Kc03iv

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Highly recommend attending this meeting June 12th regarding the citys proposal for a aboriginal women’s correctional facility development right between Haven on the Bluffs and Merge condos.



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Highly recommend attending this meeting June 12th regarding the citys proposal for a aboriginal women’s correctional facility development right between Haven on the Bluffs and Merge condos.




Geez. This is classic City of Toronto planning when it comes to revitalizing Scarborough main streets

Put some thought and effort to find a suitable location somewhere out of sight. The curb appeal and stigma is already bad enough.
 
Without commenting on whether or not this is the appropriate location, this is not a proposal for a “correctional” facility.
 
Ah, so it is. You’re right - this is a stupid idea on a retail strip that has its first shot at rejuvenation in a long long while....
 
This is such a bad idea. I feel especially bad for Merge - imagine investing in this project and a correctional facility being built next door. As Cliffside homeowners, we need to make our voice heard on June 12. Why not install an indigenous healing lodge in the Beach, Riverdale, Leslieville, Leaside? As if that would happen.
 
Yeah, the horror:
Thunder Woman Healing Lodge is a community-driven project raised out of concern and recognition of the need to break the cycle and support the healing, rehabilitation and meaningful re-integration of Aboriginal women offenders.
Vision:
Thunder Woman Healing Lodge Society will promote and provide services for First Nation, Inuit, and Metis Women to focus on their journey to wholeness and balance.
Mission:
To provide First Nation, Inuit, and Metis women a place in the Greater Toronto Area to heal and reclaim positive cultural identity, rehabilitation and wellness.
Mandate:
To establish a Healing Lodge for First Nations, Inuit, and Metis women who are in conflict with the law, and for those who have survived intergenerational trauma. To provide cultural support, traditional knowledge and resources, for the advancement of wholeness and balance. To empower First Nations, Inuit, and Metis Women to take their honoured place within their community and culture.
Program:
Thunder Woman Healing Lodge will perform interviews to determine the eligibility and readiness of applicants to enter the healing lodge. These interviews will be performed by program staff - case managers and managers.
Once accepted into the program the individual will move into the lodge where they will have three days of integration which will be a period of rest, transition and preparation. This time will include a tour, orientation, downtime and meetings with staff including a traditional elder/healer or knowledge keeper. Of these meetings, the most crucial will be an assessment, performed with their assigned case manager who will then use this information to co-develop their case plan. Once this portion is complete a welcoming ceremony will be held with the entirety of the staff team, and the other residents.
The individual is then ready to begin programming and integration into the community of the lodge. The client will begin her healing journey, while keeping up with her plan of care goals, and adjusting this as required. Programming will be structured, daily, and mandatory for residents of the lodge. The programming will have a cultural lens and work from the medicine wheel covering the emotional physical spiritual and mental aspects of the individual. Programs will be aimed at addressing historical traumas, life skills, reconnecting with culture, and providing a platform for women to reclaim their rightful and dignified place in the community.
Programs and services will include by are not limited to:
 Land-based teachings
 Literacy & language skills
 Financial literacy
 Creative writing and art therapy
 Computer skills
 Employment & job search training
 Mother/family/parenting classes
 Addictions and trauma workshops
 Community Kitchen
 Sharing circles
 Ceremony, Hand drum circles/lessons
 One on one counseling
 One on one access to traditional healers/elders/knowledge keepers
All services and programs including the assessments and care plans will be performed from a culturally informed, holistic, trauma-informed, medicine wheel perspective. Offering the women a comprehensive, community-based alternative to post-incarceration care.
In 2015, City Council in consultation with the Aboriginal Affairs Committee, identified eight Calls to Action from the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada’s Report, as priorities for implementation. Some Calls to Action are mirrored in the Statement of Commitment. Of the eight Calls to Action, number three of the Statement of Commitment states;
The City commits to working with Aboriginal partners to explore ways to strengthen the capacity of Aboriginal organizations and associations to plan, lead and deliver initiatives for local Aboriginal communities.
Thunder Woman Healing Lodge is an initiative that will lead and deliver a much needed Aboriginal service. The Healing lodge will have contractual obligations with Correction Services Canada, and The Provincial Ministry of Community Safety, and Ministry of the Attorney General.
 
Healing lodge is the correct term for a correctional facility for Indigenous People.
Ah, so it is. You’re right - this is a stupid idea on a retail strip that has its first shot at rejuvenation in a long long while....
This is such a bad idea. I feel especially bad for Merge - imagine investing in this project and a correctional facility being built next door. As Cliffside homeowners, we need to make our voice heard on June 12. Why not install an indigenous healing lodge in the Beach, Riverdale, Leslieville, Leaside? As if that would happen.
When you show up for the meeting, go into it prepared to listen to those proposing the development, don't just go preparing to rant and rave like lunatic NIMBYs with racist undertones (or blatant overtones). Don't be those people.

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The NIMBYs are generally in more affluent neighborhoods than ours. Do you live in our neighborhood? I think Scarborough has done its fair share to date.
 
I don't think anyone would like to live next door to a correctional facility no matter what part of town you are from
look at the plans for it. It's not really a jail per se - looks more like supportive housing to me. No security features, the sweat lodge and fire pit in the backyard are completely unsecured (no fencing), elevator access gives direct access from the rooms to the lobby and front door, etc.

It appears to generally be an extremely minimum security facility (anybody housed there could walk out at any time), many of the suites are full feature apartment units with full kitchens, there is even a retail unit facing Kingston Road.
 
The NIMBYs are generally in more affluent neighborhoods than ours. Do you live in our neighborhood? I think Scarborough has done its fair share to date.
I do not live in your neighbourhood, no, but I do live in a neighbourhood dominated by 1950s and 60s-built rental apartment buildings, most of which need reinvestment. At some point, someone will assemble enough land here to propose a redevelopment that intensifies land use, and at minimum, they'll have to provide a full complement of low cost (because that's what the area has now) replacement apartments, plus there will likely be a requirement of new affordable units as part of any density increase, or we could see a proposal that would include a proposal for some type of shelter: it's inevitable that areas of the city where land costs are lower that such facilities will be proposed as land costs need to be a lower portion of the budget when the budgets are strained.

From your list, the Leslieville area is getting a similar shelter as part of a new condo at 875 Queen East because the Red Door Family Shelter was part of the Woodgreen Church that was on the site that's now being redeveloped. Leslieville residents were behind the incorporation of the shelter into the new development as—since they were familiar with it—they already knew that its presence in their community had not been an issue, and they understood the important role that the shelter plays. Shouldering these facilities are not major issues for neighbourhoods, and Leslieville land values are not taking a hit.

It's really tough finding locations for shelters. When there's a potential location for one identified, everyone can benefit from making sure it's as well planned as possible, not simply turned away from the neighbourhood. Would you rather that there be no help for the people who need it?

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Not on the 'list', but the Annex got a new men's shelter on Davenport last year and it's not like values have taken a nose-dive there. Likewise, Eva's Phoenix existing in *the same building* (separate entrance) as Waterworks.
 
A shelter is not the same as a correctional facility.
So you are one of the "I've already made up my mind" types that embarrass themselves and the people sitting around them at public consultations? This is not a jail. Don't let your imagination run to its darkest corners, you're not going to have Aileen Wuornos, Harley Quinn, or Ivanka Trump types prowling through your hood.

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