On January 12, Canada celebrated National Youth Day (separate from International Youth Day which falls on August 12), as we go into the 11th month of the COVID-19 pandemic. Toronto will be in the midst of a lockdown that began on November 23 and has been extended as an emergency. Meanwhile, around North America, [...]
With the onset of winter, we have three illnesses very similar to each other that we need to watch out: Cold, Flu, Covid. Dr. June from Sherbourne Health talks to us about the differences and how we need to watch out for them. 1. Winter is here and so is cold and flu season. How [...]
Alana Banton was born and raised in Toronto. She has a master's in community development and work as a follow-up support worker at Wigwamen. Her role is to provide transitional support to newly housed Indigenous peoples and developing capacity building programs. They have years of experience in outreach and program development. An overview of [...]
This winter, families in St. James Town may be wondering what the festive season will look like. Without the usual winter activities - the Calcavade of Lights, Toronto Christmas Market, Nathan Phillips Square Fair, theatres and pantomimes - parents and guardians are under more pressure to bring the magic home. It isn't all downsides [...]
This month, Lisa Kowalchuk spoke to us about her recent research project in St. James Town. Lisa is a sociology professor at the University of Guelph. This is what she had to say: At the beginning of October, I launched a study entitled “Extracting lessons from coping with COVID-19 in St. James Town”, and I’m grateful [...]
As we face the 9th month of living with the coronavirus and its multiple disruptions of people’s lives, livelihoods, and wellbeing, we are mindful of the fact that this past October 10 was World Mental Health Day. We turned to Susan Davis, Executive Director of the Gerstein Crisis Centre for a better understanding of how [...]
On August 21, The Corner interviewed Norm Di Pasquale, the trustee for the Toronto Catholic District School Board for Toronto Centre. Norm is Vice Chair of Corporate Services, Trustee of the Expenditure Committee on the TCDSB Board, and also serves on the Social Justice Committee, the Governance and Policy Committee, the Catholic Parent Involvement [...]
COVID-19 has greatly impacted everyone’s lives and will continue to affect everyone, especially the most vulnerable, such as children. Parents now have to decide whether they will send their children back to school for in-class learning or continue with remote learning. Five parents living in St. James Town shared their thoughts with us this [...]
With the start of the new school year, many parents have expressed concerns for the safety of their children and have questioned the plans being made for students’ return to school this fall. If you have any concerns, here are a few things that you can do to advocate on behalf of your child. [...]
Summertime is here and although we all had to endure many changes this year, what remains the same is the summer heat. During this time, everyone is looking for a way to stay cool and if you are planning to spend some time outside, there are a number of things you can do to [...]
Nalini Pandalangat, Director of Newcomer Health & Specialty Services, Sherbourne Health, is a Registered Social Worker with the Ontario College of Social Workers and Social Service Workers. She completed her PhD at the Institute of Medical Sciences, University of Toronto, and has extensive experience leading projects and programs in the community health, hospital and international development sectors. Her PhD was on cultural influences on help-seeking, treatment and support for mental health problems in the Sri Lankan Tamil community. Her research and program interests are focused on immigrant mental health, gender and health, cultural competence, health care access and health equity. Currently she is part of a core team working on the development and dissemination of a refugee mental health framework.
