What’s New This Quarter
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Mid-West Toronto OHT Open Door Clinics
Launched in fall of 2022, the Open Door Clinics initiative aims to improve the health of high priority communities in Toronto’s west end. Located in four neighbourhoods – Waterfront, South Parkdale, Kensington/Chinatown, and York/Fairbank/Oakwood – the clinics bring critical health information, resources and support directly to residents living in those communities, all within in a warm and welcoming environment. This an initiative of the Mid-West Toronto Ontario Health Team (OHT), with Access Alliance as the lead agency.
Due to factors such as poverty, language barriers, and newcomer status, residents in these communities face worse health outcomes overall. They are less likely to have a family doctor, which means they are more likely to visit the Emergency Department. They are also less likely to take part in regular screening for health issues such as breast and cervical cancer, or receive vaccination against COVID-19.
One way to address these barriers is to bring services directly to those high priority communities, in the form of pop-up clinics in sites that are accessible to residents. With Community Health Ambassadors supporting the outreach, Open Door Clinics can better connect with community residents, and offer things like…
- COVID-19 testing, vaccination and assessment for medication to help with symptoms;
- Preventative and primary care such as blood pressure checks and cancer screening information;
- Mental health and other community services and supports; or
- Identifying other community needs related to health and wellness
Open Door Clinics is a collaborative effort, with involvement from the following partner organizations:
- UHN-WCH COVID-19 Clinical Assessment Hub
- Cecil Community Centre
- Davenport Perth Neighbourhood and Community Services
- Parkdale Activity Reactivation Centre (PARC)
- Scadding Court Community Centre
- Stockyards Village
- Waterfront Neighbourhood Centre
To learn more about this initiative, please contact Kasia Filaber, Manager of Health Initiatives, at kfilaber@accessalliance.ca.
Status For All
As an organization that serves newcomers, immigrants and refugees, Access Alliance recognizes the impact that permanent immigration status can have on someone’s life. This has led to our full involvement in the #StatusForAll advocacy campaign over the past few months. The campaign, in partnership with organizations like Migrant Rights Network, Worker’s Action Centre, and Decent Work & Health Network, has been pushing the federal government to grant full permanent immigration status to all people in Canada who are undocumented or have precarious status. Permanent resident status allows people to access essential services (including healthcare), secure decent work, access housing, contribute fully to society, and live a life without fear!
Since September (2022), we have participated in a rally, visited Member of Parliament (MP) offices, written letters to Prime Minister Trudeau and Minister of Immigration, Sean Fraser, collected 125 stories from our own undocumented clients to produce the Undocumented.Stories. exhibit and package which was delivered to MPs in Ottawa … and more! Read our blog post to learn more about some of these actions.
And the work is not done. There is still an opportunity to influence decision-makers to ensure that they make the right decision that will help Canada get closer to becoming a fair and just society for all. This is where we introduce our #StatusForAll postcard campaign! We designed a postcard which includes a pre-written message calling on our elected officials to move forward with a comprehensive, inclusive regularization plan that would grant Permanent Residence status to all, without exceptions, without delay. The postcard takes seconds to fill out and can be dropped in a mailbox directly, no postage required!
If you are interested in getting involved in the postcard campaign, please contact Miranda at msaroli@accessalliance.ca
For more information on the #StatusForAll campaign, visit www.migrantrights.ca