Civic Impact

Diversity is about more than tolerance. 

That’s the philosophy behind new national granting-agency, the Inspirit Foundation.

The new foundation, which put out its first call for grant applications last week, will fund charitable projects dedicated to a more pluralistic Canada. 

"Tolerance means coexistence but not necessarily interaction," says Andrea Nemtin, president and CEO of Inspirit Foundation. "We're about pluralism. And to really to build a pluralistic society, a shared future together, we need to engage with each other. We need to move beyond acceptance... it's about a deeper understanding of difference and respect for differences and inclusion."

The Bridge Building Grants, Inspirits' pilot grant program, is open to Canadian organizations across the faith spectrum—religious, secular and spiritual—working to build pluralistic communities. Any registered charitable organization from across Canada is eligible, so long as they are "collaborating or will collaborate with other organizations or community groups on a project that will effect positive change for young adults from diverse backgrounds and beliefs."

This criteria is rather open-ended. Nemtin says that's the point. 

"Because we're so new, we didn’t want to appear the experts just yet, although we have done a lot or research. We really just want see what people are doing out there in the world."

A total of $250,000 in grants is available. Successful applicants will receive anywhere from $5,000 to $25,000. 

While new as grant organization, Inspirit does have a longer—and very Canadian—history. The organization is the most recent incarnation of what used to be the charitable board of Vision Television. The Canadian multi-faith television network, which launched in 1988, was sold to Moses Znaimer's Zoomer Media in 2010, leaving the charitable board that once ran the network with surplus resources. 

"The charitable board decided to use those resources to create a public foundation," says Nemtin. "It wanted to continue its vision of a pluralistic Canada."

The deadline for applications is August 3. 

Writer: Katia Snukal
Source: Andrea Nemtin, President and CEO, Inspirit Foundation

A new Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH) campaign aims to combat the trivializing language often used to dismiss mental health and addiction issues. 

The Defeat Denial campaign was launched last week and will continue rolling out across the GTA throughout the month. 

A combination of media platforms—transit shelter ads, billboards, TV spots, radio and the web—feature flippant phrases often used to brush off mental illness ("You just need a change of scenery") followed by a more realistic appraisal of what someone suffering from mental illness might need ("Maybe it's a hospital"). 

By turning dismissive phrases on their head, the hope, states the CAMH website is to "defeat denial and help defeat mental illness." 

"Our commitment is to lead change in mental health,” stated CAMH president and CEO Catherine Zahn in a news release. "We've all heard or said things like, 'Don't worry, it's just a phase,' 'It's all in your head,' 'Snap out of it' and 'You just need a night out.'  While we're all familiar with this trivializing language, until we recognize that it deters people from seeking help, we won't be able to help the two out of three Canadians suffering from mental illness who have been denied and dismissed."

Meant to be provocative, the campaign forces viewers and listeners to think about the language they use when discussing mental health (see examples here).

Based in Toronto, CAMH centres make up the largest mental health research institution the country.  

Writer: Katia Snukal
Source: CAMH

"It just sort of happened."

That's how Toronto producer James Gen Meers explains how a "five-minute short documentary on Toronto street art" is now on its way to becoming a full-length film. 

The story of the film, titled Between the Lines, began in 2011, when Mayor Rob Ford declared "war" on graffiti. Meers and his team—co-producer Kelli Kieley and director Jake Chirico—went looking for the Toronto street artists now suddenly in the spotlight. What they found was a series of characters whose story couldn't be restricted to a five-minute snippet. 

"With Rob Ford's declaration of war on graffiti art, it really catapulted the careers of some of the characters in our film. It put them into the spotlight," says Meers. "Public space, public advertising—that's really just the subtext. It's really about the characters themselves. And seeing Toronto and graffiti and the streets through their eyes."

Of course, transforming the project into feature length doc adds a whole host challenges—especially funding. 

By linking up with two Toronto institutions, first Torontoist online magazine and then the Hot Docs film festival, the film has been able to get both exposure and the opportunity to raise the funds it needs to finish production.

"While we were shooting last fall, [Torontoist] said, 'Hey, we would love to do a web series with you guys while you're shooting. Can you guys produce a webisode?' We thought, 'Yeah, sure.'" 

So far, Meers and his team have produced three webisodes for Torontoist, each featuring a different Toronto street artist (the fourth installment is due out later this month).

