Our History
Join us as we commemorate 35 years of serving newcomers and championing community health. This page offers a journey through our rich history, featuring multimedia content that highlights our enduring impact. Listen to a podcast on 12 groundbreaking “firsts” that shaped our work, or explore the hidden stories through the tabs below. Discover how we’ve helped Toronto’s diverse communities achieve health with dignity—and continue to drive change today.

Access Alliance’s journey of 35 years
On October 17th, 1988, Ontario’s Ministry of Health announced significant funding to formally establish Access Alliance as a community health centre, giving us the official mandate and resources to provide health promotion and primary health care services to four priority communities. The following year, in 1989, a new community-based and community-governed health centre was born, the result of years of collaborative health-related volunteer work by committed professionals from the Korean, Portuguese, Vietnamese, and Spanish-speaking communities in Toronto.

Our Anniversary Timeline
Take a journey along our timeline to see how, over the past 35 years, we’ve built up an organization based on equity, inclusion, and innovation. View the full timeline.

Exploring our innovative firsts: An AI-Generated Podcast
Guided by two AI hosts, we invite you on an exploratory journey through Access Alliance’s rich history. With new technology, our storytelling is getting more intriguing. We used an AI tool to produce an engaging podcast episode highlighting our innovative strides over the past 35 years. The content has been fact-checked. Click here to join us for a deep dive!

Pre-1989: First Community Health Interpreter Service
Access Alliance Language Services (AALS) has been with us from the very beginning, even before Access Alliance was designated as a community health centre in 1989. A significant expansion of the program occurred between 1998 and 2000. During that time, we recruited, tested and trained interpreters to provide culturally appropriate and linguistically accurate services in over 50 languages to government agencies, hospitals, mental health organizations, and more. A leader in developing national standards and training and advocating for regulation, AALS has evolved to support 125 different languages, including Indigenous languages. We continue to develop interpretation training and practice standards, advocate for the employment of qualified professional interpreters, and strive to break down language barriers for newcomers by leveraging technology and digital strategies.

1990: First CHC to Establish an In-House Research Department
As early as 1989, the newly established Access Alliance dove into research activities, conducting joint studies on the fitness status and needs of Toronto’s Portuguese community, and organizing consultations on substance abuse issues. These early initiatives, coupled with the real lack of evidence about needs and issues affecting newcomer communities, led to the development of our Community-Based Participatory Action Research program, now recognized as a leader in the CHC sector. Focused on collaboration and knowledge mobilization to achieve systems change, we worked with academic partners, and trained peer researchers and community groups to ensure research questions focused on indicators of disadvantage, barriers to access, and the impact of systemic barriers. Today, our CBR department continues to shape research that addresses the needs of marginalized communities, driving evidence-based system changes.

2001: First Advocacy Win Towards the “Healthcare for All” Vision
In 2000, Access Alliance joined forces with Parkdale Community Legal Clinic and other newcomer-serving organizations to create the OHIP for Babies coalition in order to challenge OHIP’s practice of refusing health insurance to babies born in Ontario to non-status parents. This flouted legislation. Faced with a charter challenge, OHIP removed this restriction within a year of the coalition’s launch. However, it took years of relentless advocacy for hospitals and other providers to finally end the practice of billing non-status parents for newborns’ healthcare. This victory was a significant step toward our vision of Healthcare for All. Today, we continue advocating for equal healthcare access, ensuring no-one is left behind in Canada’s universal healthcare system.

2002: First CHC to Employ Newcomer Peers for Structured Outreach Work
Although volunteer peer support has long been a staple in the nonprofit world, in 2002, Access Alliance became the first community health centre to employ newcomer women peers to do structured, paid outreach work. Focusing on hard-to-reach and underserved newcomer communities, Peer Outreach Workers play a crucial role in providing culturally sensitive support and resources to newcomer families. Employed as part of an interdisciplinary team, they build trust, connect families to essential services, and empower women through leadership and parenting capacity-building initiatives. In recent years, these workers have also led vaccine engagement and other health promotion campaigns, further enhancing community partnerships and support for marginalized newcomers and their families.

