Marion Hall, Jenn Irving and Cheyenne Allen don’t pay too much attention to the politics at Toronto City Hall.But if Mayor Rob Ford had gotten his way with his “just say no” attitude to grants this past week, their lives might have been completely changed.
The mayor was overwhelmingly defeated when council voted in favour of six grant programs totalling $7.2 million for 259 groups. The money for seniors, children, neighbourhoods and other projects that help make up a city will continue.
For now.
Jenn Irving
Irving is a health and wellness coordinator at the Christie Ossington Neighbourhood Centre, where the children’s program won a $25,470 grant.
“I love this job,” she told the Toronto Star. “I love the multicultural aspect, and the kids are just great.”
On a typical summer Friday morning yesterday, she was outside from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. with kids in Christie Pitts Park at Bloor and Christie. They played tag, soccer and “chuck the chicken,” which is pretty much as it sounds. She usually gets 50-60 children.
When summer’s over, children ages 6-12 come for after-school programs, which include tutoring, arts and crafts and indoor sports.
“It would be a huge loss if we had to shut down,” said Irving, 25, who’s been working at the centre for four years. “So many parents tell us they depend on us. They might be new to Canada or single parents doing it on their own.”
Just this week, she recounted how a boy, whose father thought he might have problems for health reasons, gave her a big hug and a thank-you.
She doesn’t have a job that pays big bucks, but she’d wouldn’t trade it. “I feel so rewarded to be in a place where I can work with children. It’s better than anything.”
Marion Hall
Hall is 80 years old — well, 81 this year — and going strong at the Franklin Horner Community Centre in Etobicoke.
If she hadn’t been on the job this past Thursday as a volunteer social convener at the seniors’ centre, who would have organized the regular card game?
“I’m still quite capable, you know,” she said. “You have to have somebody who can run things for the seniors and I really enjoy it.”
When she shut down Friday-night bingo from mid-June to September to get a bit of a break herself, “everybody was asking me where they were going to go. People weren’t too happy about it.”
About 100 people depend on Hall and her imagination for the activities they find at the centre. The grant for the seniors’ centre — the one Mayor Ford wanted to nix — was $20,810.
Hall helps bring in speakers, such as the police officer who talked about the latest tricks in senior fraud, a guest from the fire department on fire safety and a pharmacist who talked about the best way to organize and take medications.
“Plus, it’s a change to socialize,” she said. “It’s really important for them and if they didn’t have it, where would they go?
Cheyenne Allen
Allen and her daughter, Layla, 3, have lived at the Massey Centre for Women since March, and she says it’s been a godsend.
“It’s hard to get a place so you can be on your own and independent, and they are really helping me here,” she said. “They’ve given me advice on filing taxes and finding an apartment.”
She says Layla loves the townhouse with the backyard they have in the Massey Centre complex on Broadview Ave. She didn’t know that Mayor Ford would have cut off the grant for $24,735 that pays an “intake worker” who screens applicants for the centre’s residence, whether dormitories for pregnant women or accommodation for mothers and children.
“Some girls find the rules hard, but I don’t,” said Allen, 22, of regulations about behaviour and guests. “I’m here to focus on myself and my daughter and I think it’s wonderful.”
There is a daycare and programs for parenting and self-help, such as instilling a sense of independence.
Still, Massey Centre is a place Allen will be happy to leave. The maximum stay is six months and she’s confident she and Layla will be in their own home by Aug. 1 — with a little help from her friends.
Origin
Source: Toronto Star
No comments:
Post a Comment