HOWAnnual Report 2013

A community where people rebuild their lives

Parkdale Activity-Recreation Centre. 1499 Queen Street West Toronto,

ON, M6R 1A3, Canada. (416) 537-2262 www.parc.on.ca

would you describe your life this past year at PARC?

PARC works with members

on issues of poverty, mental health, addictions, homelessness and food security.

Members access services and develop relationships with our staff and one another through four core areas of operation:

a drop-in centre, a peer-support program, an outreach program and supportive housing.

The idea of PARC was born in 1977 when a group of volunteers observed the large number of adults living in Parkdale rooming houses and boarding homes.

Many were survivors of the psychiatric system, had little money, few family contacts and no real place to go and connect with peers.

The simple act of walking through our doors is what makes a person a PARC member. Choosing to give back, create and grow

is how PARC members contribute and help build our community.

Within a shifting urban landscape, PARC also acts as a hub and meeting place for various agencies, enterprises and partners who strive to create lasting social change in Parkdale and beyond.

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“My life at PARC has been full of inspirational moments, as well as not so great moments. The trip to camp Kandalore was most enjoying and stress relieving for me. All of the Wednesday music get togethers were consoling for the depression I’ve been under lately. I believe some of my health problems attributed to some not so good days at PARC. Overall I enjoy the fellowship, computer program, food and other activities PARC has to offer.

“Coming here for 33 years. Interesting but different.”“Patience, understanding and acceptance for who and what I am. I have a tendency to go to the top and be the best man I can be and I did. However the struggles with mental health consume me and I go to the bottom again. I am working on being the best I can now, one day at a time. Thanks PARC for all.”

“I suffer from severe depression and tend to isolate myself. PARC has become part of my routine, it’s been very helpful, it gets me out of the house and gives me a chance to socialize, which for me is so important. It’s close and it keeps me from isolating myself. I wish the food (lunches) were better but I still appreciate having a place where food is available. Thank you for helping me deal with my issues.”

How would you describe your life this past year at PARC?

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ANNUAL REPORT 2013

“A great place for meals. People are nice here. Computers are great here. Feels like a family atmosphere. People’s spirit has been humbled instead of greed and pride.”

“This past year has been productive for three reasons:

1) free meals2) piano access3) finding people for my study group (Life, Art & The City) at The River Trading Company.”

“PARC has presented me and others with experiences such as working and volunteering. PARC has helped me in making goals and provided good food in times of need.”

Doing all good. I’ve got nothing against anybody in this world. I look forward to coming here and talking to good people, nice people.”

“It’s a learning experience. I met some of the best people here who go beyond what is expected to help each other. The best part of the week would be Wednesday. I never felt like a stranger here.”

This past year at PARC has allowed me to function in a supportive environment, to get answer to my questions from caring staff and find out about community resources, e.g. housing, mental health issues, food program, etc.

“I have always thought of myself as being tolerant of others but since moving to Toronto and in particular becoming a member of PARC, I find myself being even more tolerant and giving and receiving of respect. This is what PARC has given to me and I am extremely grateful to the people at PARC for what they have shown.”

“PARC always was good but is getting much, much better. I’m not talking about the construction, (that was a good idea though). I’m talking about staff jobs. I’ve been doing maintenance about 10-11 years. We need the work. It’s not really about the money because of the clawback, you know? The reason is to keep busy. It’s the people, it’s the community. It’s keeping your mind clear. It’s good to see people happy. You have to be happy to do something. For me most important is your mental health.”

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“PARC is an essential part of my life,

but with my business it is often hard to do as much as I would like to do with PARC. I love it when people I meet tell me that they know about PARC. The word is spreading. As a member of the West End Food Coop, I run into PARC members doing their shift at the Coop. How great it has been to bring these 2 organizations together. At one point I was selling books at an event and the people next to me were from the Tool Library. We spent most of the evening

talking about the great things that PARC does. The board has been both challenging and fantastic. We are at a point where we still need more board members, we have some new ones and some of the members, especially caucus members, have blossomed. I am looking forward to more of this. I have friendships with certain members that I really cherish. I will miss working with my co-chair Rick Froude. We were a good team!”

