News

Easter Dinner

On Saturday, March 23, 2024, the Seed of Mokmin Presbyterian Church from Richmond Hill brought Easter dinners for residents of Toronto Community Housing buildings in southwest Scarborough served by the MIND Program. A team of 15 church volunteers had prepared and packed 240 dinners at their church. Each dinner included roast chicken, mashed potatoes, green salad, and a madeleine for dessert. Then, on delivery day, seven of the church workers brought the meals to 40 Firvalley Court. The building’s tenants were already lined up and excited to receive the dinners in this holiday season and engage with the church volunteers. The buzz of conversation was infectious. A total of 80 tenants came, representing half of the building’s residents.

MIND staff then took another 50 of the church’s dinners for distribution at 682 Warden Ave and 110 dinners for 140 Adanac Drive. Again, people were appreciative. At a time of high inflation and increasing food insecurity in our city, this gift was timely.

The MIND Program sincerely thanks the Seed of Mokmin Presbyterian Church and its members for their generosity and ongoing support.

A Big Thank You to Vigorate for their Sandwich Donation

On Jan 4, 2024, staff at Vigorate prepared over 230 sandwiches for clients of the MIND Program and delivered supplies to prepare and store another 100.

The MIND Program extends its heartfelt gratitude to Vigorate and its staff for their generosity and support. Their commitment to making a difference by investing in essential supplies, dedicating time, and showcasing their skills in preparing over 230 sandwiches for our community in need is truly commendable.

Amidst the backdrop of over 2.5 million food bank visits recorded in Toronto this past year alone, reflecting a staggering 51% year-over-year increase, our community faces profound challenges - particularly during and after the holiday season, where individuals are balancing their personal expenses while striving to provide holiday gifts for their loved ones. Regrettably, this often translates into the harsh reality of foregoing meals in the weeks and months ahead.

Vigorate’s contributions have made a tangible impact and their dedication not only addresses immediate needs but also resonates as a beacon of hope during these challenging times. Thank you again.

MIND Program is now a Second Harvest partner

 On 28 June 2023, the MIND Program received its first delivery of food from Second Harvest. Second Harvest is the largest food rescue organization in Canada. They say that they are “on a mission to grow an innovative, efficient food recovery network to fuel people and reduce the environmental impact of avoidable food waste.” From their research they found that 58% of the food produced for Canadians is wasted. Much of it can be recovered and used.

 This recovered food will be a big help in supporting the MIND Program’s community meals served in Toronto Community Housing Corp. (TCHC) buildings in southwest Scarborough. The first delivery consisted of pancake mix for our breakfast program at 40 Firvalley Court, bananas and oranges for that day’s food bank at 140 Adanac Drive, and potatoes, bread and cookies for the rest of our meal program. 

Second Harvest will now be delivering at least 200 pounds of food to the MIND Program every week which will help support and expand our meal program.

Community Garden
at 40 Firvalley Court

 June 1, 2023

Our garden is planted!

Last year a Toronto Community Housing Corp (TCHC) tenant volunteer and the MIND Program cook Wilbur Nixon built two raised beds on the sunny south side of the TCHC building at 40 Firvalley Court in southwest Scarborough. The materials were donated by Wilbur’s neighbour.

 This spring the MIND Program’s summer student Ben Wiebe and two tenant volunteers prepared the beds for planting. MIND Program supporter Chelsea Braun brought plants and then worked with the gardening team to plant them. The beds are filled with tomatoes, zucchini, snow peas and herbs. Watering and weeding are weekly tasks for the tenant gardening team.

 When the produce is ripe it will be used in the community meal program in the building. Food insecurity affected 16% of Canadians in 2021. Half of those affected were on social assistance such as those living in TCHC buildings. Community gardening is one of the ways to fight food insecurity by helping people meet some of their own food needs while reducing emissions from transporting food from outside their locale. It also helps address social isolation as tenants work together towards a common goal.

