Action for Neighbourhood Change (ANC) Clearinghouse

Our future success and the quality of life in our city depends upon our collective ability to build strong and resilient neighbourhoods. Because when we believe we can make a difference, we often do. Working together, we will build stronger and more resilient neighbourhoods, making Toronto a great city.

Our Building Strong Neighbourhoods strategy is targeting funding, building local residents' engagement with their neighbourhood, establishing Community Hubs, and building the capacity of local agencies, community leaders and residents. Torontonians are willing to put their money where their hearts are: by providing millions of dollars to respond to the human needs of neighbourhoods. At the very heart of this work—and the starting point for all of United Way Toronto's neighbourhood work—is the experiences and hopes of local residents.

Organizations

Local

• 211 Toronto: A United Way Toronto-funded member agency offering information and referrals about services in the city.
• The Strong Neighbourhood Task Force: A joint project of United Way Toronto and the City of Toronto, with the support of the Government of Canada and the Province of Ontario, which emphasized the importance of neighbourhood infrastructure. There are neighbourhoods in Toronto where the population has grown and changed, but local services have not responded. As a result of the Task Force, 13 priority neighbourhood areas have been identified in our city that, based on need and available services, will benefit residents from community investments. (Read the report: Strong Neighbourhoods: A Call to Action), (PDF - 2.6 MB)
• Toronto City Summit Alliance: A multi-sector coalition working to meet Toronto's challenges.
• Greater Toronto Urban Observatory: Monitors and evaluates regional urban conditions and trends. It seeks to disseminate an improved policy-relevant knowledge base about the Toronto urban region by providing reliable, accurate, and timely information to policy-makers, businesses, researchers, and citizen groups.

Canada

• The Caledon Institute: A non-profit think tank focused on poverty, social policy and community capacity building.
• Tamarack Institute: An institute for community engagement, with an excellent learning centre, as well as information on Vibrant Communities, a community-driven effort to reduce poverty in Canada.

International

• The Annie E. Casey Foundation (U.S.A.): One of the most prominent American leaders in the area of community change and renewal. The Making Connections program, which focuses on children, family and social networks. Includes a large library of resource material.
• Roundtable on Community Change, Aspen Institute (U.S.A.): Focusing on community change through policy and applied research work, includes a large library of resource material.
• The Young Foundation (U.K.): The Young Foundation's work on neighbourhoods and local innovation provides insight into discussions happening in the United Kingdom.

Skills Building

Anti-Racism

• Evaluation Tools for Racial Equity (U.S.A.)

Conflict-Resolution

• The Conflict Resolution Information Source (U.S.A.): An online clearinghouse for materials on conflict resolution.

General

• Community Problem Solving (U.S.A.): Includes a set of strategic tools and references for community building.
• The Citizen's Handbook, A Guide to Building Community: Published by the Vancouver Citizen's Committee. This Canadian site provides information on community organizing, community building activities, and other related resources.

Leadership

• Development Training Institute (U.S.A.): Creating a network of leaders for community driven social change.

Partnering

• Community Building Resource Exchange (U.S.A.): This website provides a broad array of resources and information about innovative community building efforts to revitalize poor neighborhoods and improve the life circumstances of residents and their families.

Research Methodologies

• Toronto Neighbourhoods and Census Data Research Guide: A guide to doing research on Toronto neighbourhoods.
• Citizen Works, Tools for Organizing (U.S.A.): Founded by Ralph Nader in April 2001 to advance justice by strengthening citizen participation in power, giving people the tools and opportunities to build democracy.
• Measures for Community Research, Aspen Institute (U.S.A.)

Knowledge Building/Addressing The Issues

Built Environment

• Project for Public Spaces: A New York-based organization that has worked with the City of Mississauga to create public places that create community.
• Sustainable Communities: The Federation of Canadian Municipalities lists resources on the topic of green cities and communities.
• walkON: An organization of public health units in Ontario that promotes walkable communities.
• Trip to School: Children's Experiences and Aspirations: A report on how Ontario children commute to schools.

Children, Youth and Families

• Promising Practices Network on Children, Families and Community (U.S.A.): A similar focus but is located in the United States.

Community Economic Development

• The Canadian Community Economic Development Network: A network of community-based organizations and co-operatives in Canada.
• Centre for Community Renewal: Expertise and resources for community economic development, working on issues of community resilience and revitalization.
• Social and Enterprise Development Innovations (SEDI) is a non-profit organization that assists people who are struggling economically, motivating them to aim higher and develop the tools they need to achieve their goals. SEDI partners with community groups across Canada.

Crime

• Centre of Criminology at University of Toronto
• Crime Statistics in Canada, 2006
• Public Safety Canada
• Toronto Police Service Crime Statistics

Demographics

• Statistics Canada Census Tract profiles: Statistics Canada's online small-area profiles from the 2006 census.
• City of Toronto Neighbourhood Profiles: Key demographics about the 140 city-defined neighbourhoods in Toronto.

General

• Canadian Social Research Links: Catalogs research across Canada on a wide range of issues.

Health

• Ontario Healthy Communities Coalition: A non-profit organization that is active on a range of issues. Resources include how to do a health audit in your local community.
• Toronto Community Health Profiles: Data-rich descriptions of Toronto neighbourhoods produced by the City of Toronto Public Health unit.
• The Wellesley Institute: Advances the social determinants of health through community-based research, capacity building, and the informing of public policy.

Newcomers and Marginalized Population

• Assisting Clients, At Work, Settlement.org: The Ontario Council of Agencies Serving Immigrants hosts this resource-rich website for Canadian newcomers and those who work with them.
• Ethno-Racial Groups in Toronto, 1971 – 2001: A Demographic and Socio-Economic Profile (PDF - 835 KB): The Ornstein Report is considered a foundational research piece. Produced and updated by Michael Ornstein at York University, it uses StatsCan data to describe the economic situation of visible minorities in Toronto.
• CERIS - The Ontario Metropolis Centre: Established as a Centre of Excellence, Metropolis focuses on migration, diversity and changing cities. It acts as a central repository for research and policy on these issues and hosts a series of databases.

Poverty

• The National Council of Welfare: An advisory body to the federal government on issues relating to low-income Canadians.
• Urban Poverty Statistics in Toronto: Produced as part of the Urban Poverty Project, the Canadian Council on Social Development produces key statistics about our city.

Social Inclusion and Social Capital

• The ESRC Research Centre for Analysis of Social Exclusion: The London School of Economics, focus on exploration of different dimensions of social disadvantage, particularly from longitudinal and neighbourhood perspectives, an examination of public policy's impact.

United Way Toronto Resources

• Neighbourhood Vitality Index (PDF | 465 KB)
• ANC Plaza Project in Scarborough Village, Toronto (PDF | 326 KB), March 27, 2006
• ANC Learnings, Year 1 (PDF | 1.22 MB), 2006.
• Best Practices for Youth Programming (PDF | 1.11 MB), February 2005
• Newcomer Best Practices Review (PDF | 1 MB), February 2005