Sheila Koffman, Co-chair

“I am sad to be leaving the board after 9 years but I need to focus on other things at PARC, and

it’s time for other members to step up. I’ve seen lots of changes over the past 9 years like the renovation of PARC, twice, and the building of Edmond Place. I want to thank the membership for voting me in and supporting me over the years. I was supported by the board; my thoughts will be with PARC going forward.”

Rick Froude, Co-Chair

Rick and Sheila and Victor reflect on the year at PARC

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ANNUAL REPORT 2013

Over the 2012-2013 year PARC continued to deepen the roots

of our direction as a community-based resource. To do this work it is important to identify whom the word community represents. First and foremost it is the members of PARC. The members census completed last fall continues to tell us more about who our members are, the challenges they face from poverty, discrimination and dwindling resources to ideas and goals like creating more affordable housing, increasing access to better employment and reducing the stigma of adults with mental health and addiction histories.

PARC could not offer nor accomplish the many activities each and every day without a community of staff and volunteers who arrive ready to work with and walk with members as they rebuild connections, routines and aspirations. PARC has a remarkably engaged staff group who champion member needs and goals every day. It is vitally important for staff to seek opportunities to learn, share and create reflecting an understanding that the greatest achievements are in the attempts.

Similarly, the many volunteers who tirelessly come to PARC week after week to assist in the office or on a weekend running a group or on a committee or at an event all contribute to the rich environment that is available to the members

of PARC’s community. The latest volunteers are the members who help out at the West End Food Coop or at Greenest City as part of the growing PARC Coop Cred program.

Of course community also means the many community partners who provide services and supports to PARC members either directly or indirectly or to the broader neighbourhood enriching the fabric of what is becoming a healthy neighbourhood for more and more of its residents. This group includes the community of donors and champions who give to PARC. Thank you for being here.

These concentric rings of community that ripple out from PARC represent the focus of our work in the coming year. Whether it is retaining housing through the Neighbourhood Land Trust or sharing community arts with Making Room or borrowing a few tools to renovate a room from the Tool Library or even buying ingredients for a meal from the West End Food Coop or at the good food market geared for south Parkdale. The building of an inclusive community based organization requires a dedicated staff, volunteers, members, partners and board of directors. It is a privilege to work for all of you.

Victor Willis,Executive Director

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Welcoming people with open doors

Being a safe community with

open doors is the first PARC value. Practicing this value is an ongoing process that shifts as the needs of our members also shift. Welcoming people to a place where they can feel at home and free to be their own person is at the core of what PARC does.

Welcoming people where they are is a value that cannot be perfected. It is one that PARC continuously strives to improve upon because it’s in our roots and because we know there is always more work to be done.

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ANNUAL REPORT 2013

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Gathering for a healthy meal is

PARC tradition and part of our daily routine. Food is what often brings people through our doors and creates a starting point for vital relationships that produce so much more.

In the fight to end poverty, the idea of food security has become a focus of the larger systemic conversation. While it is encouraging to see governments and businesses shifting its attention to food, we still wonder why it took them so long to get on board.

It starts with fresh, healthy food

Here are just a few ways we fought poverty and addressed food security this past year:

PARC’s Community Meal Program• Miraculously served 77,000 meals, leveraging in-kind food donations and City funding that accounted for only ¢10/meal.

• Moved to serving members exclusively at tables – the result decision of a cross-

agency review with The Stop, Sistering and The Corner Drop-in.

• Hired 5 p/t kitchen staff; 4 with lived experience of mental health and addiction.

• Saw 20+ community and members volunteers/week helping out in the kitchen.