The webseries is likely what got the Between the Lines team in with their next big partner, Hot Docs, Canada's largest organization dedicated exclusively to the promotion of documentary filmmaking. 

Between the Lines was recently selected to be part of Hot Docs' Doc Ignite program, a crowd-funding platform that helps emerging Toronto filmmakers raise the money they need to complete their project. Crowd-funding (made popular by the website Kickstarter.com) refers to an online financing strategy which solicits funds from the public to support projects in exchange for incentives or rewards. The Doc Ignite program uses this model to support Canadian documentary films which need a final funding push to pull it all together. 

Last week Docs Ignite officially launched its 40 day crowd-funding webpage for Between the Lines, complete with a trailer, information and lists of incentives. 

While it's still unclear how much money will be raised, Meers is optimistic that the film has a real chance of getting the money it needs to get it ready for post-production. 

Hot Doc's "value-added is really having huge networks and linkages and ways that they can help mentor the campaign as well," he says. "They have been absolutely amazing to us. You really get a sense that they're investing in not just in this campaign but in the film and us as filmmakers. It hasn't been easy launch this. To have them behind us is a great feeling."

Writer: Katia Snukal
Source: James Gen Meers, Producer, Between the Lines

Young Toronto bookworms will have some help keeping up on their reading this summer.

The Toronto Public Library's TD Summer Reading Club is designed to keep kids reading throughout the summer the program combines events, incentives and an interactive website.

"We know from the research that if kids don't keep reading there's a learning loss that happens over the summer," says Lisa Heggum, the children and youth advocate a the Toronto Public Library. "Kids go back to school in September not in the same place they were in June. [The reading club] keeps them active, keeps their minds working. But the key is that it's fun for kids."

In order to make reading fun, every kid who registers is rewarded with a poster (by award-winning illustrator Dušan Petricic) and an activity book in which they can track their reading progress. Throughout the summer participants can also play games and connect with other readers on the interactive website, as well as attend number of events—from puppets shows to storytelling—at library branches across the GTA.

"And new this year," says Heggum, "we've added a secret code on the stickers and when they visit the website that code unlocks secret content. It's all fun and book-related."

And while TD is actively involved in promoting the program, now in its 17th year, they defer to the libraries when it comes to administrating it. 

"We maintain a hands off approach." says Alan Convery, national community manager with TD, "We're bankers; they're the reading and literacy experts."

Writer: Katia Snukal
Source: Alan Convery, National Community Manager, TD & Lisa Heggum, Children and Youth Advocate, Toronto Public Library

A report released last Wednesday by Toronto's DiverseCity Counts project documents the positive contribution diversity makes to nonprofit boards.

The report, Leadership Diversity in the Nonprofit Sector: Baby Steps, Big Strides and Bold Stances, analyzes the results of three surveys distributed to more than 420 nonprofits in the GTA. 

The report is the fifth installment in a series of research papers on leadership diversity in the GTA released by DiverseCity Counts, a multi-year research project that is itself one of nine initiatives of DiverseCity: The Greater Toronto Leadership Project.

The newest report focuses exclusively on the nonprofit sector, exploring "a whole bunch of ways that diversity can benefit nonprofit organizations," says Sandra Lopes, manager of policy and research at Maytree, one of the Leadership Project partners. "For examples, [diversity] helps organizations come up with new ideas, it helps them bring better services to their clients, helps them to be more responsive to the community and helps them improve their fundraising efforts."

"There’s definitely strength in numbers," states report author Chris Fredette, assistant professor at Carleton University, in the media release. "Once a critical mass of 30 per cent leadership diversity is reached, we see an increase in the benefits of diversity experienced by the organization. What's more, we found no downside. Diversity does not lead to more conflict or distrust between board members as some have suggested it might."

Despite the overwhelming evidence that diversity on nonprofit boards leads to greater overall effectiveness, the report also revealed something troubling: visible minorities continue to be underrepresented in nonprofit boards in the Greater Toronto Area (GTA). 

"The numbers revealed that diverse leadership is quite low compared to how diverse the population is," says Lopes. While 40 per cent of the GTA is made up of visible minorities, of the 4,254 board positions examined in the report, only 15.6 per cent are held by visible minorities.

"If there are these benefits to be found in diversifying—and the research suggests that there is—we have an opportunity to really reap these benefits in the GTA exactly because we are so diverse," says Lopes.

