Opening doors in the east and the west
AccessPoint on Danforth
On the southeast corner of Victoria Park and Danforth Avenues, area residents and newcomers of all ages have a new place to receive health services, use free computer resources, participate in community activities and learn new skills. AccessPoint on Danforth is the second community hub to open as part of the United Way’s neighbourhood strategy to create community service spaces in areas of the city where they are needed most. From this hub, we provide primary health care services, settlement services, youth, parenting and 2SLGBTQI+ programs and a range of Access Alliance activities.
AccessPoint is also home to some of our community partners: East York East Toronto Family Resources (EYET) operates an Ontario Early Years Centre in the space; Warden Woods offers Conflict Resolution Services; Action for Neighbourhood Change supports community development and engagement initiatives in the area; and people can also receive City of Toronto Employment and Social Services assistance at AccessPoint to find housing, daycare, employment and more.
Since its opening, we have hosted movie nights, numerous cooking programs in the community kitchen, and the launch of the Province of Ontario’s multi-language Health Care Options website. The final achievement of the year at the hub was the launch of a beautiful rooftop garden for the community, where we offer education programs, gardening opportunities, and family events.
AccessPoint on Jane
Our 340 College Street location has long served as the base of our work. As part of our commitment to anchor Access Alliance’s programs in communities where they are most needed, this year we were able to take the significant step of moving our services out of the city’s core and toward the inner suburbs where many newcomer, immigrant and refugee populations are located.
In January 2011, we held the official open house for AccessPoint on Jane. Located on the second floor of a plaza at Woolner Avenue and Jane Street (between Eglinton and St. Clair Avenues), AccessPoint on Jane is a welcoming space for new immigrants and refugees needing a range of community services in Toronto’s west end. Our AccessPoint locations are designed to be gathering spaces that build community cohesion. We support this goal with weekly group programs including cooking nights, homework clubs and other community programming. At this new site, we offer settlement services, youth programs, translation services, as well as programs that target the needs of newcomer women and children and 2SLGBTQI+ newcomers.
A primary health care clinic is also located at AccessPoint on Jane. Patients from the local community now have convenient access to high-quality care from our onsite inter-professional team.
Our downtown location remains the home of our First Contact refugee-focused clinical services, as well as our corporate services, our busy community-based research department and our language services department.