Community Economic Development Research • With the support of Metcalf Foundation,

spearheaded the Parkdale Food Network (PFN) – a network of 20+ organizations addressing food security challenges in the neighbourhood.

• With the support of Ontario Trillium Foundation, implemented the Community Food Flow project – a community –wide exploration of the challenges and assets of food distribution and procurement in the community food sector.

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ANNUAL REPORT 2013

• In partnership with West End Food Coop, implemented the Coop Cred Program – a food security tool that uses an alternative currency model to create better access to local and nutritious food for low-income people while at the same time facilitating training, employment support and volunteer opportunities for program participants.

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Precarious mental health, poor

physical health and uncertainty about the future are all states of being that can be attached to homelessless, under-employment and social isolation.

Wellness, confidence and self-efficacy, on the other hand, are all outcomes of people who possess secure housing, employable skills and meaningful connections in their lives.

Over 33 years, PARC has grown from a stove and a couple volunteers (literally) to affordable housing provider, skills developer and a social enterprise incubator.

Housing, Employment and Opportunity

Here are just a few ways we approached housing, employment and opportunity this past year:

Edmond Place • With funding from the City’s Access, Equity and Human Rights, PARC is now in the final stages of completing a comprehensive review of the history of Edmond Place, the evolution of its daily operations and the discoveries and challenges of the new housing model it created;

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ANNUAL REPORT 2013

this review has been graciously supported by Habitat Services (provider partner), Working for Change (project consultant), as well as EP tenants and staff. • Tenant Art Group exhibited 20+ works at the Annual General Meeting of the Toronto Harm Reduction Task Force. • Tenant Wellness Group established as a means of

strengthening communication skills among neighbours, and addressing depression and physical health. • Women’s Tenants Group established as a means of supporting one another and discussing matters that affect them most deeply. Member Employment Program Transition A program review

recommended to Caucus/Board that member employment (maintenance, reception and kitchen) transition in order to: • Better support the operational needs of the PARC building.• Offer more soft skill building opportunities • Create more partnerships with other agencies and social enterprises.• Develop more peer worker opportunities

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Expression, creativity and the human spirit

Here are just a few ways we imagined, created, painted, produced, wrote, and recorded this past year:

• An 10-track record of original music by PARC musicians was produced in the basement studio 2014 with a little help from Brandon D; stay tuned for the record’s 2013

release by Bumpy Road Records…

• Making Room and PARC came together for Under One Tent – a celebration of PARC’s 33rd Anniversary with the help of fortune tellers, a special “archive room”, wisdom cigarettes, textile art, “memory preserves”, music, dancing, knitting,

free books and of course, 33 cakes.

• PARC Knits added colour and warmth to Parkdale by throwing up yarn bombs on trees and fences in the neighbourhood while our visual artists exhibited new works at the Show Gallery and at the Design Hope art auction.

For over thirty years PARC members

have produced beautiful, insightful, and sometimes astounding works of art. Members are motivated to use their talents, abilities and interests to create what is meaningful to them and are supported by their community in doing so.PARC members have always been creative; some would say creativity is an inherent and special quality of the psychiatric survivor community. As an agency, it is PARC’s job to leverage small yet significant fundraising dollars so we are able to keep our creative programs alive and thriving.

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ANNUAL REPORT 2013

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Encouraging, engaging, sharing

and learning are all part of a collective process where people in our community – members, staff and volunteers alike – reflect on their experiences to grow and build.

This is a holistic process that approaches the realities of an individual such as substance use, hearing voices, depression and past trauma and addresses them through the transformative power of recreation, relaxation and re-connection.

Healing, health and wellness

Here are just a few ways we walked, played, balanced, breathed and became in the past year:

• The EP Walks team – a group a 12 tenants from Edmond Place plus peers and friends – completed the Scotiabank Toronto Waterfront Marathon 5k walk all the while raising $9,000 in support of affordable and supportive housing in Parkdale.