DiverseCity Counts has come up with an action plan, Ten Tips to Diversify Leadership, that organizations can follow to diversify their leadership and reap its attendant benefits. 

"The Ten Tips draw on the [findings of] the report and are our work in diversity more generally," says Lopes "Basically it's really about making a commitment to making diversity an overall strategy of the organization."

Writer: Katia Snukal
Source: Sandra Lopes, Manager Policy and Research, Maytree

Ontario gardeners planting non-native and invasive plants often have a difficult time controlling their gardens. But there's another more serious problem. Should the plants escape (and they inevitably do), they contribute to a reduction in the province's biodiversity.

So why then, do they continue to do it?

One reason, says Colleen Cirillo of the Toronto and Region Conservation Authority, is that many gardeners are "simply unaware" of which plants to avoid and the damage these plants can do.

"Gardeners are generally eager to avoid invasive species," says Cirillo, "but many are simple not aware of the alternatives available."

As part of an ongoing effort to curb invasive plant growth in Ontario, the Toronto and Region Conservation Authority has partnered with the Ontario Invasive Plant Council (OIPC) to launch the Grow Me Instead guide. The program is dedicated to educating consumers and retailers about the native and noninvasive alternatives to popular invasives. 

First launched in 2011 Grow Me Instead publishes detailed guides about native plants so Ontario gardeners can make the most environmentally responsible choices for their gardens. The project, funded and supported by the Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources and the Canada/Ontario Invasive Species Centre, aims to give consumers the information they need that that retailers often fail to mention.

In Southern Ontario, "invasive are spreading at an alarming rate," says Cirillo, resulting in, among other things, a loss of biodiversity in both urban and rural areas, soil erosion and less food and shelter for the wildlife dependent on the native plants. Yet most garden centres in the province continue to sell the worst culprits and often fail to inform customers of their harmful effects. This is especially frustrating, since, as the Grow Me Instead guide highlights, there are almost always local and/or non-invasive alternatives to the most popular invasives sold in Ontario.

That's why this season, in addition to the distribution of the pamphlet, there's also the Nursery Recognition Program. Still in its pilot phase, the program acknowledges Toronto nurseries that carry and promote the sale of the non-invasive and native garden plants featured in the Grow Me Instead guide. 

"Take Norway Maple," says Cirillo. "It's extremely invasive, but we could be selling alternatives like the Native Silver Maple, for example. It's still urban, it can still tolerate urban environments, but it's not going to be as problematic in our ravines."

So far, 10 Toronto nurseries have joined the new recognition program, selling exclusively non-invasive plants and distributing the Grow Me Instead guide to customers.

"A small but significant start," says Cirillo. "This year we went with the easily accessible nurseries, we went with the nurseries that are small, where you can easily access the manager or the owner." 

While this season the program has focused on the smaller nurseries, the long term goal is the big box stores.

"We know from research that's been done that most people buy their plants from big box stores. Getting to these stores to join this kind of program, however, is a huge undertaking," says Cirillo. "It's very difficult to connect with the Ronas and the Home Depots of the world, and to really look at their supply chain and figure out who we need to talk to. But that is the long-term goal."

In the meantime however, Grow Me Instead will continue to educate more and more consumers and to build their network of partner nurseries one step at a time. 

Writer: Katia Snukal
Source: Colleen Cirillo, Project Manager, Grow Me Instead Campaign, Toronto and Region Conservation Authority 

Two environmental nonprofits, Earth Rangers and the Nature Conservancy of Canada (NCC), are getting donations totalling $500,000  to support their commitment to youth involvement in environmental stewardship. 

Earth Rangers, an Ontario-based nonprofit committed to educating children about biodiversity loss, and the NCC, a 50-year-old national nonprofit dedicated to natural land preservation, will each receive $250,000 from HSBC over a five years, starting this year.

For Earth Rangers, the funding means a continuation of two of their most important projects: their annual school tours and their Bring Back the Wild (BBTW) fundraising campaign. The school outreach programs are one of the mains ways that Earth Rangers reaches children and encourages them to get involved. 

"The specific sponsorship will fund school tours in Montreal, Toronto, Calgary and Vancouver," says Amy Cross, head of Earth Rangers media relations. "It will help us reach another 250 schools and approximately 100,000 more children."

