Rexdale CHC Annual Report 2019
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
Always By Your Side Rexdale Community Health Centre 2020 Annual Report Message For over a quarter of a century, Rexdale Community Health pathways for French-speaking clients. We also established new Centre has been on the ground in North Etobicoke working programming for Somali seniors and family caregivers, and from the with our clients and neighbours to improve the lives of all delivered the highly successful social prescription program. Rexdale residents. We pride ourselves on being by your side— working independently and in partnership—to help uplift and No mention of this year would be complete without acknowledging Executive empower this vibrant community to achieve every possibility. the impact of the coronavirus pandemic. As the lockdown set in, Rexdale CHC’s team showed incredible agility to reduce its Among our many activities is our work to break down the barriers impact on our service. Our primary health care team maintained Director and created by anti-Black racism and to support Black youth and in-person care for clients who needed it while also pivoting their families to achieve success. Our PLUG project works with to virtual consultations and care. Across the organization we the school board to address its disciplinary measures, while identified our most vulnerable clients and responded to address Board Chair the School to Success Pipeline project builds pathways to food insecurity, isolation and disconnectedness. We conducted education, employment and training for disenfranchised Black wellness checks and ensured that complex care needs received youth. We also address Black youth mental health through attention. As part of the City of Toronto/United Way North our Imara Generation project. These and other projects are Etobicoke COVID Community Response Table, Rexdale CHC has highlighted in this report. Rexdale CHC will always address been part of a coordinated partnership to support our community. the systemic inequities that affect the health outcomes of Rexdale’s predominately Black residents, and we will give voice Being at your side always is what drives the incredible team to members of the Black community who are not often heard. at Rexdale CHC. We are grateful to our staff for the skills and compassion they share with our clients and partners, One way we do this is our position on the Brampton Etobicoke and this year in particular, we applaud the innovation and Ontario Health Team (OHT), where we share the experiences of flexibility they have displayed to deliver our programs and our clients as we develop coordinated health services. Our staff services in dramatically different ways. Thank you too to the participate in various OHT planning tables to coordinate and ensure funders, partners and volunteers who support our work. We integrated quality care is available for all clients in this region. appreciate that you too are by our side on this journey. This year, we expanded our Francophone services, with Safia Ahmed Executive Director new approaches to outreach, improved access and defined Alexander Lim Chair, Board of Directors 3 / 28 Vision, Vision Mission, A healthy and empowered community. Values Mission Our doors are open to support and advocate for and the physical, economic, social and mental health and well-being of our diverse community. We work Beliefs together with our community and partners to improve equitable access to quality care and services. Values and Beliefs Rexdale CHC is committed to achieving a healthier community. This includes the physical, economic, social and mental health of all community members, and is supported by strategic partnerships and collaborations and the following values and beliefs: 4 / 28 Vision, Accountability: We do what we say we will do. We use our resources responsibly to provide equitable Mission, access to quality care and services. Values Collaboration: We work together to find and implement innovative solutions to meet our community’s needs. We and share our knowledge and celebrate our success. Beliefs Diversity: We warmly welcome everyone from our community. We create an inclusive environment that honours people of all cultures, traditions, faiths, genders, sexual orientation, abilities, and life experiences. Respect: We are kind, polite and caring. We value each other’s contributions and abilities. We create a safe place for all. Quality: We put excellence front and centre for all our programs and services. We strive to deliver the highest standards of practice, while focusing on sustainability, continuous improvement, experiential learning, and celebrating successes. 5 / 28 Black Lives Matter Rexdale CHC is engaged in a number of projects to break down the barriers and systemic biases created by anti-Black racism and to support Black youth and their families to achieve their full potential. 6 / 28 Even though Black students make up only 9 percent of the school PLUG board population in Toronto, they represent over 40 percent of Project the suspensions and expulsions. Several factors contribute to this disparity, the major factor being underlying Anti-Black racism. Rexdale CHC and TAIBU Community Health Centre have worked closely with the Toronto District School Board on PLUG, a program designed to help Black students and their parents address school disciplinary measures, including suspensions and expulsions. The program’s three components are raising community awareness about the Education Act and the rights and responsibilities of parents and students; providing skills and capacity development work for students in school and community settings; and, if necessary, providing timely access to legal information, advice and representation. With funding from Legal Aid Ontario in 2017, we launched the PLUG pilot, which ran in Rexdale and Scarborough. The pilot’s success led to long-term program funding from Public Safety Canada, as well as support from Legal Aid Ontario to continue facilitating timely access to legal information, advice and representation. With a robust evaluation process led by Dr. Carl E. James, who holds the Jean Augustine Chair in Education, Community and Diaspora at York University, we hope PLUG can serve as an evidence-based best practice model for addressing the disproportionate disciplinary action directed at Black youth. 7 / 28 Rexdale CHC has partnered with a number of Toronto-based Imara community health centres serving largely Black communities to develop Generation the Imara Generation Project. The project aims to empower 15-20 Black youth across the GTA to lead the design of a Mental Health project Project grounded in Afrocentricity. The youth will serve as the subject matter experts, helping to create a system that will effectively address the barriers Black youth face in accessing mental health support. Based on the Mental Health First Aid model, Imara Generation’s Afrocentric lens focuses on Kujichagulia (self-determination), Ujima (collective work and responsibility) and Umoja (unity). The five-year program will initially engage the core group of Black youth in year one to form a steering committee and design and lead the project. In subsequent years, 400 youth will be trained as peer mentors, 20 parents will be engaged to become program champions and the program’s reach will expand to faith-based and community groups. 8 / 28 Building positive pathways to education, employment and training From School for disenfranchised Black youth who experience barriers to success to Success due to systemic racism is the focus of the School to Success Pipeline project. Rexdale CHC has partnered with other CHCs, youth-focused Pipeline Project groups and organizations to develop this project, which will help create a capacity-building model for Black youth to engage with and navigate institutions and support systems. The project will produce training and capacity-building modules to assist disenfranchised Black youth on their path towards employment and full participation, as well as a strategy and framework for career pathways for this group. It will also support community-based agencies that serve disenfranchised Black youth by building a service delivery model specifically for them, as well as a model for parental support. In addition, it will also work “upstream” to prevent youth disengagement before it happens. The partners will work with institutions and engage various systems to enhance their understanding of the true barriers facing Black youth and make changes in the areas of access, service delivery and evaluation of service outcome. 9 / 28 The Steps to Excellence Program (STEP+) is centred on the Kingsview Steps to Village–The Westway community in an effort to address the low Excellence educational attainment in this priority neighbourhood. Students in the area’s two public high schools consistently fall far below the Program provincial average on literacy and numeracy tests, while a neighbouring school ranks among the province’s highest performers. A number of challenges reinforce the underperforming schools’ disadvantages and their reputation for poor performance undermines the academic potential of the students, continuing a pattern of underachievement. STEP+ encompasses academic support, mentoring, youth development, arts, sports and recreation. It improves attitudes toward school and educational goals; increases school attendance; and drives better performance, academic achievement and greater engagement in learning. Through the program, youth have opportunities to practice new skills by participating in hands-on