Toronto’s United Way is changing

[attach]1404[/attach]Eliminating poverty begins in Toronto’s high needs neighbourhoods, where there is a lack of resources and community engagement, says the head of the city’s largest fundraising agency.

United Way Toronto president Frances Lankin spoke of the strides the agency has made after shifting its role from fundraiser to community builder during an editorial meeting with the Town Crier on March 16.

“We felt that we were in a very unique position to contribute more to the health of our city and we started a journey which was … to become a community impact organization,” said Lankin.

That journey began in 2005, following the Strong Neighbourhood Task Force, a United Way-City of Toronto collaboration that looked into ways to strengthen the social services of neighbourhoods facing the greatest need.

United Way identified 13 high needs areas, known as Toronto’s priority neighbourhoods, and put into place a Strong Neighbourhoods Strategy to engage residents, create community hubs and address problems like a lack of resources and high crime rates.

Though there are challenges ahead, the results have been transformational, said Lankin.

United Way first began visiting communities just after a violent period in Toronto known as the Summer of the Gun. What they found, said Lankin, were families too paralyzed by fear to create a sense of community.

“People didn’t want to open their doors, people didn’t want to come out of their apartments,” she said. “People didn’t want to walk
down strip malls at night time.

“They were afraid.”

Today, in many of the priority neighbourhoods, United Way and partnering organizations are initiating youth and seniors recreational programs, community gardens and after-school tutoring. Many are resident-led, noted Lankin.

“We work to help them develop the leadership skills, the organizing skills, we help raise small bits of money for them to fund these projects to really help residents to be at the centre of building a stronger neighbourhood.”

The agency and partnering organizations are still trying to break down barriers faced particularly by newcomers and visible minorities, as recent studies showed large percentages of those families are living in Toronto’s low-income, high needs neighbourhoods.

Lankin attributed some of those barriers to a lack of affordable housing, and amenities like grocery stores and banks.

“There’s a premium on being poor,” she said. “If you don’t have a grocery store and access to fresh produce you go to the convenience store, you actually pay a higher price for the food that you’re buying, and it’s not as fresh and healthy.”

The consequence of that, she says, is the poor health of a neighbourhood’s population, noting research indicates that the highest rates of diabetes are in low-income areas.

The agency is partnering with health and food agencies to target those communities.

Also enabling change is partnerships with all levels of government, said Lankin.

Emphasizing United Way Toronto is extraordinarily non-partisan, Lankin said she hopes strong partnerships formed with the city will be maintained as a new council emerges from October’s municipal election.

“As a new council and a new mayor comes in, sometimes there is the tendency to throw out everything that has to do with the old and we’re going to be talking with all of the mayoralty candidates about the importance of the neighbourhood strategy that the city has undertaken,” she said.

The former MPP also acknowledged the generosity of Torontonians, who donated a record-breaking $109 million last year.

“That’s astounding I think, in a time of difficult economic challenges, it’s the highest amount we’ve ever raised.”

After almost a decade at the helm of United Way Toronto, Lankin recently announced she’ll be stepping down but will remain in her role until the agency fills the position.