MoveIn Status:
Praying for a team.

Firsthand:
The Orton Park patch is known for gang activity and gun violence.¹ It is part of the Kingston-Galloway neighbourhood, which is one of 13 priority neighbhourhoods identified by the City of Toronto and the United Way of GTA as needing an infusion of resources to improve quality of life. Apparently, a disproportionate number of people from this neighbourhood end up in jail.

Frances Lankin, president and CEO of the United Way, blames more than a decade of funding cuts to programs and supports that lead to growing numbers of young people “slipping through the cracks and dropping out of school.” She says, “they end up looking, at the ages of 12, 13, 14, at a world of quick money from the drug trade … because we’re not giving them alternatives.”²

The Landscape:
This patch, containing Toronto Community Housing (TCH) low-rises and townhouses, is on Lawrence Avenue across from Orton Park Road amidst the larger Woburn neighbourhood in the former City of Scarborough. TCH’s Lawrence Orton buildings are located at 3939 and 3947 Lawrence Ave. The housing in the patch is in major disrepair. A LINC program (for newcomers to learn English), an Early Years Centre and a clothing bank are right in the patch. There is a good deal of Halal shopping on the south side of Lawrence to the west of the Orton Park patch.

This patch is somewhat isolated from surrounding neighbourhoods by water on three sides and Lawrence Avenue on the remaining side. There are slim employment opportunities in the immediate area.¹

The People:
At Willow Park Junior Public School, where JK to Grade 6 students from the Orton Park patch attend, 53% of students speak a first language other than English. Approximately 470 students attend this innercity school that was built in 1964.³ The school has settlement workers that help newcomers and their families link with community services that help them get settled in Canada.⁴

In the wider neighbourhood that the Orton Park patch belongs to:⁵

• In 2006, 28% of the population was 14 or under, compared to Toronto average of 16%.
• Lone parents lead 40% of families, compared to the Toronto average of 17%.
• About 87% of those lone parent families are led by women.
• Of the residents, 46% have a mother tongue other than English or French.
• 55% cent of residents are immigrants; 42% arrived before 2000.
• The 2006 unemployment rate was 13.4%, double the Toronto average of 6.7%.
• Around 75% of residents are visible minorities. The largest group is South Asian, followed closely by Black.
• In 2006, 46% of residents were considered to have low before-tax incomes as compared to 18% in the rest of Toronto — this a very high-poverty neighbourhood.

According to Anne Gloger, manager of an agency that provides space and administrative help for social support groups near the Orton Park patch, safety comes from being involved in a community where neighbours know neighbours, where good news is celebrated, and where there’s pride, caring, and a sense of belonging.²

The History:
The larger Woburn neighbourhood, that the Orton Park patch belongs to, began to be officially recognized when in 1856 Thomas Dowswell received permission to have a post office in his tavern alternately called the Central Inn, Dowswell’s Inn, or The Woburn Inn. Scarborough Municipal Council met at the Woburn Inn from the 1850’s until 1921 — this neighbourhood was the centre of the township’s government for more than 75 years.⁶

The Challenge:
“The concept is really pay now or pay later,” says Ron Rock, executive director of the East Scarborough Boys and Girls Club. “If you invest and engage young people now, then in 15 to 20 years you’ll definitely see the positive results.”²

Will you be part of God’s investment in the lives of people living in the Orton Park patch? Will you consider moving in?

Sources:
¹ http://www.rapdict.org/Orton_Park
² “Poor services leave kids easy prey to gangs,” by Jim Rankin, Toronto Star, July19, 2008
³ Willow Park Junior Public School Profile
⁴ http://schools.tdsb.on.ca/willowparkjps/
⁵ Statistics Canada 2006 Census tract profile 0357.02 (CT), Toronto (CMA) and Ontario
⁶ Scarborough Historical Society