "She wanted to do something to get young girls interested and engaged in potential career paths a little earlier than usual, that is, before high school. She wanted to demonstrate to them that all the doors are truly open to women to do anything they wish to, such as become an airline pilot, architect, or automobile technician."

Yesterday marked the official launch of Centennial College's Strong Girls, Stong Women program. But, adds Toljagic, it won't be the last.

"Centennial College intends to make this an annual event," he says.

"Today we had 16 participating schools. We expect it only to grow as the word gets around. We were actually oversubscribed today, so that was a good sign!"

Writer: Katia Snukal
Source: Mark Toljagic, Communications Officer, Centennial College

YWCA Toronto and Centennial College launch pre-apprenticeship electrician program for women

Wednesday, February 27, 2013

This May, the YWCA Toronto will offer 20 Toronto women the opportunity to take a first-step in becoming a professional electrician.

Thanks to a grant from the Ontario Ministry of Training, Colleges and Universities, the YWCA has teamed up with Centennial College to offer a 33-week pre-apprenticeship electrician program at no cost to participants.

"The pre-apprenticeship program will give participants a chance to see if this is a profession they're interested in," says Tsering Tsomo, who is leading the project for the YWCA. "It will give them a feel for the trade and help them to decide if they want to complete an apprenticeship program, which can take up to three to four years [to complete]."

In Ontario, gaining certification in many skilled trades involves landing an apprenticeship while simultaneously completing an in school program. But getting a foot-in-the-door is often difficult, and most schools will only accept applications from students who already have a professional or organization willing to take them on.

In order to make the process easier, the Ontario government rolled out the Pre-Apprenticeship Training Program in 2006, a program which helps Ontarians interested in a skilled trade become a more qualified apprentice.

The YWCA program, like similar programs throughout the province, will provide participants with a combination of theoretical basics, practical training and, at the end, a hands-on work placement.

The recruitment process for the program has recently ended and the accepted candidates will be notified of their admittance to the program shortly. The program begins March 18.

"We've really seen a lot of interest, says Tsomo. "It really shows that women are interested in doing non-traditional jobs."

Writer: Katia Snukal

Source: Tsering Tsomo

Richmond Hill's environmental community centre beats targets in inaugural year

Wednesday, February 27, 2013

In February 2012, the Regional Municipality of York opened the Elgin Mills Community Environmental Centre (CEC). Located in Richmond Hill on Elgin Mills between Bayview and Leslie, the Elgin Mills Centre lets York residents dispose of waste that is either too toxic or too cumbersome to be disposed of at the curb.

Now, a year after its launch, the Municipality of York has announced that the Elgin Mills CEC has collected 6,790 tonnes of material--28 per cent more than its projected target.

The Elgin Mills Center is the second CEC to open in York in the past four years: the first, the McClearly Court CEC, opened in the City of Vaughan in July 2009.

The construction of the community environmental centers is part of a larger York Region project to divert more waste from the region's landfills.

The Community Environmental Centres are so-called because they serve a double purpose. In addition to being sorting centers, each CEC has a strong connection to the wider community. Each contains an education center on environmental issues facing the region, as well as a Goodwill and Habitat for Humanity drop off where residents can bring reusable clothes and housewares to be redistributed to York Region charities.

The CECs take everything from building materials, to tires and large metal appliances.

Based on the success of the current CEC projects, York is planning on developing more Community Environmental Centres in the future, as well as equipping current centers to process hazardous household waste (one of the few materials they currently cannot take).

"Plans are in place to expand what is accepted at both our CECs to include drop-off facilities for household hazardous waste," says Town of Richmond Hill regional Councillor Vito Spatafora, Chair of the Region’s Environmental Services Committee. "By expanding the services offered at these facilities, the CECs will increase their convenience to York Region residents as a one-stop recycling depot."

Writer: Katia Snukal

Source: York Region, Councillor Vito Spatafora

Planned Parenthood Toronto launches group therapy programs for youth with mental illness

Wednesday, February 27, 2013

Planned Parenthood Toronto has launched online group therapy for youth struggling with mental health concerns.The group therapy platform connects participants with both trained therapists as well as with peers struggling with similar issues.