• After 7 years, the Imperial Breakfast

Club said goodbye to its weekly Tuesday morning harm reduction practice. In its day, the group brought together participants from the City’s four corners. It was about peers, relationships and creating new ways for people to access primary health care.

• The Centre for Mindfulness Studies received a grant to fund 10 months of mindfulness practice at

PARC for members and staff; PARC and CMS look forward to weekly sessions of wellness and recovery programming to our.

• PARC’s Outreach and Peer teams worked with their colleague/ psychotherapist, Louis Dionne, to develop guidelines around the ethics and practices of community mental health support work.

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Building community from the inside out

W hen PARC first opened its doors

on March 17, 1980, it opened as a place where psychiatric survivors could go and connect with peers. It was a place to get a meal and pass the hours of the day with friends. More than anything, it was a sanctuary and the start of something new.

Today PARC is a community where people rebuild their lives and also one where people help build community.

Here are just a few ways individuals connected to build something bigger than themselves this past year:

• PARC’s Outreach and Peer Support teams improved knowledge transfer of issues that affect members most: intersections of poverty and mental health, chronic illness, concurrent disorders, legal issues and access to affordable housing.

• PARC’s Community Mental Health Workers collaborated to develop ways to highlight the unique, anecdotal work of members and its team while working within the framework of the Ontario Common Assessment of Need (OCAN) tool.

• Peers About Community (PAC) – a members-led committee that works to bridge the gap between staff and members – elected 2 new members to the committee and published the Respect document, defining the code of ethics and practices for the entire PARC community.

• With support from Echo Foundation, PARC Ambassadors re-launched this seminal anti-stigma and awareness-building initiative by recruiting, hiring and training new and returning Ambassadors to create an 8-person team focused on food security and hunger resistance.

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Challenging oppression and promoting human rights

Because you can’t talk about poverty

without mentioning structural inequality and discrimination, you also can’t talk about PARC without mentioning anti-oppression, resistance and social justice.

A willingness to embrace challenge and work for change is in the make-up of PARC and if you don’t already know this, you should go and have a chat with Bob. He will tell you about community mobilization and program development that goes far beyond the streets of Parkdale.

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ANNUAL REPORT 2013

Here are just a few ways we worked to change the system this past year:

• In partnership with Peggy Nash, MP for Parkdale-High Park, PARC Ambassadors hosted A History of Hunger Resistance in Parkdale; the walk defined what it means to be food insecure in Parkdale before examining positive alternatives such as building community through food security.

• In Partnership with Anna Willats and the Toronto Drop-in Network, Knowledge is Power program ran two pilot series for PARC staff; originally designed for members as a 14-week anti-

oppression training program, the impact of KIP was so apparent that staff requested the same training be made available to them as well.

• PARC came together with a number of agencies and consumer/survivor and legal reps to speak about the way people with mental health issues are impacted by ongoing forms of violence; the group’s goal is to end violence against members of our community through research, education, and activism, as well as advocating for institutional policy change, and legislative change at all levels of government.

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Engaging neighbours, partners and possibility

The PARC building at 1499 Queen Street West has

long been a community focal point where people come together and ideas are born. Alongside our many partners, PARC has worked diligently to transform our space into an animated community hub, developing services and research that would not be possible in isolation.

This past year, with the support of Ontario Trillium Foundation’s Community Capital Fund, our collaborative community partnership completed the first in a series of building upgrades – part of a long-term vision that will ensure 1499 Queen Street West remains a vibrant and important community asset well into the future. The first phase of upgrades was focused on increasing accessibility and safety

around the building, not only for the PARC community but also for the communities of our commercial tenant agencies who share the space and the larger neighbourhood beyond our doors. Believing in the values of being a welcoming and people-friendly space, the renovations also saw improvements to the building`s façade and interior navigation with the addition of new signage and way-finding monitors.

