• We address growing food insecurity in the Briar Hill-Belgravia and Yorkdale-Glen Park neighbourhoods.

• WE partner with Second Harvest and Cobs Bread to acquire produce and baked goods for distribution in the local communities we serve and remained active throughout the pandemic.
• From September 2021 to August 2022, we achieved the following milestones from Second Harvest:

• From September 2022 to Mar 2023 achieved the following milestones from Second Harvest:

• WE take our food bank to Toronto Community Housing and other low-income local residents weekly, serving 60 – 100 households each week.
• We provide seniors with programs and services that will enable and empower them to achieve better health outcomes. Our Seniors’ Power Hour takes place bi-monthly and features guest speakers who educate the seniors on various health and wellness topics.
• WE distribute gently used and new clothing to homeless shelters, shelters for women dealing with various addictions and/or abuse, family shelters, shelters for abused women and children, homeless people on the streets of downtown Toronto, new immigrants / refugees. Throughout the pandemic, during the winter and spring seasons, our community services volunteers serviced more than 100 homeless persons who were being housed at the Better Living Centre, downtown Toronto.

Connecting With the Homeless, Downtown, Toronto – A Personal Encounter

“Several homeless people in Moss Park, downtown Toronto, were hungry and in need of food, water, clothing and shoes. We gave them bottled water courtesy of Kits for a Cause, snacks, Tim cards, underwear, clothing, shoes and bags to carry their belongings. They could not hide their joy. Some of them were reluctant to speak with us at first, but when they realized that we were genuinely there to help meet their needs and to talk with them for a few minutes, they relaxed and opened up to us.

The stories had a common thread of brokenness, hopelessness and failure. For each encounter, we were able to minister hope and encouragement and left each person in a visibly, uplifted mood.

In our varied encounters, we may have diverted one or more persons from the path of suicide through our ministry of compassion.

We did learn from a homeless nurse, also camping in the park, that she spent most of her time at night, patrolling the park and administering Naloxone to drug over-dose victims, until paramedics arrived to continue lifesaving measures. The experience reminded the Toronto Central volunteers that we sometimes have to get out of our comfort zones to meet the most vulnerable where they are to meet some of their basic needs, but most of all to share hope.” Judith Brown, Director, Toronto Central Adventist Community Services

• WE distribute gift cards and household items like bedding, appliances and furniture to local residents as requested. Our partnership with Recyc Mattress Inc., enabled us to deliver five beds to local residents in dire need during the pandemic.

• WE allow new immigrants to serve as volunteers at our community outreach centre while going through the legal process to acquire residency status in Canada.
• WE allow students to serve as volunteers to accomplish the community hours they need for high school graduation.
• WE host an annual FREE Love & Care Day / Health Fair for the local communities we serve. The event always includes a back-to-school focus.
• WE partner with community-focused and/or local businesses to acquire the financial and in-kind donations required to sustain and enrich the community programs and services we offer. In-kind donations received annually include backpacks and school supplies, male and female adult work clothes, male and female adult winter clothes, male and female children/youth clothes, male and female underwear as well as winter blankets and sleeping bags for the homeless.
• WE have a 7-year partnership with First Book Canada whose generous annual donation for free books for kids in need, has enabled us to distribute more than 200 free educational books in the local communities we serve, every year, for the past seven years. The books are worth thousands of dollars and help boost reading and literacy in vulnerable communities.

Toronto Central is continuing to forge partnerships and collaborations in the local communities it serves. We continue to raise our profile in our local communities to boost the financial and in-kind support we receive. We are working hard to launch dreams in our local communities. COME DREAM WITH US!