A first of its kind service in Canada, the online group therapy is open to young people aged 18-29, and is completely free and confidential.

The inaugural online sessions--one focusing on depression, one on anxiety and one on relationships--began early last week. For seven weeks registered participants will be provided with tools for coping with anxiety and depression and will participate in group chats with their peers and individual chats with an experienced therapist.

The impetus behind the initiative was two-fold, explains Sarah Hobbs-Blyth, executive director of Planned Parenthood Toronto. It was a response both to a lack of free counseling services for youth in the city, as well as an acknowledgement that all sorts of barriers (from time, to parental resistance) can stop youth from accessing the services they need.

"There were a lot of things that coalesced to make this happen," says Blyth "For one, awareness of mental health issues facing youth is on the rise....We also did a needs assessment at Planned Parent Hood Toronto and saw that youth in Toronto really wanted to access information using technology as long as it wasn't a passive experience. That is they were more likely to access information using technology if they had someone to interact with."

The online group therapy program is currently in pilot phase but, says Blyth, PPT anticipates that the program will be renewed.

"The hope is that once we start to see the positive impacts of the program we'll find funding to continue it in the future."

Writer: Katia Snukal
Soure: Sarah Hobbs-Blyth, Executive Director, Planned Parenthood Toronto

Second Harvest wants your lunch money

Wednesday, February 20, 2013

Second Harvest is asking Torontonians for their lunch money.

Starting next Monday Feburary 25th, Second Harvest will roll out their annual week-long Lunch Money Days fundraising campaign. The initiative encourages city workers to donate the equivalent of their lunch money to Second Harvest--for every $10 donation, Second Harvest can provide 20 healthy meals for those in need.

On February 28th, hundreds of Second Harvest volunteers will be at TTC stations collecting individual donations. The food-rescue organization has also teamed up with businesses and schools who will host their own lunch money fundraising events.

And, as with past years, Second Harvest will complement their fundraising efforts with a number of food-related events throughout the week.

This year's feature event is lunchtime food festival at Yonge and Dundas Square. On February 26 from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m., 15 local restaurants will be offering snack-sized dishes ranging for $3 to $5.

"We've been doing the Yonge-Dundas Sqaure event for three years now," says Katherine Moffat, interim director of communications with Second Harvest. "All of the food will be donated by these vendors. So people will buy tickets, which will essentially be a donation to Second Harvest, and they can take the tickets and trade them in for whatever food they would like."

"There's been a lot of enthusiasm for this event and we're definitely in expansion mode. Last year we had eight vendors, so we're almost doubling in size."

Local Toronto businesses are also getting involved in the February fund-raising campaign. On February 27, from 12 to 2 p.m. the Calphalon Culinary Center will host a public lunch in-store for a minimum $5 donation. On February 28, Salad King's Yonge Street location will donate all the day's proceeds to Second Harvest. And, for the whole month of February, Dufflet's Pastries will donate $1 to Second Harvest for every Cowboy Cookie sold.

Thanks to the success of the February fundraiser, Second Harvest, says Moffat, is working "to expand the campaign into a year-long event."

"We’ve recruited over 200 corporate and community groups to do fundraising. We don’t dictate how they raise the money, you could do anything from having a bake sale to a disco party (like one our fundraisers did). These fundraisers really help to supplement the fundraising work we do during February."

Last year's campaign Lunch Money Days raised enough funds to provide 675,000 meals.

Second Harvest, a Toronto food-rescue program founded in 1985, picks up food that would otherwise be discarded--but is nonetheless edible and nutritional--and delivers it to more than 200 agencies across the Toronto

Writer: Katia Snukal
Source: Katherine Moffat, Interim Director of Communications, Second Harvest

Private donation will help Riverdale Farm raise up to $50,000

Wednesday, February 20, 2013

The W. Garfeild Weston Foundation, a private family foundation, has promised to match every dollar up to $25,000 that community members raise to support Toronto's Riverdale Farm.

The news of the donation came this past Monday in an announcement made at the farm by Councilor Norm Kelly (Ward 40 Scarborough-Agincourt), chair of Toronto's Parks and Environment Committee, and Andrew Sorbara, vice-chair of the Toronto Parks and Trees Foundation (the City foundation that receives support for City parks projects).