The funds will also help Earth Rangers continue their BBTW campaign, a campaign launched in April of 2010 in partnership with the Nature Conservancy of Canada (who will also be using HSBC sponsorship funds towards the initiative). BBTW encourages children to take action to save wildlife by providing them with resources and information to raise money to save endangered animals.

As Cross explains, the HSBC sponsorship allows Earth Rangers and the NCC to do a little something extra to get kids excited about fundraising. 

"Starting this fall, the first 10,000 children that sign up for Bring Back the Wild are going to get what we call a seed donation to help inspire them to start their fundraising campaigns," says Cross. "When you sign up for something and want to make a difference it's often that first donation that really confirms that what you're doing is worth action."

Writer: Katia Snukal
Source: Amy Cross, Media Relations, Earth Rangers

Community Living Toronto (CLT) has received $100,000 from CIBC for its newest housing initiative. The program, called LIGHTS, helps families secure housing for grown children with an intellectual disability.

Angela Bradley, PR director at CLT, says LIGHTS differs from previous housing models (such as group homes) because it isn't about placing clients in an existing institutional structure, rather, it's about finding housing tailored to individual needs.

Bradley describes LIGHTS "as essentially a one-stop shop for families looking to pursue an independent or semi-independent housing model for their child."

In addition to providing guidance for families the LIGHTS program, inspired by the Armstrong family, a Toronto family who set up a successful home for their daughter Jenny (and donated the first funds to get the LIGHTS program off the ground), also offers bridge funding to families in need. 

"What was happening in the past," explains Bradley "is that families would come to Community Living Toronto and people would be housed under a traditional funding structure model and that's your quote unquote group home."

But the group home model is becoming increasingly challenging for families, not in the least because, as Bradley puts it "there is just not enough money to continue to fund [group homes] in the same manner as they've been done in the past." Clients can languish on waiting lists, and while there is always an attempt to match people based on personality and activity level, "the long wait means families sometimes take whatever spot becomes available."

Moreover, Bradley says that while group homes still work for some, "many people don’t necessarily need that same model and families don't necessarily want that same model for their kids.... Families come to us and say, 'My child grew up in this neighbourhood, they do this, they do these things. We'd like them to be able to have a home in this neighbourhood, we'd like them to be able to choose their roommates.'"

But while the group home option has its shortcoming, families who've chosen to "go it alone"—that is have chosen to pursue independent housing options for their adult children—have also run into difficulties.

"What we were seeing was that a lot of [these projects] borderline failed," Bradley says. "Not because it was a bad idea or a bad design, but because there were a few missteps along the way or the families were just desperate to get the homes in place but in fact they needed a little more help to get there."

It's this help that the LIGHTS program, which began as a two-year pilot, was created to provide. LIGHTS assists families in setting up housing for their children on their own terms and provides them with resources and in some cases bridge financing. The CIBC grant will be used to continue to fund those families who need a little extra help getting their home set up.

Writer: Katia Snukal 
Source: Angela Bradley, Director of PR, Community Living Toronto

For students and faculty working in George Brown's Centre for Construction and Engineering Technologies (CCET), May was a transformative month.

In the last three weeks, the federal government has awarded George Brown more than $4 million to fund the Green Homes retrofit project, an initiative that connect students enrolled in the CCET program with private sector partners.

The first pot of money came May 10 when Natural Science and Engineering Research Council of Canada's (NSERC) College and Community Innovation (CCI) program announced it would contribute $2.3 million to the Green Homes retrofit project. 

The other $2 million came only a week later, when Gary Goodyear, Canada's Minster for Science and Technology, announced that the Canadian Foundation for Innovation (CFI) would commit $2 million towards state-of-the art infrastructure for the new program.

As Robert Luke, head of applied research at George Brown College, explains, the two pots of money represent separate but equally important components to creating a program that will ensure that "the graduates have the skills they need to get the jobs today. And get the job done tomorrow."

The NSERC money will help connect the students and faculty to industry professionals, while the CFI money will be used to support the construction of the facilities that will enable that collaboration. 

Students in the CCET program will work together with teachers and industry professionals "to try and develop energy efficient and retrofit tools and strategies for existing buildings. And to ensure that new buildings are built environmentally sustainable right from the outset," says Luke.

The twin goal of retrofitting and sustainable construction require a unique combination of technical skills and soft skills. 

