Winter is not everyone’s favourite season. With the shortened daylight hours, colder temperatures, and lots of snow, it’s hard to embrace the season that many of us love to hate. It’s probably the number one reason why Canadians love to talk about the weather, something that newcomers discover very quickly. Read more…
Winter Fun with Kids
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. Read more…
“Keeping Fit and Active with the Chechen Wolf”
We spoke to Arthur Biyarslnov, Canadian Professional Boxer and Olympian, as he describes his experience growing up in St. James Town while providing some advice on how community members can stay active during the winter. Read more…
Staying Active and Connected – Seniors’ Day Program
The Seniors’ Group has existed for 8 years in St. James Town and started after the fire at 200 Wellesley in 2010. Prior to COVID-19, the group consisted of about 20 people per session and there was already a Computer Learning Program in place, but it quickly pivoted to Zoom. Read more…
SJT Leadership Forum
The 2020 St. James Town Leadership Forum was held on Friday, November 20, over zoom. The event was a follow-up from the first leadership forum in 2017, and is now envisaged as an ongoing annual event. The theme for this year was “Reimaging: Our Neighbourhood, Our Collaboration, Our Impact”.Read more…
Raising Awareness about Homelessness- An interview with Alana Banton
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. Read more…
Cold, Flu, and COVID: with Dr. June
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. Read more…
Thorncliffe Park community pushes back against COVID-19 stigma
Two schools in Thorncliffe Park have closed down due to a COVID-19 outbreak, but community members want the public to know they’re doing all they can to battle the coronavirus. Read more…
New COVID-19 testing site opens in Thorncliffe Park
A new COVID-19 testing site is opening in Toronto’s Thorncliffe Park neighbourhood. The site opens Monday, Dec. 14 at Jenner Jean-Marie Community Centre, 48 Thorncliffe Park Dr. Read More…
Winter is not everyone’s favourite season. With the shortened daylight hours, colder temperatures, and lots of snow, it’s hard to embrace the season that many of us love to hate. It’s probably the number one reason why Canadians love to talk about the weather, something that newcomers discover very quickly. Read more...
Winter Fun with Kids
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. Read more...
“Keeping Fit and Active with the Chechen Wolf”
We spoke to Arthur Biyarslnov, Canadian Professional Boxer and Olympian, as he describes his experience growing up in St. James Town while providing some advice on how community members can stay active during the winter. Read more...
Staying Active and Connected -
Seniors’ Day Program
The Seniors’ Group has existed for 8 years in St. James Town and started after the fire at 200 Wellesley in 2010. Prior to COVID-19, the group consisted of about 20 people per session and there was already a Computer Learning Program in place, but it quickly pivoted to Zoom. Read more...
SJT Leadership Forum
The 2020 St. James Town Leadership Forum was held on Friday, November 20, over zoom. The event was a follow-up from the first leadership forum in 2017, and is now envisaged as an ongoing annual event. The theme for this year was "Reimaging: Our Neighbourhood, Our Collaboration, Our Impact".Read more...
Raising Awareness about Homelessness- An interview with Alana Banton
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. Read more...
Cold, Flu, and COVID: with Dr. June
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. Read more...
Thorncliffe Park community pushes back against COVID-19 stigma
Two schools in Thorncliffe Park have closed down due to a COVID-19 outbreak, but community members want the public to know they’re doing all they can to battle the coronavirus. Read more...
New COVID-19 testing site opens in Thorncliffe Park
A new COVID-19 testing site is opening in Toronto's Thorncliffe Park neighbourhood. The site opens Monday, Dec. 14 at Jenner Jean-Marie Community Centre, 48 Thorncliffe Park Dr. Read More...
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.
Nalini loves writing poetry, watching movies, having lively debates with close friends and hanging out with her family comprising her partner, twins, mom and beagle Kody.
Sasha Gore-Cragg
Sasha Kiran Cragg-Gore is a Toronto native who went to high school just down the street from St James Town at Jarvis CI. After getting an undergrad and law degree from McGill University in Montreal, he moved back to Toronto. He currently works at the Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada as a Board Member. He has previously worked as a lawyer in the legal aid system representing low-income clients in the areas of immigration, refugee, criminal and family law. He has volunteered in various capacities including the sponsorship of a refugee family from Syria and giving free legal advice to the LGBTQ population through the 519 legal clinic.