The donation comes at an especially important moment for the city-run farm; its future has been in jeopardy since 2011 when a city-sponsored KPMG report suggested the city cease the farm's funding.

Located at 201 Winchester Street, Riverdale Farm has long been a Toronto institution and is the only place in Toronto where the public can visit farm animals for free and all year round.

In response to pressure to do away with the farm, the Riverdale Farm Coalition successfully pitched a business plan to city council: the farm will slowly become self-sufficient, subsisting off donations and fundraising, while the city continues to fund them, at a decreasing rate, through the transition.

The Weston Foundation donation, as well as the money raised in the community, will go directly to newly formed Riverdale Farm Stewardship Group in their effort to achieve long-term stability for the farm.

"We are confident that this donation will go a long way toward building a sustainable funding base for this important community resource," said Cynthia MacDougall, Chair of Toronto Parks and Trees Foundation at the press conference. "We thank the W. Garfield Weston Foundation for this generous support."

Writer: Katia Snukal
Source: City of Toronto

Evergreen and TDSB release design guide for kindergarten outdoor play spaces

Wednesday, February 13, 2013

Since its launch in 1991, Evergreen Canada has helped over 3,000 schools green their school grounds, the result has been the proliferation of usable and safe outdoor spaces for kids.

Now, Evergreen has consolidated some of that 14-years of expertise in a brand new guide outlining best practices for designing outdoor play spaces for kindergarten-aged children.

The guide, Child Development and Landscape: A Design Guide for Early Years-Kindergarten OutdoorPlay, is the result of an Evergreen collaboration with the Toronto District School Board (TDSB).

"Our collaboration with the TDSB goes back many many years," says Anthony Westenberg of Evergreen's communication outreach department. "Based on our work with the TDSB, we realized there was a need for this guide to speed up uptake of the design principals we'd learned."

The guide, which was spearheaded by Evergreen’s Senior Designer, Heidi Campbel, highlights best practices from Evergreen's own work naturalizing school playgrounds, as well as outlining findings from facility managers, teachers and landscape architects across Canada.

"Given that most provinces in Canada are now offering full-day kindergarten, thinking about natural play environments is even more important," says Westenberg. "Working with the TDSB we wanted to show how outdoor learning places for kindergarten kids are very important and that there are lots of benefits to connecting with nature."

"Outdoor play spaces are often worked into the curriculum. So science teachers will take the kids outside and do science-based learning. The arts teacher will take the students outside and do some arts-based learning. So it's about creating play spaces and also outdoor classrooms."

The guide was officially published yesterday morning at a public event at the Evergreen Brickworks.

"We're really hoping people will be able to take the information in the guide and run with their own initiatives on the ground," says Westenberg.

The full report is expected to be up on the Evergreen website by early next week.

Writer: Katia Snukal
Source: Anthony Westenberg, communication outreach department, Evergreen

Toronto Hydro partners with Toronto Real Estate Board to launch Homeowners Kit

Wednesday, February 13, 2013

When Toronto Hydro launched the My Torontohydro online portal last year, homeowners were given one-stop access to all their Hydro information, from account details to outstanding bills.

But while the portal gives homeowners access to all the information they know they need, Toronto Hydro is still looking for ways to disseminate all those resources customers don't know they don't know.

"What do you do when you're moving? How do landlords access unit consumption records? These are all things homeowners need to know, but they may not be sure where to find that information," says Toronto Hyrdo spokesperson Tanya Bruckmueller.

In an effort to get the word out on all of their services, Toronto Hydro has teamed up with the Toronto Real Estate Board (TREB), to release the Homeowners Kit.

The Homeowners Kit is an online manual that outlines all kinds of Toronto Hyrdo information useful to new and existing homeowners. It also provides Toronto realtors with a bank of information they can pass on to their customers.

Among other things, the Homeowners Kit explains how customers can use online tools to move information to a new address, how to arrange for fridge and freezer pick-up, and how to participate in different energy-conservation initiatives.