In the months and years to come, the next phase of renovations will give way to more financially accessible work space designed for small-scale, niche-focused services and organizations who contribute to the larger fabric of a healthy, inclusive and socially-minded community.

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ANNUAL REPORT 2013

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$1.75M+ Toronto Central Local Health Integration Network (LHIN)

$500,000+City of Toronto

$100,000+Ontario Trillium Foundation

$25,000 to $100,000TMX ShorcanThe Boulevard ClubMetcalf FoundationEJLB Foundation

$5,000 to $25,000Design Hope TorontoToronto EnterpriseFundToronto Arts CouncilOntario Arts CouncilUnited Way of Greater TorontoDaily Bread Food BankThe Church Of St.Martin-In-The-Fields

$1,000 to $5,000Hilary MacKenzieYuri MykolykFerit TecimerLarry ChapmanJanet SalterJoanna LangPeter J. WillsonAnthony DaleBloor West DentalNitin BabbarDaniel TecimerSandy TecimerBarbara PolsonWendy LyonAnne FoersterRobin SchwillBruce TeronMichelle Allain

FDaily Bread Food BankFParkdale Community Health CentreFSecond HarvestFLearning Enrichment Foundation FParkdale Project ReadFWorking for ChangeFParkdale Green Thumb EnterpriseFToronto Drop-in NetworkFDevelopment FactoryFCentral Toronto CCACFThe Garden PartyFPhoenix Print Shop (Eva’s Initiatives)FVe’ahaftaFUnited Sikhs FRyerson UniversityFGeorge Brown CollegeFThe Silver BrushFMaking Room

Community ArtsFToronto Tool LibraryFSt. Christopher HouseFCreating TogetherFHypenoticFCentre for Mindfulness StudiesFTara KerrFChristian ChristianFPhilippe LacailleFVladimir ProchazkaFAnna WillatsFMargaret ClarkFMary McMillanFRomy CeppetelliFSorauren Food Bank: Red Cross, Community Health FSupport Services TorontoFWest End Food CoopFHabitat ServicesFCamp KandaloreFSisteringFSt. Stephen’s Community House

Community Partners and Volunteers

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ANNUAL REPORT 2013

$200 to $ 1,000Barbara WilliamsSusan HeximerDebbie GreenStanley ChungAmy JohnstonCheri DiNovoCindy LevesquePeter TrotschaCraig BinningVictoria & Larry BuchyMericke Kalm & Jaan RoosCarol TrainorMelinda MontgomeryQ30 Design IncRev. Donald NicolPat O’ConnellTD Bank GroupKnights Hospitaller Foundation IncOPSEU Local 548Paula DouglassLisa DooherMichael FordBabak AbadiPatrick FordDebbie Chambers

Paula Larrondo & John RichmondHume CronynRichard EdwardsA1 Dental HygieneServicesTerry Burrell & Margaret McPhailJean EssonPaul HosekAnne JohnstonCatherine NasmithIan PerryAndrew RedekopSheila KoffmanKaren RosenbergBenjamin & Sarah GlattIndependent MechanicalDLK on AvenueJeff & Kathy HeximerGraham HowesRobin BuyersCathy LawsPaul BennettMary McMillan & John JacksonBrian Edwards

Paul BourqueRebecca NelsonJohn O’FlahertyFred StanleyHelene LavigneDr. Joel MayLucasta RossJohn AndertonMichael S. BabinRoman OlijnykMary Ann LundyJoe TulloRachel ArissGail GlattReal Food for Real KidsLorne RichmondLaura & Shawn RudyArthur SamualDonald SchmidtHypenoticFrank DooherGiftideazHumbertown Village SpaDiana MacNeilMerkburn Holdings LtdDouglas MurrayJim SealyEric Van Der Steeg

