Scarborough Village, a disadvantaged community of about 17,000, has been revitalized through the hard work of dedicated volunteers
Scarborough Village residents have brought new life to their neighbourhood with projects such as this playground.
Reprinted with permission from Toronto Star*
Elvira Cordileone
Staff Reporter
A tiny miracle has occurred in a shoebox-sized commercial space tucked into an Eglinton Ave. E. strip mall.
Working out of this small office, residents of Scarborough Village, a bare, transient neighbourhood of 17,000 – many of whom are new immigrants and speak up to 26 different languages – made their community a little more humane, a little more livable.
In two short years, they managed to:
- Build a play structure and perennial garden in a barren park.
- Make space for a cricket pitch.
- Organize monthly street cleanups.
- Create a toy-lending library.
- Introduce homework and tutoring programs.
- Offer workshops in several languages on such things as tenant rights.
- Establish a youth council.
The work of revitalizing Scarborough Village, and four other Canadian cities, began in 2005 through a two-year federal program called Action for Neighbourhood Change, which United Way of Canada co-ordinated in the field.
When federal funding expired earlier this year, United Way Toronto announced it would not only continue to fund the Scarborough Village pilot program but introduce it to 12 other disadvantaged Toronto neighbourhoods.
"What United Way has done is to make funds available to residents to build a better neighbourhood," says Bruce McDougall, executive director of West Hill Community Services, which supervises and staffs the Scarborough program.
McDougall says the program works well because the residents themselves decide what they need. They learn from staff how to approach governments to get funding for projects, get training in setting goals and articulating programs. Ultimately, it introduces new Canadians to the democratic process, he says.
Action for Neighbourhood Change led to the creation of a residents' association in the village. Through this body, which is currently working toward incorporation, the community decides what needs to be done.
"We're a catalyst," says Lara McLachlan, the West Hill Services outreach worker assigned to the Scarborough project. "We listen to residents and we co-ordinate so that other people listen to them."
The Action program gives people of many backgrounds a way to find common cause. Working to create a better neighbourhood means interacting with all sorts of people, both through meetings and volunteer work, such as street cleanup, social clubs or community-wide events.
Taking a moment of camaraderie are, from left, Nayla Rahman, Melinda Rooke, both members of Scarborough Village Neighbourhood Association and Lara McLachlan, the West Hill Services outreach worker.
This year's second annual summer festival, for example, drew 3,000. Not only did a slew of volunteers come together to organize the event, but it also showcased singing, dancing and music by local young talent from many ethnic groups.
Nayla Rahman is one resident who has poured her energy into the program. Born in Bangladesh, Rahman came to Canada by way of Saudi Arabia in 2002 with her husband, Sajjad Hossain, and their three children, 14, 10 and 7.
She became involved when Action program organizers recruited her as one of nine part-time animators mandated to reach out to their own ethnic communities to encourage them to get involved.
A former chair of the Mason Road Elementary School and Bliss Carmen Senior Public School, Rahman sits on the new Scarborough Village Neighbourhood Association board and on a steering committee to create a hub for social services in the Village.
"My phone number is everywhere," says Rahman, who also works as a supply teacher and speaks six languages. "I love to do volunteer work. It's for my community."
When Rahman bought a house last year, the family chose to stay in east Scarborough rather than head for more affluent neighbourhoods as many new immigrants do.
"We're starting to see milestones and recurring milestones that build trust," says Melinda Rooke, a property manager and owner of Village Plaza, where the Action for Neighbourhood Change has its storefront.
Rooke dreams of getting a much-needed recreation centre on a nearby 5.2-hectare-swath of public land, where the city plans to erect public housing.
The nearest recreation centre, on Kingston Rd., she says, fills with seniors bused in for programs from all over Scarborough, leaving little space for youth programs and other neighbourhood activities.
"We'll get a recreation centre only if the community advocates for it," Rooke says. "And it doesn't happen overnight. It'll take maybe two to three years."
Although working toward such big long-term projects is necessary, small victories also have a huge impact, according to a May 2007 Community Stories, a newsletter published by Action for Neighbourhood Change. It notes that a celebration to mark the completion of the new play structure and garden attracted 1,000 residents.
It's people such as Mussarat Waquat, mother of four, 11 to 16, that make small things achievable. She may not sit on committees but this Pakistani immigrant dug in to help plant the community garden, and regularly looks after other people's children so their mothers can go to workshops, some of which she herself has attended.
Through her example, Waquat's eldest son, Arham, 16, has grown into a committed volunteer himself. He coaches younger children to play basketball.
It's true, says McLachlan, that when people from so many diverse backgrounds interact, tensions do flare up. But they never explode out of control, she says, because they have come to know and respect each other. They're working to finding common ground, says McLachlan.
For more information about Action for Neighbourhood Change, visit the ANC website at anccommunity.ca.
* Reproduced with permission - Torstar Syndication Services
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