"When we mentioned the idea to the Toronto Real Estate Board, they were very excited to participate. They are there to serve their clients, Toronto realtors, and the Homeowners Kit is great because it provides useful information that realtors can pass on to their own clients."

The Homeowners Kit is available at torontohydro.com in the "Are you moving?" section and is also available through the TREB website.

Writer: Katia Snukal

Source: Tanya Bruckmueller (Wilson), Toronto Hydro, media & public affairs

First of its kind fellowship helps Ontario nurses gain expertise in palliative care

Wednesday, February 13, 2013

Toronto's North York General Hospital (NYGH) has launched a new fellowship program to train advanced nurse specialists in palliative care delivery.

Advanced nurse specialists, so-called because they hold a master's degree in nursing, have long played an integral leadership role in North York General's palliative care unit--the Freeman Centre for the Advancement of Palliative Care. Soon after it was established in 1999, the Freeman Centre brought-in a clinical nurse specialist--a type of advanced nurse specialist--to help guide the program and provide expert care to patients.

Palliative care, as defined by the Canadian Hospice Palliative Care Association , refers to care "aimed at relieving suffering and improving the quality of life for persons who are living with, or dying from, advanced illness or are bereaved." In Canada the terms 'palliative care' and 'hospice care' are generally used interchangeably.

"The physicians, as our medical director puts it, anchor the program," explains Virginia Clark-Weir, a clinical nurse specialist at the Freeman Centre. "Whereas the clinical nurse specialist occupies the role of consultant, teacher, mentor, and provider of expert care based on evidence and research."

But while clinical nurses specialists are integral to providing palliative care, there is a shortage of advanced practice nurses trained in the specialty.

"Palliative care is becoming more and more visible and is gaining a place as a specialty within the health care system," says Clark-Weir. "There is recognition of what this role can contribute, but not much in the way of training people for the role. So this program is really responding to a need to prepare advanced practice nurses in this specialty."

The Freeman Center will begin hosting its first fellow in July of this year (the hospital will only be taking on one fellow at a time). The nursing fellow will participate in a paid six-month training program that will combine mentorship and hands-on training.

The fellowship, the first of its kind in Ontario, is being funded by the NYGH foundation in partnership with donors Zoltan and Yetta Freeman who contributed $1 million to the project.

North York General's palliative care program provides patients with both hospital and in-home care.

Writer: Katia Snukal

Source: Virginia Clark-Weir, clinical nurse specialist, North York General

Valley Park Community playground one step closer to cricket field

Wednesday, February 06, 2013

The underused and poorly maintained Thorncliffe Park playground will soon be transformed into a vibrant community hub complete with a cricket field, running track, amphitheater, butterfly garden, and extensive green space.

The $1.1 million Valley Park Go Green Cricket Field Project was initiated by a group of community activists and staff at Valley Park Middle School over two years ago in an effort to give the children and youth living in one of Toronto's densest low income neighbourhoods somewhere to play and congregate. The majority of Valley Park students live in nearby high-rise apartments in the Thorncliffe and Flemingdon neighbourghoods, two Toronto communities lacking in useable green space.

The years of lobbying and fund-raising are finally paying off. Early last month, Go Green formally signed a land license with Infrastructure Ontario. With the land license official, construction on the project is scheduled to start on the site as early as April 2013.

The $1.1 million project will be funded by a coalition of donors including Ontario Trillium Foundation, Live Green Toronto (a project of the City of Toronto), RBC Foundation, and the International Development & Relief Foundation.

"For the Live Green grants we look at the environmental impact of a project as well as it's impact on the community and how the community will be engaged in the process," says Jeff Mcormick, senior environmental planner with the City of Toronto.

"And this project was a win-win on both counts."

The first monetary installment for the project, a $225,000 Capital Grant from Live Green Toronto, will be released by the end of the month and will be used towards the treatment of stormwater, a community garden on the site and other environmental components.

"This project has all these green elements that adhere to the Live Green mandate of positive environmental impact in terms of cleaning the air, reducing green house gas emissions, and improving water quality," says Mcormick.