My Baby and Me

Nov. 16, 2022 – In October 2022, the MIND Program supported “My Baby and Me,” a new program for young parents of babies in the Oakridge neighbourhood in southwest Scarborough. Parents gather for one and half hours each week for five to six weeks with their babies aged three to twelve months. In a relaxed, conversational setting, they meet with nursing staff from the Southeast Toronto Family Health Team (SET FHT) to discuss topics of interest to new parents. These include:

-          developmental milestones

-          when and how to introduce solid foods

-          sleep habits

-          common baby ailments

-          home safety.

The MIND Program provides a healthy breakfast for the parents, with familiar foods and some which might be new to them. The meetings build confidence, capacity, and community. Parents meet others in a similar situation to theirs and get a break as their babies play or are held by other parents or staff. New friendships develop and parents go out together afterwards, breaking down the social isolation common amongst parents of babies, especially during these pandemic times. Staff and other parents support and encourage those who might be considering further education or work possibilities.

A similar program used to be offered by Toronto Public Health but was shut down by the pandemic and has not restarted. The SET FHT nursing team is supported by the East Family Practitioners Network in partnership with the MIND Program.  

Sunday Dinner

On Sunday, Oct. 23, 2022, the MIND Program prepared and distributed 240 free chicken dinners to tenants in three Toronto Community Housing Corp. (TCHC) buildings in Scarborough ON. This was made possible by a generous donation of 60 cooked chickens by Janice Liu and her Asians in Action colleagues at Dell Technologies Canada. Janice and her team have provided meals for the MIND Program several times in the past as well as securing a corporate grant to assist with the high cost of protein sources needed in MIND’s Community Meal Program.

TCHC tenant volunteers Cindy Steeves and Byron Frik helped the MIND Program cook Wilbur Nixon in preparing and distributing the chicken dinners at 10 Glen Everest Rd. Tenant volunteer cook Elisa Franco distributed meals at 40 Firvalley Court. Donna Payne from the Canadian Mental Health Association (CMHA) distributed meals at 140 Adanac Dr.

This comes at a time when there is a record number of people needing to use food banks in Toronto. Grocery prices have soared but incomes are stagnant and Covid-emergency funds have dried up. The MIND Program provides low-cost, nutritious meals cooked on-site for tenants in TCHC buildings in Scarborough. This work is also supported by the United Way of Greater Toronto, Bayview Glen Church, the Government of Canada, The Seed of Mokmin Presbyterian Church, and many others.

Scarborough Mirror — Mar. 5, 2020

Meal program in Scarborough's Warden Woods area keeps residents going

'You don't want people to beg for food,' says tenant founder

NEWS 06:00 AM | BY MIKE ADLER |  TORONTO.COM

The MIND (Moving in New Directions) meal program has expanded to provide meals to two buildings in the Warden Woods area. Moustafa El-Haddad, a longtime tenant at 682 Warden Ave., is the program's founder. - Dan Pearce/Torstar

What keeps 682 Warden Ave. going as a community is a kitchen barely bigger than a bedroom closet.

When Moustafa El-Haddad arrived at the building, a round stack of 224 bachelor apartments near Warden Station, in 2002, he had just survived a massive heart attack.

Toronto Community Housing Corporation (TCHC) reserved 682 Warden for seniors. El-Haddad was the youngest person there.

“We live here because we are poor people. You do your best with what you have,” El-Haddad, now 73, says.

 What did 682 Warden have? Nothing except its community kitchen, El-Haddad concluded.

Back then, seniors sat in the recreation room, which two decades later still has a display board for bingo and shuffleboard spaces painted on the floor.

Having coffee, one lady suggested opening the kitchen for breakfasts and gave El-Haddad $200 — the first contribution toward $3,720, which paid for cabinets and supplies for what became Moving In New Directions (MIND) community meal program.

TCHC handed El-Haddad, the tenant representative, kitchen keys.

A mechanical engineer by trade, he learned to cook, and now people say he’s great at it.

The kitchen started selling breakfast sandwiches — grilled cheese; bacon, egg and cheese — for $1, and still does.

Hash browns, toast or coffee are 50 cents.

From 2005, MIND also opened for hot afternoon meals costing residents $1.50.

That year, the building changed. The City of Toronto started bringing formerly homeless people from Seaton House to 682 Warden.