"[The students] come to us because we can teach. We have an excellent technical skills program but innovation skills are the wrapper," says Luke. The innovation or soft skills "include everything from communication, to team work, to entrepreneurship and project management."

Writer: Katia Snukal
Source: Robert Luke, Head of Applied Research, George Brown College

Early last week the American Academy of Physician Assistants (AAPA) and the Physician Assistant Foundation (PAF) honoured Toronto nonprofit Second Harvest. The food-rescue organization was recognized for its commitments to sustainability and nutritional health. 

This year marked the first time that the AAPA held a conference outside of US. As has been the organization's custom, the AAPA chose a local nonprofit to recognize. 

"It was actually a wonderful surprise to us," says Jo-Anne Sobie, executive director of Second Harvest. "When we got a call from them saying they had chosen us as a community organization that they believed was worthy of their support, we were really blown away."

In addition to producing and showing a video on Second Harvest at the May 22 conference, the PAF also presented the Toronto organization with a $10,000 Caring for Communities Grant award. 

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. In addition to bringing nutritional food to those who need it, Second Harvest also has an important sustainability component. As Sobie explains, "we've actually rescued over 81 million pounds of food. And that actually equates to approximately the equivalent of 40 million pounds of greenhouse gases going into the atmosphere."

While Sobie admits the award "came out of the blue," she believes that increased awareness around food issues does, indeed, make Second Harvest an obvious choice.

"If people aren't getting healthy food to eat, they're going to have chronic diseases. They're going to have a lot of other health problems that these [physician assistants] are being trained to deal with."

Writer: Katia Snukal
Source: Jo-Anne Sobie, Executive Director, Second Harvest 

"There is a lack of extensive knowledge on the breadth of work taking place [within Ontario's Universities]," says Bonnie Patterson, president of the Council of Ontario Universities (COU). "We need demonstrate to the public what Ontario research is accomplishing."

In an attempt to foster dialogue between universities and the wider community, COU has launched Research Matters. The new outreach campaign, supported by all 21 of Ontario's publicly funded iniversities, will use a variety of platforms to share university-based innovations with the wider Ontario public.

The two central motivations for the initiative, Patterson explains, are knowledge-sharing and accountability.

"Universities play a major role in not only economic development but also social and cultural development in their communities," she says, "but the more broadly based general public sometimes aren't aware [of the kinds of work taking place]."

The COU will share research stories through the new Research Matters website, as well as coordinating public events throughout Ontario communities.

While the details of these public events are still forthcoming, Patterson anticipates they will take on several different formats, including public lectures, public panels, debates and discussions.

"What's important is that [the events] will be at a local level in a broad range of communities where universities exist. We don't want to be narrow in what we profile, we want to be open and want to showcase the breadth of what is taking place in university research."

Writer: Katia Snukal
Source: Bonnie Patterson, President, Council of Ontario Universities

Camping season is almost here and Torontonians looking to escape the city aren't too far from some of the province's best sites. And sights. 

But for those without access to a car, Ontario's parks might as well be a world away. 

That's why starting this July, Toronto nonprofit Parkbus will provide regular and affordable bus service from central Toronto to camping grounds throughout the province. Based on similar systems in Europe and elsewhere, Parkbus will charge between $35 and $40 to travel from Toronto to Algonquin, Killarney, Bruce Peninsula and Grundy Lake Provincial Parks. 

Boris Issaev, who launched Parkbus three years ago with friend and co-founder Alex Z. Berlyand, was inspired by his own first-hand the difficulties accessing camping experiences. 

"I'm a big outdoors freak. Back when I came to Canada when I was 12, our family did not have a car for many, many years and I didn't get a chance to get out of the city until I was 18 or 19," says Issaev. "But once I did I realized what I was missing… And I also noticed that there were lots of people who were stuck in the city just like I was and didn't have the opportunity to experience those great things. Things that are so close to Toronto, yet so far, too."

While Parkbus has been running small pilot projects for the past two years, this summer—thanks to funding provided by Ontario Parks and Recreation and the Ontario Trillium Foundation—the initiative celebrates its official launch.

"The project was put forward in three stages" explains Issaev. "In 2010, we basically just approached Mountain Equipment Co-op and asked them if we could just have a table at their store and work on a survey. We collected more than 140 surveys from people. [The results of that survey] really showed us that people actually were very likely to use the service. It really confirmed our suspicions that this was something that could take off."

