Nov. 07, 2009

London Community Foundation has been supporting neighbourhood building in low-income neighbourhoods for many years, and the impact is visible.

This is about relationship building. It’s about us building relationships with kids and adults in the community, and it’s about kids building relationships among themselves.”

That’s Yasmin Hussain, a youth worker with the Limberlost Chaplaincy. The Chaplaincy serves a neighbourhood of 152 townhouses in the northwest corner of London.  The subsidized housing is home to 700, including many immigrants and refugees, and some struggling with addiction and mental health issues.  There are 400 children in the complex.

In 2003 London Community Foundation committed itself to neighbourhood building projects in Limberlost and other low-income neighbourhoods. In total the Foundation has granted more than $400,000 to a variety of projects, and helped attract other supporters.  The impact has been significant.

Hussain, who has been with the project since 2005, helped launch Learning for Living, a drop-in homework club held in one of two townhouses made available for community programming. Qualified teachers work with children from Grade 6 and up, while Hussain and colleague Stephanie Fraser work with the younger children. University students help with both groups. “For the older kids, it’s a space away from home to do their homework,” says Hussain, “but it’s also a social space. By making connections with the university students they are opened up to what’s available and what they might be able to do in the future.” For the younger group, Learning for Living is an opportunity to get one-on-one support that might be hard to come by in families struggling to make ends meet. “The personal attention really encourages them,” says Fraser. “They know there’s somebody who’s really interested in them.”

In addition to the homework club, Fraser organizes weekend activities – cookie or cupcake-making, art projects, broomball, roller-skating, air hockey tournaments, and more. The older kids are now starting to take the lead in planning activities. In 2008 Alice Mgiri, a young woman from the neighbourhood, received the Foundation’s J. Allyn Taylor Community Service Award (see page X).

 The Limberlost community basketball court is cracked and weedy, and in desperate need of renovation. London Community Foundation stepped in, talking up the project with holders of donor-advised funds to produce much of the funding needed. The renovation is expected to be complete in May. “It’s a huge source of excitement,” says Hussain. “The court is a focal point for the community, and I think it will help inspire action on other issues. People are motivated to make the community look better and take responsibility for keeping it clean.”

 “Learning for Living is one of the best programs we’ve ever had,” says Mary Hagan, long-time chaplain at Limberlost. “Teachers are noticing a difference in our students as a result of tutoring. We are helping to make this community stronger. And none of it would have existed without the funding from the Foundation.”