|
A Home. A Job. A Friend. A Neighbourhood.
Hi Neighbour,
Every August seems to sneak up on us, and suddenly everyone is asking, “Where did the summer go?” It can feel like we blinked and it was gone.
I hope that, whatever you got up to this summer, you found time to spend with people you love and doing things that filled your cup.
Here at PARC, where things don’t ever really slow down for the summer, we try to make the most of the warm weather with urban hikes, BBQs, Summer Solstice celebrations and PARCabana, our annual celebration of Caribbean culture in our community.
As we get ready to welcome September and the start of fall, we wanted to take a moment to share more about what we’ve been up to, introduce you to some of our wonderful members, and give you a look at what’s coming up at PARC this fall.
There are lots of ways to get involved, connect with our community and be part of what’s happening at PARC.
- Kerry
| | People Over Portfolios Community Forum – Thursday September 10th 2026 | |
Rent is out of reach, food banks are overwhelmed, health care is stretched thin, and childcare is unaffordable for most families. Our members and neighbours live with these pressures every day, and for too many the pressures are at crisis levels.
On September 14th-15th the federal government will be hosting the Canada Investment Summit in Toronto, convening the world's largest investors to catalyze $1 trillion in investment for "nation-building projects." This is the continuation of decades of treating housing as an asset rather than a human right.
In response, Leilani Farha, Global Director of the international human rights organization "The Shift", will host a forum on Thursday, September 10th at 6:30 P.M., right here at PARC. The event will allow PARC members and staff as well as our broader community to have the floor to share what they are seeing, experiencing and what our government needs to hear. The forum will culminate in a written demand that our federal government invest in affordable non-market housing.
Join us to make your voice heard.
| | Spirits in the Sky Member Memorial BBQ | | In July, PARC, with community partners at The Dale Ministries, hosted Spirits in the Sky, a memorial barbecue in honour of members we have lost. We grieved and celebrated their lives through a shared meal, live music, creating art, making candles, an herbal clinic, a sharing circle, and reflecting over photos and sharing memories of our loved ones. These gatherings are important because the losses are far too frequent and so many in our community don't get the space or time to grieve. | | | |
In 2024, the median age at death for people experiencing homelessness in Toronto was 50 for men and 38 for women. For the general population of Toronto, the median age of death is 82 (2022). People are dying decades earlier, and a big reason is the lack of housing and food security. For a long time, these deaths were not even counted. Toronto only began tracking deaths outside the shelter system in 2017.
At PARC, we know our members by name and remembering them together is part of how this community takes care of each other. Our thanks to The Arthur and Audrey Cutten Foundation, whose support made this gathering possible.
| | |
Meet Tyde, the Parkdale artist who makes beauty out of what the neighbourhood throws away. Almost nothing in Tyde's work is bought new. "I like making art and I like using the stuff that would otherwise go in the garbage.” Scrap metal, salvaged leather, donated paper, roof slate, beads, wire, found objects picked up off the sidewalk. She has been working this way for over two decades.
Recycled materials inspire Tyde. A bookbinder friend gave her leather. A carpenter friend gave her wood offcuts. A piece of roof slate was combined with beads and wire. Out of recycled materials she created ten-foot-tall flowers. "My drill and I are very close." Free is what let her start, and donations from her community keep her creating.
| |
Tyde first lived in Parkdale in the 1990s and it was the first neighbourhood where she felt at home. She still has friends she met her first week here. It is where she found good housing, and where she gave herself room to heal.
She describes Parkdale as "her place."
| | | |
Overdose Awareness Month
August is International Overdose Awareness Month. Overdoses continue to affect every community despite being preventable. What reduces risk is not a mystery - it's supplies, information, connection, and treating people as if they matter, because they do.
Meet Patrick, PARC's Harm Reduction and Restorative Justice Worker. Patrick works in the PARC Drop-In running our harm reduction programming. He brings his lived experience of addiction, homelessness, and recovery to the role. In his work, the two are inseparable.
People who use drugs are told by society that they are disposable. That message keeps people from asking for help and keeps people using alone. Patrick shows up because someone showed up for him.
"When we're out there homeless and living in a tent..we forget that we have worth, that we have value. We deserve self-respect and we deserve respect from others."
|
| |
Brock Welcome Committee Fund
Later this year, 42 new tenants will exit homelessness and move into their new homes at 11 Brock Avenue. We are so excited to welcome tenants as they start a new chapter, with a safe and affordable place to call home.
To help make that transition feel welcoming, PARC’s volunteer Welcome Committee, made up of community members, will be hosting a special welcome event where new tenants can meet their neighbours and begin building connections in their new community.
We also want to provide every new tenant with a welcome package with practical essentials to help them settle into their new home, like kitchen supplies, linens, toiletries and other essentials. Creating a warm welcome takes a community and we’re asking our supporters to help us make this all possible by contributing to PARC’s Supportive Housing Fund.
Each welcome package will cost approximately $200 to provide the essentials to set up each tenant's new home.
- $25 helps provide personal care essentials
- $50 helps provide kitchen essentials and cleaning supplies
- $100 helps provide larger essentials like pillows, linens and towels
- $200 provides a complete welcome package for one new tenant
Each donation helps us provide the essentials and thoughtful touches that can make an apartment feel like home. Any amount helps and all funds go directly to supporting the tenants.
| | | | |