2004: Toronto’s First Expressive Arts Program for Newcomers
Twenty years ago, therapists at Access Alliance faced a challenge: gender-violence survivors from newcomer communities couldn’t process their trauma—they couldn’t speak English and the pain of their experiences was unspeakable. In response, we created the first Expressive Arts (EA) group . Using creative mediums like visual arts, music, dance, and embroidery, participants could now transcend verbal language, addressing trauma through art. While primarily focused on women and children, EA builds on a range of post-migration experiences, reduces newcomers’ social isolation, and addresses settlement and integration challenges. The groups are creative, responsive and culturally appropriate. Today, our EA programs continue to help refugees and those at risk of gender-based violence, fostering healing and connection. Recent initiatives like Hubs of Expressive Arts for Life (HEAL) also build capacity to prevent domestic violence in newcomer communities.

2006: First Settlement Program for LGBTQ+ Newcomers in Toronto
In the early 2000s, while mainstream acceptance of LGBTQ+ individuals grew among the general population, racialized LGBTQ+ newcomers still faced significant barriers—in addition to homophobia, they often experienced racism and ostracization from their ethnic communities. Recognizing this gap, The 519, CultureLink, and Access Alliance partnered in 2006 to launch Among Friends, Toronto’s first settlement program for LGBTQ+ newcomers. With three-year funding from the Ontario Trillium Foundation, the program expanded services beyond the downtown core, creating best practices and building agency capacity for positive spaces. Today, Among Friends continues to thrive at Access Alliance, serving over a thousand 2SLGBTQI+ refugees annually in recent years.

2011: First Community Rooftop Garden
In 2011, we transformed our Danforth rooftop from an asphalt desert into a 6,500 sq. ft. organic garden, to build community members’ skills in growing and eating healthy foods. This “green roof” links health, education, and growing food in small urban spaces, providing produce for programs like our community kitchen and cooking programs, and integrating with initiatives like youth garden volunteers and outdoor workshops. As climate change progresses, the green roof’s value grows. An essential part of our community hub, it showcases the value of growing in small spaces, while enhancing health outcomes, supporting ecological education, and connecting our community to the living world and one another.

2012: First Non-Insured Walk-In Clinic (NIWIC)
Fourteen years ago, Access Alliance and six local community health centres created a walk-in clinic for non-insured residents in response to growing primary care needs. The NIWIC, originally providing services for non-insured west-end residents, has since expanded to become a primary health care clinic serving non-insured individuals across Toronto. Staffed by a nurse practitioner, nurse, midwife, and secretary, the clinic served over 1,000 clients last year. As a collaborative response to a critical need, NIWIC is essential to the health of many high-priority communities, and plays a crucial role in addressing the healthcare gap for non-insured residents.

2014: First CHC Referral Program for Solo Practitioners in Need (SPiN)
Ten years ago, through Mid-West Toronto Health Link, an innovative idea took root that evolved into Solo Practitioners in Need (SPiN). This program bridges solo doctors with local community health centres (CHCs), providing complex patients with essential services like dietitian support, mental health counselling, and exercise classes. Access Alliance led the way, helping doctors refer high-priority patients for comprehensive care. We built relationships, conducted training, and streamlined referral pathways, allowing doctors to focus on their practice while patients received needed support. This successful model has inspired similar “SPiN-off” programs across the province, showcasing the power of collaboration in improving access to care.

2015: First Multi-Year Substantial Scholarship Established by a CHC
In 2014, the community was deeply impacted by the tragic loss of Nahom Berhane, a beloved community leader, youth worker, and health promoter at Access Alliance. To honour his legacy, Nahom’s family partnered with Access Alliance in 2015 to establish the Nahom Berhane Scholarship for Leadership and Inclusion. Since its inception, the scholarship has provided tuition assistance to 28 youths who exemplify volunteerism, community service, and leadership. By 2025 (its 10th and final year) the scholarship will have awarded $116,000 through 34 scholarships—one for each year of Nahom’s life—ensuring that his legacy of community impact continues.