Wilma Sinnathurai
I have been involved with the St. Jamestown Steering Committee since it’s formation and am proud to call St. Jamestown home since the time I arrived in Canada. I have been involved in many facets of service to the committee ranging from taking minutes, organizing and running fundraising events, assisting sewing classes and doing outreach support. I am also a mother of two sons who were both born and raised in this community.
Maryana Tanyashyna
Maryana Tanyashyna has lived in St. James Town for 10 years. She is an experienced Human Resources professional. She is passionate about community development and has been serving on the St. James Town Community Corner committee for the past few years. Maryana is happy to lend her skills and experiences to improve the lives of St. James Town community members.
Yogarajah Chelladurai
Yogarajah is a resident leader in the neighbourhood of St. James Town with a commitment to neighbourhood improvement, resident empowerment and accountable service delivery. He serves as the co-chair of the Steering Committee of The Corner. He partakes in many initiatives at The Corner and beyond like running an English Language Class for newcomers to Canada , being a peer educator for a diabetes prevention and health promotion initiative in St. James Town, supporting the community as a resident ambassador for St. James Town, contributing as a safety ambassador, being a spokesperson for the community, etc.
Tanvir Kaukab
Tanvir has been living in St. James Town for over six years and she loves the St. James Town community and enjoys being surrounded by people here. She also loves the variety of restaurants and cuisines from across the world and she feels in St. James Town everything you need is a 5 minute walk away. She is a Social Researcher by profession.
Lovlyn
Lovlyn has lived in St Jamestown for the last seven years. She has been a member of the steering committee for just over a year. Lovlyn’s biggest contribution as a member of the steering committee has been to share her observations of the various multicultural experiences in the community. She has been able to identify and empathize with community members and their struggles and contribute in whatever way she can for the well being of the community.
In her spare time, Lovlyn volunteers at the Toronto Public Library in the Leading to Reading program. She loves to read, write, listen to music, take long walks and volunteer for gardening in the neighborhood. She also has many creative pursuits like photography, writing and storytelling to name a few.
Please note that in light of the COVID-19 situation, The Corner @ 200 is currently open from 9am-6pm. Please note that our front area services are temporarily suspended (Computer, printouts, telephone etc.).
All programs and activities have been suspended until further notice. Your service provider will be in touch with you if you have a pre-booked appointment scheduled until March 31st.
The Corner @ 240 will be open Monday-Friday, 4-6pm only for repairs.
If you have any urgent needs please contact +1 647 527 6983,+1 416 964 6657 or email us at intake@stjamestown.org.
For more information on COVID-19 including multilingual resources please click here
If you develop symptoms please call Telehealth Ontario at 1-866-797-0000.
If you are in distress, please call the GTA distress line 416-408-4357 or the Seniors’ Hotline at 416-217-2077.
Register With The Corner (Intake)
Veronica MacDonald
Veronica MacDonald represents Central Neighbourhood House/The Neighbourhood Group (CNH/TNG), on the Steering Committee. Veronica has been working in the community as a program director with TNG for 4 years. They have been a member of the Steering Committee since 2015. Veronica’s biggest focus as a member is for the safety and positive connections of senior’s in the community.
Shirley Roberts
Shirley has been a member of the Steering Committee for over 10 years and was a founding member of the Community Corner. She brings many years of experience in executive leadership positions in health care. Shirley has partnered with community organizations to develop responsive and community focused services in mental health and primary health care. Shirley’s focus on the Steering Committee is to coordinate committee meetings, policy development and planning. Outside of Steering Committee activities, she is busy with travel, exploring the city and learning French.
Ravi Subramaniam
Ravi Subramaniam is the Partnership & Organizational Development Lead at TNO – The Neighbourhood Organization in Toronto. Ravi lives in St. James Town and is a founding member of the Community Corner. He is a leader in building innovative partnerships and cross sectoral collaborations involving the health, newcomer and social services sector. He has extensive experience in the immigrant and refugee serving sector working with multicultural communities and neighbourhoods. Ravi also has international development experience working with a broad range of stakeholders in multiple jurisdictions, including post-tsunami relief in Sri Lanka. He works within an equity lens when building inter-sectoral partnerships. In his spare time Ravi writes poetry, is a movie buff and photographer.