In 2010, Parkbus was only offered over a couple of weekends, but the initiative was so successful that the next summer in 2011 Parkbus launched an Algonquin Park pilot service running buses every weekend for July, August and September.

Though only running to one park, the response, says Issaev, "was absolutely fantastic." This year they'll service three parks. "It's becoming our full-time job," he says.

Writer: Katia Snukal
Source: Boris Issaev, Co-Founder and Project Manager, Parkbus

A new Planned Parenthood Toronto initiative invites Toronto teens to text in their sexual health-related questions. 

"We know that teens text and that it is one of their primary methods of communication," explains Sarah Hobbs-Blyth, executive director of Planned Parenthood Toronto. "We wanted to find a way for them to get the information that they need in a way that they are already comfortable with."

Anything related to sexual health is fair game, from pregnancy to relationships to puberty. The kinds of issues teens often desperately need answers to, but might be too afraid or too embarrassed to ask. 

The new text messaging service not only allows teens to ask personalized questions, it also allows for a back-and-forth between users of the service and the trained peer volunteers who respond. Teens can thus follow up or seek clarification about the information provided. 

Hobbes says that by allowing teens to text rather then to call in or show up in person, it adds another layer of anonymity, thus creating a safer space. 

"One may fear embarrassment or judgment when posing such questions in person and at PPT," she says. While providing a non-judgmental space is at the core of the PPT mandate, the extra anonymity, says Hobbes, "is really what sets this service apart from others."

The texting service is the first of its kind in Canada, and is based on a similar successful program launched by San Francisco's Internet Sexuality Information Services Inc. Still in its nascent stages, PPT is busy promoting the new service on Facebook and Twitter as well as through printed materials that will be distributed at schools, PPT workshops and other youth-serving organizations.

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

Last week the Community One Foundation—a Toronto-based LGBTTIQQ2S (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, transsexual, intersex, queer, questioning, 2-spirited)  grant foundation—announced the results of its annual Rainbow Grants competition.

In an event at the Flying Beaver Pubaret, 18 grants totaling more than $50,000 were awarded to organizations and individuals that provide resources and visibility to LGBTTIQQ2S communities across the GTA.

While Community One (originally founded as  the Lesbian and Gay Community Appeal) has been supporting Toronto's LGBTQ+ community for more than 22 years, this year's awards were particularly notable as the foundation gave out the largest grant to date. At $10,000, the RBC Community Rainbow Grant is double the amount charitable organizations are normally eligible to receive through the granting agency. 

Community One board co-chair Craig Daniel says choosing the recipient for the major grant was tough. "There are so many fantastic organizations and to have to choose one is always a difficult process," says Daniel.

The RBC Community Rainbow Grant went to the Toronto nonprofit Access Alliance Multicultural Health and Community Services to fund its New TQs Project. Daniels says the initiative, which aims to increase newcomers' access to health and settlement services and provide them with meaningful opportunities to contribute to community development, "perfectly matched the RBC wish list as far as what they wanted to see in an application."

After the completion of a new Victoria Park and Danforth hub, Access Alliance was looking for a new way to reach out the LGBTQ+ community, says Aamer Esmail, manager of youth programs and services. After looking at evaluations, Esmail says, the staff noticed that there was a lot of talk "about a LGBTQ newcomers wanting to have spaces to meet, wanting an opportunity to sort of give back to the community, to socialize, make connections etc." 

The RBC Rainbow Grant will be used to roll out several initiatives, including monthly meetings, Toronto outings and community-wide social events throughout the next 10 month. In order to build membership and get the program going, Access Alliance plans to hire two new peer outreach workers.

While still in its nascent stages, The New TQs Project is a pioneer on two fronts: it's located outside the downtown core and has no limits on age, newcomer status or background. 

"There's no space in Toronto that's for LGBTQ newcomers of all ages," says Esmail. "They are either youth-focused, with an age requirement, or are focused on newcomer status, that is, for refugees only. But from working with our volunteers, we know that people above 30 are very isolated. They're new to the country and it's very hard for them to make friends. That's why this is geared for all ages and all status."

Writer: Katia Snukal
Source: Craig Daniel, Volunteer Board Member, Community One Foundation; Aamer Esmail, Manager, Youth Programs and Services, Access Alliance Multicultural Health and Community Services