2016: First Refugee Hotel Clinic
In 2016, responding to our nation’s commitment to resettle 50,000 Syrian refugees, we collaborated with COSTI to deliver essential healthcare services to Syrian refugees in various reception centres, including hotels near Pearson Airport. A trailblazer in Toronto, our hotel-based clinic not only provided primary care but also crucial interpretation services.
In 2021, we activated similar services to address the primary care needs of Afghan refugees temporarily hosted in hotels. Today, we remain dedicated to meeting refugees where they are, offering compassionate primary and mental health care to our newest clients as they settle in Canada.

2019: First Cycling Program for Hijabi Women and Girls in Canada
In the spring of 2019, Access Alliance launched Hijabs & Helmets, Canada’s first cycling initiative designed specifically for hijabi women and girls. Recognizing the unique challenges faced by observant newcomer Muslim women, the program brought together participants for “learn to bike” sessions, group rides, and road safety training. From mastering bike mechanics to exploring the city, Hijabs & Helmets promotes active, healthy lifestyles while fostering a sense of belonging. It also provides participants with a sustainable, low-cost, healthy travel option. More than just a cycling program, it creates a space for empowerment and inclusivity, while countering Islamophobic sentiments through community building on two wheels.

On our 30th anniversary, we collected 30 stories from community members, volunteers, staff and Board members, founders, partners, and others who have generously contributed their time, energy and talents over the years to make Access Alliance what it is today. Collectively these stories provide a snapshot of the organization’s mandate, history and growth.

Founders from the Korean community
The founding communities of Access Alliance fought for linguistically and culturally appropriate primary health care and related social services. Sung Hak Choi and Andrew Choi recount their experiences in founding Access Alliance and pioneering its work.

Seniors enjoy expanded services
When Neighbourhood Centre integrated with Access Alliance in 2017, local seniors were able to enjoy expanded services, programs and volunteer opportunities.

Health With Dignity
The Non Insured Walk-In Clinic provides Health With Dignity to some of the most vulnerable residents of the City of Toronto. It is one of the few clinics in the city dedicated to serving the medically uninsured …

Among Friends
There was little in the city of Toronto for 2SLGBTQI+ newcomers when the first 2SLGBTQI+ initiative at Access Alliance began in 2006. Those beginnings started with the Among Friends program.

eXposed
The eXposed project was a community-based research project conducted in 2008 that combines the photographs and narratives of 14 photo researchers who live in Toronto’s Black Creek community.

Board talk: A virtual interview
Over the years, Access Alliance has benefited from the passion, expertise, and hard work contributed by the many members who have served terms on its Board of Directors. Present and past Chairs of the Board talk about their experiences.

Peer Outreach Workers
In 2002, Access Alliance recruited and trained women as Peer Outreach Workers. The program continues to build the capacity of women working in the heart of their communities.

Opening doors in the east and west
In 2011, Access Alliance expanded its services into the inner suburbs with the opening of AccessPoint on Danforth and AccessPoint on Jane. The expansion has made community programs, support and health services available to newcomer, immigrant and refugee communities in the east and west end of Toronto.

The legacy of Nahom Berhane
Nahom Berhane was a passionate leader with genuine commitment to fairness, equity, and community empowerment. His life and contributions are remembered here.

Stepping Up
The Stepping Up Promising Practices Tool Kit was developed to help organizations implement expressive arts groups that focus on violence prevention and safety promotion for 2SLGBTQI+ newcomer women.

2SLGBTQI+ Newcomer Cooking Program
Ken Olsen began volunteering in the 2SLGBTQI+ Newcomer Program at Access Alliance in 2013. At the time, there were only six participants in the basement of Access Point on Danforth.