MoveIn Status
Praying for a team.

Firsthand
Some comments on a YouTube video (at right, warning: explicit content) made in the Tuxedo Court neighbourhood indicate gang activity in the patch. It’s also known as a “Tamil Tiger” area.¹ The Tamil Tigers is a militant organization based in northern Sri Lanka that fights for an independent Tamil state in that country. The group’s members are considered terrorists by many nations, including Canada. Some immigrants from Sri Lanka came from a war zone and say they use their “skills” against rival groups in Tuxedo Court.

A visitor to the patch interviewed a resident who came from India and who had lived in Tuxedo Court for about six months. He said there were nice people here and that “everything is good here.”

The Landscape
Tuxedo Court is located off Markham Road just north of Ellesmere Road in the larger Woburn neighbourhood in the former City of Scarborough. Woburn Park is adjacent to the Tuxedo Court patch and one campus of Centennial College is a 10-minute walk away.

Approximately 5,500 people are housed in five buildings in the Tuxedo Court patch. Addresses include 10, 20, 30, 40 (all market-rent) and 50 Tuxedo Court (Toronto Community Housing).

The People
In the wider Tuxedo Court neighbourhood: ²

• 69% of residents are immigrants; 48% arrived between 2001 and 2006

• 51% of residents over age 15 have a post-secondary certificate, diploma or degree; 66% have a degree from outside Canada

• 81% of residents are considered visible minorities; the majority are South Asians

• The 2006 unemployment rate was a whopping 14.8 % as compared with 6.7% average in the rest of Toronto

Global Kingdom Ministries is located across the street from Tuxedo Court and does community outreaches in the patch.

St. Ninian Anglican Church in Scarborough has an active ministry to people in this area. The ministry began with church members praying in front of the five buildings in Tuxedo Court for more than a year. Since that time they have held healing services, vacation Bible schools, and an after-school program. Most of the people who attend the programs are Muslim or Hindu. Many are open to Jesus even if they are not interested in Christianity. ³

The History
The Woburn area began to be officially recognized in 1856 when Thomas Dowswell received permission to have a post office in his tavern alternately called the Central Inn and Dowswell’s Inn. Scarborough Municipal Council met at the inn from the 1850s until 1921 making this neighbourhood the centre of the township’s government for more than 75 years. ⁴

Poverty has intensified over the past 20 years in the former City of Scarborough. In 1981 no neighbourhoods in Scarborough had high poverty rates. By 2001, five neighbourhoods including the Woburn neighbourhood containing the Tuxedo Court patch, had a “very high” poverty rate defined as more than 40% of people living in poverty. The 2001 poverty rate in Woburn was 45%.⁵

The Challenge
God is already active in this neighbourhood. Will you join Him and be part of His plan for this community? Would you be willing to move in?

Sources
¹YouTube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wqpSJ3_rjCM
2All statistics in this section taken from Statistics Canada 2006 Census tract profile 0363.07 (CT), Toronto (CMA) and Ontario
³“Not Christian? No Problem,” The Anglican, The Newspaper of the Diocese of Toronto, October 2008
⁴ Scarborough Historical Society http://www.scarboroughhistorical.com
⁵Poverty By Postal Code, United Way of Greater Toronto and The Canadian Council on Social Development, April 2004