Criss Habal - Brosek
Criss Habal represents Progress Place, a community base mental health organization on the Steering Committee. Criss has been working in the community as the Executive Director with Progress Place for just over 3 years but has been at Progress Place for over 30 years. She has been a member of the Steering Committee since 2015. Criss’ biggest focus as a member is the amazing partnership and sharing of ideas between residents and staff along with other service providers to make the St. James Town community the best place around. She is extremely passionate about the genuine collaboration amongst everyone in St. James Town.
Hannah
Hannah has lived in St. James Town for two years. She has been a member of the Steering Committee for just over a year. Hannah’s biggest focus as a member of the Steering Committee has been learning about upcoming urban development initiatives in the community. When she is not at the Corner or working, Hannah can be found buying fried chicken, BBQ pork or Filipino kamayan dinner at one of the great restaurants on Howard Street.
Vickie Rennie
Vickie has lived in St. James Town for 48 years and has been a member of the Steering Committee since the very beginning. She is also a Co-Chair of the Steering Committee. As well as a resident, Vickie is a Tenant Representative for 200 Wellesley St. East for approx. 10 years now and owns the Bleecker/Wellesley Activity Network, a non-profit for seniors and disabled that services those in social housing on a fixed income that is celebrating it’s 30th year in 2018. Her focus as a member of the Steering Committee are the residents of social housing, seniors and the disabled more than anything else and seeing that whatever happens in St. James Town and especially at the Corner services these three marginalized members of our community. When she has any spare time she loves to spend time with her dogs and she loves to read and most always has her nose in paperwork for her organization be it searching out new avenues of funding or planning events and activities.
Seniors
About the Older Adult Consortium:
The Older Adult Consortium is a sub committee of the SPN. The Consortium comprises of representatives from service providers, local senior group leaders and residents of St. James Town that work together, to identify and support older adults living in the community.
The objectives of the Consortium are:
To build on the expertise in the field, including prevention and health promotion.
To ensure older adults are connected, engaged and have a support mechanism essential to ensure healthy ageing.
To enhance the model of integrated care for older adults.
To provide educational workshops, seniors forums and social get togethers for seniors.
To work collectively with different cultural groups of seniors from St. James Town, sharing programs, having a shared calendar and developing innovative ways of caring for older adults.
The Highlights these past years were:
Providing monthly workshops at 55 Bleecker, conducting a number of events for seniors, having joint meetings with all groups serving seniors, launched an interpretation project to remove barriers to participation and engaged seniors in the development of programs and outreach initiatives.
The Older Adult Consortium can be reached at 416 458 9616. Read More …
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The Corner St. James Town
In May 2011, the St. James Town Community Corner at 200 Wellesley opened its doors. The Corner is a fully accessible set of offices, meeting spaces, program rooms and community kitchen dedicated to local initiatives and services to benefit the neighbourhood. This collaboration between residents, public and private funders and service providers is a unique St. James Town community success story.
Operating out of the Toronto Community Housing (TCHC) building, at 200 Wellesley St. E., the facility was formed by a local steering committee after consulting with the community, and it is the result of more than five years of effort by local resident volunteers in partnership with a number of service providers. All are committed to improve access for St. James Town residents to services, supports and opportunities to meet, plan and build a strong, healthy neighbourhood. Read more …
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Health Access St. James Town
Health Access St. James Town (HASJT) is a pioneering community based model of localized service coordination and collaboration, where highly skilled and friendly intake workers connect residents to health and social services of 15+ different partner organizations and beyond, through a single intake process. This intake happens at The St. James Town Community Corner (The Corner) and 5 other sites in the St. James Town neighbourhood.
The Corner, an inclusive community hub, is the primary site from which HASJT operates. This has strengthened the this localized model with The Corner being the “hardware” and HASJT, the “software”. Read More …
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Income Generation
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Safety
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Youth
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Community Engagement & Advocacy
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