Confronting anti-Black racism
Addressing the historical and ongoing harms of anti-Black racism at TCHC.
Setting the foundation for change
In its first year, The Centre for Advancing the Interests of Black People (‘The Centre’) started to engage with staff, tenants and community partners to implement the Confronting Anti-Black Racism (CABR) Strategy. In 2022, the Centre intentionally laid the foundation and took corrective action toward addressing the historical and ongoing harms of anti-Black racism at Toronto Community Housing.
The CABR Strategy is a multi-year plan intended to drive institutional change, establish strategic and sustained relationship building among diverse groups, impact service delivery and influence change through multidisciplinary research, analysis, and strategic narrative.
The Centre's partnership forum was attended by representatives for more than 30 organizations.
The Centre's partnership forum was attended by representatives for more than 30 organizations.
Forum participants discussed the potential of services that better serve Black tenants.
Forum participants discussed the potential of services that better serve Black tenants.
Strengthening community and staff engagement
In 2022, The Centre focused on fostering relationships with external and internal stakeholders, so they can generate more awareness about the Centre’s function and increase the organization’s capacity to dismantle anti-Black racism. Barry Thomas was appointed as the new Centre Director in December 2022.
By the end of its first year, The Centre has achieved several milestones, including:
- Investing more than $40,000 through the Centre Funds. This investment created new opportunities for 433 tenants across eight communities to develop and implement Black-led initiatives and programs that met the community’s needs.
- Partnering with the Black Creek Community Health Centre to develop the Black Business Essentials workshops and connecting 45 Black tenants to receive free entrepreneurship training and micro-credentials through York University.
- Hosting a partnership forum in October 2022 with representatives from 30 organizations to discuss the potential collaboration in addressing anti-Black racism in the city and building services that better serve Black tenants.
- Teaming up with Human Resources to update TCHC’s recruitment program to include an anti-Black racism lens — taking steps to increase the representation and retention of Black workers and professionals at TCHC.
- Receiving 103 cases related to anti-Black racism and resolving 25 per cent of the cases.
- Completing more than 600 hours of staff training and developing six training modules for business units.
“The Centre has become an energy reactor for residents in TCHC. My community elders [are] so proud to have contributed to the good work the Centre is doing. We no longer have to imagine a space centred and birthed out of conversations with us because it is here. It does the work of listening to, investigating, and finding resolutions to the unique challenges we stand to overcome."
To read more about the Centre's 2022 highlights and information about the Centre team, visit torontohousing.ca/cabr.
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