A Steering Committee was created by the Canadian Tamil community, building on more than a decade of foundational work done by long-standing community organizations and business leaders, to oversee the feasibility process for the design, construction and operation of a Tamil Community Centre (TCC). The intergenerational steering committee consisted of community members with longstanding service to the community in the areas of culture, philanthropy, arts, business, activism, academia and community capacity building.
Communities in the north east Scarborough and south east Markham face significant challenges in advocating for themselves and accessing vital public services, especially the vital services and recreational facilities that could be accessed in a community centre. Even a cursory glance at the maps of community centres run by the City of Toronto and social services in Scarborough reveal a marked lack of those vital services in the target area (Fig. 4 and 5). Scarborough has been identified as the area of Toronto with the highest number of working poor in the GTA, with northern Scarborough showing high numbers of people who speak neither English nor French. The lack of public housing has also led to a significant portion of its residents living in rooming situations, renting space in houses.
At a community event in October this year United Way revealed a survey conducted in south Markham, which showed unmet needs parallel to those revealed in the north east Scarborough area: a difficulty finding accessible and affordable community spaces, a lack of availability and affordability of services, a need for cultural competency and knowledge in service providers in the areas of mental health and wellness, a lack of language resources and translation services to help navigate the newcomer system, and a high incidence of work precarity and lack of opportunity for progress in work. These are clearly needs of a vulnerable community, and mirror those of their immediate neighbours; needs which could be addressed through programming at the TCC.
Three significant challenges can be identified at the outset facing Scarborough residents: their income after shelter costs is significantly lower than those living in public housing, they face longer commute times to access work and services, and they lack the means to identify their needs in a data driven process. These challenges lead to a greater social exclusion and poor quality of life. Longer commute times mean residents face barriers to socio-economic mobility, as they have less time to spend on professional development. Their well-being suffers, as they are also less likely to access health services, less likely to vote and have less time to spend with their families and communities. The lack of representation of their poverty or their needs in the data that supports the creation of Neighborhood Improvement Areas leaves them stranded in a socioeconomic bald spot (Fig. 5).
Within these communities, LGBTQ members, community with accessibility needs, those coping with mental health issues, and survivors of domestic abuse are made even more vulnerable when they lack resources and programming. Having gender neutral washrooms in the TCC, and the use of surtitle machines in the auditorium will allow for greater accessibility, along with standards of universal accessibility. It is clear that a community centre in this part of north east Scarborough would improve the quality of life for all its residents through providing much needed recreational space and programming. Based on the needs identified thus far (Fig. 5), priorities for programming include but are not limited to; mental health services, women’s services, LGBTQ community inclusion and universal accessibility standards.