Toronto not-for-profit facing severe shortage of photography equipment for youth in media programsLawrence Heights area not-for-profit, Leave Out Violence known as LOVE in the community, is facing a challenge: there are more youth than cameras for their Media Arts Program. Photography has long been at the centre of LOVE’s mission to change the lives of young people who have experienced violence in high priority neighbourhoods. Using the camera as a tool to document their lives and learn new skills, youth in LOVE’s Media Arts Program use cameras to view the world in different ways. Leave Out Violence Executive Director says “Media has great power in the lives of young people. It is a conduit to their world and a critical influencer of attitudes, behaviours and choices. Youth in LOVE are given the opportunity to find their voice and explore their world through the safe lens of a camera. They discover that what they communicate has impact on others and that their voice can change lives.”Leading up to Valentine’s Day, LOVE is launching a crowd funding campaign “Spread the LOVE” on the popular Go Fund Me platform. They hope to raise $5,000 to buy enough camera equipment for youth in programs today and for next year. For the past 20 years LOVE has provided local young people who have experienced violence the chance to explore and learn through photography and are asking for support to keep it going.Arts based service programs like this increasingly have less funding but increased numbers of participants seeking them out. With growing violence and isolation in Toronto communities, LOVE wants to make sure they can continue getting young people to go down the right path by being involved in positive activities. LOVE is asking supporters to contribute on their Go Fund Me page Spread the LOVE! Cameras for Youth and to help spread the word – and the love.For more information, please visit http://leaveoutviolence.org or contact the Ontario office at 416-785-8411.
A Strike for Real Food and Real Jobs at York University
If you have ever bought food at York University, you likely didn’t spare much thought for the person serving you. We tend not to think much of the people serving us but they think a lot about us. At York, they even think of their customers as their kids, making sure that they serve good food and provide a good service. Customer service isn’t easy, with many hours on your feet to serve an often fickle public -it’s a job that can be made even worse with bad management. The situation at York illustrates this perfectly.Food service workers at the university are not directly employed by York and are not covered by any existing labour agreements with York employees. Instead, York has contracted out the operation of most cafes and restaurants on campus to Aramark, a company notorious for not paying employees for the hours they’ve worked and for firing food service employees for speaking out about unsanitary working conditions. It’s hardly surprising that many of these workers privately admit that they would never eat at an Aramark operated shop because of the number of health code violations they’ve seen on the job.The circumstances at York are hardly different, but at least they are members of a union. In addition to the health code violations, many employees who’ve worked there for over ten years are still not considered full time and are not even eligible for benefits. Unite Here, the union covering the workers, has also documented instances of Aramark managers using racist names for their employees, many of whom come from Caribbean countries. In at least one instance, a manager kicked an employee hard enough to leave a bruise on her shin. This employee was later suspended for being too loud – the fact that she is part of the union bargaining committee makes this management decision highly suspicious.The situation has deteriorated to the point that a strike vote taken in December passed unanimously – there were no members who voted against the measure. Real Food Real Jobs, a campus organization of students, faculty, and community members who work to aid the workers, has held information sessions so everyone on campus knows what’s at stake and what to expect.Not all shops on campus are operated by Aramark; sympathizers can visit the Real Food Real Jobs website or Facebook page to see which shops to avoid during the strike. Winter is a difficult time for a strike so let’s all show our support.
Community Meeting on the Future of the Jane and Finch area
Dozens of community members from the area met at the former Regina Paget school site on Norfinch in early December to discuss the future of the area. The meeting was organized by Community Action Planning Group - York West (CAPG), whose mandate is to influence the development of the area and its social environment.Many problems in the area can be traced to poor planning decisions from 20 or 30 years ago, such as poor transit connections, which are made more difficult because of the physical layout of the neighbourhood. The group organized a meeting to inform community members of community benefits that may be used in the near future and how these can help shape the Jane and Finch area.One of the biggest changes to the area will be the construction of the LRT along Finch, which is scheduled to see construction start in 2018-19. Not only will this create better transit for the area and clean up the roadways for drivers, but there are a number of other benefits for Jane and Finch. Participants at the meeting learned that there is a big push by an organization called Toronto Community Benefits Network(http://www.communitybenefits.ca/) to create local jobs out of it, but there are also other opportunities.Metrolinx, the agency that will be building the LRT and creating the jobs in the process, also needs to have a place to park all those new trains. They have chosen to buy and re-purpose the empty field north east of Jane and Finch next to the mall. CAPG and the local City Councillor, Anthony Perruzza, have worked to have the City set out a number of policies to create more than just a car house for the LRT. You can see the details of the City report on what these added community benefits could entail once approved here: http://app.toronto.ca/tmmis/viewAgendaItemHistory.do?item=2015.MM11.23For more information or to get involved email the group here: jf-capg@mail.com