This toolkit was developed by the Toronto Youth Equity Strategy and Jane Finch Community & Family Centre.

HERE’S HOW THE AUTHORS DESCRIBE THIS TOOLKIT:

This toolkit was created by the Youth and Settlement team at The Spot Youth Centre – Jane Finch Community and Family Centre in partnership with the City of Toronto through the Toronto Youth Equity Strategy (TYES).

The Toronto Youth Equity Strategy (TYES) aims to build resiliency and access to supportive systems for youth most vulnerable to involvement in serious violence and crime (MVP youth). TYES includes 28 recommendations and 110 actions the City of Toronto will take to provide better services and outcomes for vulnerable youth. TYES was adopted unanimously by City Council in February 2014.

The Jane/Finch Centre is a multi-service, community-based organization with a strong focus on poverty reduction through resident engagement, capacity building, and anti-oppression. We have a long history of innovation and response to community needs and priorities. For over 40 years, the organization has been strategically building the health and well-being of Jane and Finch in collaboration with residents, community leaders, community groups, organizations and partners from within the local community and beyond. With a resident-led Board of Directors, the Centre has always been a passionate and strategic organization which has won numerous best practice awards.

The information and resources shared in this toolkit are learnings from our work with youth in the Jane Finch community. In 2017, Statistics Canada reported 61.5% of Humber River – Black Creek area residents are immigrants or non-permanent residents. Statistics Canada also reported 30.5% of these newcomers fall under the Refugee stream (Statistics Canada, 2017). Our work at the Jane Finch Community and Family Centre is shaped by the experiences of our participants, and thus compelling us to build capacity and learn to meet the needs of our participants.