Raveen GopaulNick PyleCanada Running SeriesRobert WilliamsPeter Chauvin & Shelagh McPhersonOECTA Secretariat Association The Church Of St. TimothyAnother Story BookshopPhilip Sung Design Associates IncAnne Sportun Experimetal IncYork UniversityVictor WillisTrust for the Mediation ProcessThe Maytree Foundation

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Toronto Central Local Health Integration Network (LHIN) / Ministry of Health (MOHLTC)

Toronto Central Local Health Integration Network (LHIN) / Ministry of Health (MOHLTC)

55%

8%

21%

11%

6%

Projects, The Silver Brush

Rents, Subsidies

Foundations, Grants,

Fundraising

City of Toronto

Direct Programming

70%

13%

17%

Residential, Commercial and Program Facility

Program Support, Resource Development, Admin

Operating Expenses

$3,386,76024

ANNUAL REPORT 2013

The Graphs represent the combined statements of operations for PARC and Edmond Place which do not include capital activity and depreciation.

Last year’s revenue $3,399,558

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Drop-in CentreJessica Bonney Agata MrozowskiDebbie ChambersDorrie DoucetteKolin DavidsonGriffin EpsteinHume CronynLouis DionnePaul DenisonPaul JohnsonSean ReanyShannon QuinnZepheniah JamesLauren BulckaertLes HarperOrly BitovMelodie CarewTania AndersonJoe AmeroCharlene NortonAlyssa AsomaniBecky CurranSarah Stewart Laval Martin

Community Meal ProgramAlain LevesqueKiran KapoorChristine GordonRichard PierreDanielle LeblancIan KhanPaul Sullivan

PARC Outreach ProgramKari GregorioMichael LionelPaula DouglassMelinda MontgomeryAgata Mrozowski3rd Floor HousingOmid Zareian

Edmond PlaceBernadette TimsonLes HarperTerence WilliamsJoe Amero

Food ServiceDavid Dougall Kathleen JosephLisa Visconti

Peer Support ProgramMaryamm HimidHilda ToulouseTerence WilliamsJoe Amero

Peers About Community (PAC) Richard DrysdaleGlen PappinHeinz KleinMike BaileyKelly Westfall

Students PlacementsSimona CojanuKelly StephensonFelipe Aedo-CastilloKailey Rigelhof

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The Silver BrushGeorgina AgbangoLorraine KyeiJohn FillmoreBilly LazaroffDonna AtkinsonDouglas WillettJerry PaquetLarry PetersLisa HarrisonPara KanthappillaiTreva BondarenkoMike CoufadisTrevor SealyYohan YahyaviLoubomira MatiichinMarek SzczesiakLeslie Miller

Administration/Development and Research Geoff GansDavid PonceKatherine Ferreira Loudes AlexandarKuni KamizakiLisa Dooher

Volunteer ProgramAltin Bashllari

ReceptionDallas SladeRandy BurtonRichard DrysdaleLeilani BuldaGlen Pappin

PARC AmbassadorsLaura LesserGlen PappinTerence WilliamsRick FroudeRobert TaitJack MacdonaldLeslie MillerBonnie BriggsEugene Hennie

Members’ Caucus Rick FroudeAmy NessCheryl Spencerjames PartanenLaura Lesser

Board of DirectorsSheila KoffmanVivek SarmaJanet MurieAmy LoucareasChristine GuerinGrace ScheelRoe SivanandanRichard PeachyPeter HoagChris Rahim

ManagementVictor Willis Tracy Cocks Cathy Laws Monica Melanson Raveen Gopaul Morgan LoweBob Rose

Resource Development CommitteeGrace ScheelAraxi ArslanianKaren Sniezek Jessica SniezekRichard PeacheySarah Jordison

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Judy Battaglio

Scott Compton

Barb Delorme

Kathy Essery

Tony Gallant

Joe Katt

Larry Majors

Frank Malski

Mabel Purcell

Ruth Orr

James Robinson

Rob Rowe

Brian Rutledge

Eda Smith

We remember members passed

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