"On the surface, when you see the name of the project--a cricket pitch--there might seem to be a disconnect there, but when you get into details of what the cricket pitch includes, and that it does include all these natural elements, that's why we're involved and that's why we're a huge supporter of this project."

Writer: Katia Snukal
Source: Valley Park Go Green Cricket Field Project; Jeff Mcormick, Senior Environmental Planner, City of Toronto

TO2015 launches IGNITE campaign to support grassroots initiatives

Wednesday, February 06, 2013

In the summer of 2015, Toronto will host the 17th Pan Am/Parapan Am Games. It may be two years away and will last less than two months, but it will leave a mark on the city long before, and long after, the athletes have packed and gone home.

The games' organizing committee (TO2015) is hoping that a big part of the games' legacy will be the way it engaged diverse groups of Torontonians. The event's tagline is, afterall, "the people's games."

Last week, as part of its overall strategy, T02015 officially launched the TO2015 IGNITE program, an initiative that invites grassroots organizations to become affiliated with the upcoming games.

"We were looking to an answer to the question of 'how do we get involved with these games,'" says Zenia Wadhwani, director of community outreach for TO2015. "We wanted a means for people to get involved, understanding that we had our own concerns about budget and resources and how do we do that. So we developed the idea of IGNITE, the idea being that organizations or individuals could create their own Pan Am program under our banner, in their own way, and what we would be able to provide was sort of a stamp of approval."

In order to get the IGNITE affiliation, projects must in some capacity be inspired by the Pan Am/Parapan Am Games. Once approved by the organizing committee, the projects will then join the TO2015 IGNITE program, receiving an official association with the Games, the use of the IGNITE logo, and local and national exposure.

IGTINE launched as a pilot program early last year, with 35 organizations participating in the first round.

"We reached out to about 50 plus organizations that we had touched base with in some way," says Wadhwani. "We were talking to them about the games. We were talking to them about opportunities for partnership and invited them to submit an application."

As a result of the pilot program, 35 projects in Toronto, St. Catharines, Brampton, Hamilton, Londesborough and Ajax are now operating under the IGNITE banner. Projects include a UofT Pan Am themed summer camp, a boxing challenge offered by Mentoring Junior Kids Organization (MJKO), and an Americas-themed multi-media performance at the Art Gallery of York University.

Based off the pilot's success, IGNITE officially launched in late January. The first round of applications is due March 1st.

"When we say the 'people's games,' what we really want to do is create real sense of ownership," says Wadhwani. "These are the games that are coming to my region and I have a stake in them. So what the program does is allow individuals to say, 'It's my idea, I'm going to manage it, I'm going to create it, I'm still going to be able to attach to the games and I'm going to do it in my own way."

Writer: Katia Snukal
Source: Zenia Wadhwani, Director of Community Outreach, TO2015

Google Canada donates $100,000 for tech resources in Regent Park

Wednesday, February 06, 2013

Thanks to an $100,000 donation from Google Canada, Toronto high school students living in the Regent Park area will have better access to the technology that's often essential to succeeding in high school and post secondary education.

In a press conference yesterday, Pathways to Education Regent Park announced that Google Canada will provide funds to outfit a new technology hub and meeting space to be housed at Daniels Spectrum building located at 585 Dundas Street East.

The new space, named the Pathways to Education Regent Park Digital Bridge, will double as both technological and resource hub as well as meeting place for the program's student participants and educators.

Pathways to Education Canada was launched in 2001 with the goal of reducing high school dropout rates in low-income communities. The same year it launched, Pathways teamed up with the Regent Park Community Health Centre to bring Pathways programming and resources to the neighbourhood's high school students.

"In our previous space, there was little room for technology or a computer lab as much of Pathways' programming took place in local church basements and schools," stated Sheila Braidek, executive director of the Regent Park Community Health Centre, in a press release. "Now, more than ever, students striving to move from high school to post secondary require access to technology and the many advantages that come with being connected. This new space will provide students with the digital learning aids they will need to persevere."

In addition to providing a space where students can use the technology for independent learning and homework, the new space will also be available for group study and training. A new digital literacy curriculum has been developed by Pathways and will be launched in February 2013.

Writer: Katia Snukal
Source: Pathways to Education Canada