Regent Park programs left in lurch as community centre used to shelter displaced residents

Thestar.com
September 18, 2018
Gilbert Ngabo

A six-alarm fire at a St. James Town apartment building that displaced more than 1,500 people last month has created another unintended problem: programs at Regent Park Community Centre are scrambling to find temporary space.

Dozens of community programs and events that used to take place inside the refurbished centre near Dundas and Parliament Sts. have been cancelled since the city decided to use the space to house about 200 people with nowhere to go after the fire at 650 Parliament St. The closure has left both residents and community organizers fuming.

Jamal Hussain (left) and Sureya Ibrahim say the city’s closure of the Regent Park Community Centre to the public while it’s used as a shelter for residents displaced by a fire has had a big impact on the community.

“I am frustrated. I understand the emergency but the city needed to have a plan B for all these programs,” said Sureya Ibrahim, a community relations specialist at the TD Centre of Learning in Regent Park.

Ibrahim helps run women’s yoga, tai-chi and the Mothers of Peace residents group, which each ran twice a week at the centre. She said she is now seeking an alternative venue.

City officials, with the help of Red Cross, initially put hundreds of displaced residents up in hotels. But after a couple weeks, residents were encouraged to find housing through family and friends, as the city said hotels were fully booked. Those who couldn’t get by were brought in and sheltered at the Regent Park Community Centre.

Ibrahim said the big concern for the community is that the city did not consult with them or warn them about the move. Now they’re at risk of not being able to use the centre for four or five months.

“They don’t care about our community,” she said, noting a similar decision was made this past winter when the facility was turned into a warming centre for homeless people --also with no warning.

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She said the majority of residents in Regent Park live in community housing and have “no voice or power to fight back.”

“Our community is silent. If they go to Rosedale and shut down a community centre, there would be a lot of backlash.”

City spokesperson Andrea Gonsalves said all the community permits at the centre have been cancelled, and permit holders will be notified once programming is reinstated. Only the employment services office remains open and accessible to the public, she said.

Drop-in swimming continues to be available at the Pam McConnell Aquatic Centre and multi-sport drop-in programming is available at the Regent Park Athletic Grounds, she said.

The after-school recreation care programs that were taking place inside the centre have been relocated to the nearby Nelson Mandela Park Public school.

School principal Jason Kandankery said the school has had to adjust its schedule to allow kids to use the facilities after class hours.

“We don’t want the children to go down the road and be on the streets,” he said.

He said the city should do all it can to have more shelter spaces available, so that people don’t have to live in community centres in the future.

“I’m not happy that the centre is closed. Parents are not happy about it, but it’s understandable,” he said. “We have to work as partners and we recognize that it is a difficult situation for the displaced people.”

Jamal Hussain, who has lived in Regent Park for the past 18 years, said the community centre has become like his “second home.” Not only does he always come in for gym and fitness activities, it has also become a meeting place for him and other residents, he said.

“This is too much for us,” he said of the closure. “I sympathize with the displaced people, but the city should not close down a centre that is being used by hundreds of people everyday. This is our place.”

The longer the centre remains closed to the public, the more difficult it will be for community organizers to stay connected to vulnerable youth, said Aftab Khurram, owner of Sam’s convenience stores and city council candidate.

“Our youth used that centre to stay off the streets. Now they’ll be disconnected from it and become easy targets for drugs and other things,” he said.