Nutrition in St. James Town

A New Partnership between Community Matters George Brown College for Pre Apprenticeship Cooking Programming

This spring we have recruited and supported women's participation in an intensive program to prepare them to become cooks. The program includes coaching in English and Math skills. Over 100 women expressed interest and we were able to fill 30 of the 40 available places.

AND

Introducing .........

Ali Moallim

COMMUNITY MATTERS COORDINATOR

For years, parents in St James Town have asked for assistance with music lessons for their children.

We started with a pilot project with one piano and a volunteer teacher in Feb 2006.

Through a domino effect of generosity, we now have 2 Music Rooms at Unit #106 across from our offices at Unit #102.

We now have:

• music lessons for 30 children
• a practice room for children and adults who wish to book time
• drum lessons and
• guitar lessons will start this fall.

OUR MUSIC ROOM GRAND OPENING

We officially opened our Music Rooms in June with a recital and a party. View here to see a short video of the event

THANK YOU FOR YOUR ENERGY AND SPIRIT OF GIVING!

Linda Clark for her donation of our first piano, Azra Razak our first teacher, for her commitment, skill and enthusiasm, Tom and Clark Wright who reconditioned,tuned and moved pianos, John Harkness for his generous financial contribution, Zak Hanna and Songbird for the guitars and tuneups they have done. For the many contributions made in memory of Jim Mac Dougall,Claudia Rosas for her donation of a piano to a St James Town resident

To West Jet and Air Canada for a start up grant and to Frederic Castellan and Fred Rodenhausen for nominating us for this award. Hats off to Fred Rodenhausen for initiating the St James Town Choir.

A big THANK YOU to the Harbourfront Community Centre Mural Project specifically Michael Brown and his team: Viviana Astudillo, Rudy Chiguichon, Deaglan Kernohan-Wallingford and Soren Mikson. This project is funded by RBC Financial Group.

A finally thank you to our community of neighbours, our teachers (Yan Yan, Becky Robinson, Linda Wu), Ali Moallim who spearheaded this project, and our students and parents who embody the values of Community Matters Toronto!

In 2005, Ali initially volunteered to help develop a Citizenship program at CMT. Residents know of him and his success in helping people pass their test, especially those who have tried for years. He ‘translates’ the beliefs and behaviour from an individual’s home country to what is required to be a Canadian and be successful in Canadian society.

The day after a shooting/murder in the elevator of local public housing, Ali went door to door to convince the residents of his 25 story building to come out and vote for a tenant representative. The turnout was the highest for any TCHC building for that election night. He volunteered to be in charge of a polling booth during the latest federal elections and was so successful that he was hired to run the polling station!

Ali planned and delivered a Summer Literacy Camp for children who had just arrived in Canada in 2005 and 2006. He recruited trained and supervised staff, planned programs and was a coach for the new parents, helping them understand the city and Canadian practices. Our 2007 camp has now tripled in size.

He is a recognized leader in the Somali community and beyond in St. James Town. He is called upon to resolve disputes, translate and explain immigration, Children’s Aid practices, and help with financial issues. Ali worked at CIBC branch operations in the sales department for 5 years. He excelled at customer service and brought in new business for them.

A joint project to renovate a play area behind Rose Ave. Public School into a large outdoor community space was initiated by the principal. Ali is the outreach worker to listen to community input, and coordinate the use of that space.

Ali is the ambassador and the conscience of CMT. He promotes independence and how to be a ‘Canadian’: how to participate and especially how to ‘give back’. Attitudes or behaviour which are perfectly acceptable in a home country can create misunderstanding and friction. He will often say,’ Wait a minute, we are Canada now.’ He understands the pressure of these changes and the demands placed on families. He provides tools for them and coaches them through their challenges.

For more of his ideas on 'cultural integration' check out his article here.

In the first quarter of 2007 we would like to gratefully acknowledge the financial committment made to Community Matters and the St. James Town Community. In particular we would like to recognize

• Lou Coshan
• The F K Morrow Foundation
• Laura Jane Fitzgerald
• Manulife Financial
• Susan Martin
• The Catherine and Maxwell Meighan Foundation
• The Peter Paul Foundation
• The RBC Foundation
• St. Andrews Charitable Foundation
• Chester Wu

VOLUNTEER PORTAL

Our Community Assistants and Volunteers are the backbone of CMT. In three short years we now have close to 30 active volunteers who deliver and support our programs. We'd like to introduce them to you. We have developed a volunteer portal to introduce them to each other and to our Friends. So please check it out.

To give you an idea of the magnitude of their contribution, Check here to the powerful collective effect of all of our volunteers' contributions