Immediately, there were security issues, “a lot of drugs, a lot of partying,” El-Haddad said.

Remaining seniors left, but El-Haddad stayed, running MIND and staying as tenant representative until last year.

He considered new arrivals his responsibility.

“You can’t retire while people need you. Besides, keeping busy is a good thing,” he said, his hands resting on a cane.

The meal program remained vital.

Without affordable food, “there will be somebody knocking at your door asking for something to eat,” El-Haddad said.

“You don’t want people to beg for food inside their own communities, so you do your best to provide.”

What little money MIND makes goes to feed newcomers or ailing tenants for free.

Opioids hit the building hard.

Overdoses in stairwells happen “all the time,” said El-Haddad, adding two weeks earlier, a 51-year-old man overdosed and died in his room.

Representatives from Agincourt Community Services Association’s program, The Fix, and the Black Coalition for AIDS Prevention are frequently nearby, offering clean needles, pipe screens, condoms and naloxone, an opioid-blocking medicine for overdoses MIND trains people to use. South Riverdale Community Health Services runs cooking classes for diabetics.

The Warden Woods area is a “food desert”: there’s no grocery or even a convenience store nearby, said Doug Pritchard, MIND’s secretary-treasurer.

Tenants could go to food banks at Teesdale or Birch Cliff, but that’s too far for many, he said.

In 2018, because MIND would be hard to sustain with just volunteers, the program applied successfully to United Way Greater Toronto (UWGT) for a three-year grant.

UWGT “saw that gap,” and paid for cooks, making it possible to expand MIND to 40 Firvalley Ct., another TCHC highrise nearby, said Pritchard.

UWGT finds places where people fall “through the cracks,” said Ruth Crammond, community investment vice-president.

“Not only was the need in that area great, but we also thought this program was a great initiative.”

MIND hired tenants from both buildings.

Victor Blake, at 682 Warden, had a food handler’s certificate and, at first, volunteered for El-Haddad in exchange for meals.

“I’m thinking this elderly gentleman could use a hand in the kitchen,” Blake remembered.

“We started talking more and more, and here I am.”

Blake, a self-described quiet guy, likes meeting people. March 2 was his first day on the job.

“This is close and convenient, and it’s homemade cooking,” he said, after serving 40 meals of chicken, vegetables and stewed potatoes, peeled and in sauce Blake made from chicken broth, oregano and other seasonings.

A tenant with an abscessed tooth wanted just potatoes. “I’ve been hungry for days,” the man added.

Next door, a room was lined with old refrigerators and a freezer on which sat a tray of turkey bechamel, a dish from El-Haddad’s native Egypt.

Cooking at 40 Firvalley for three weeks, Abdelkhalek Amani said the job is a pleasure and he’s helping people cope with loneliness and other issues.

“You’re making change in someone’s life,” Amani said. “They need someone to talk to them and they need somebody to give them good food.”

Story behind the story

Hearing it was expanding thanks to United Way support, reporter Mike Adler wanted to see how tenants in a South Scarborough building started their own meal program and kept it going for two decades. He asks:

How can we ensure people on low incomes in Toronto get at least some healthy food every day?

Toronto Community Housing should open more of its highrise building kitchens to tenants or volunteers willing to cook for others. 

Mobile food trucks should bring staple foods to apartment buildings located in ‘food deserts’.

This is part of a larger problem, and something our city cannot handle on its own.

I’m not sure.

 by Mike Adler

Mike Adler is a reporter with toronto.com and Metroland Media Toronto who covers Scarborough and other overlooked parts of Toronto. He worked previously for Metroland in York Region. Email him at madler@toronto.com

Email: madler@toronto.com Facebook Twitter

MIND Program joins network of organizations across Canada using healthy food as a tool for social change

Toronto ON, Nov. 6, 2018 — The MIND Program is pleased to announce that we have joined Community Food Centres Canada’s Good Food Organizations program to showcase our commitment to offering impactful community food programs based in principles of health, empowerment, and respect. With over 175 other Good Food Organizations and 10 Community Food Centres across the country, we are working towards a Canada where everyone has the means, knowledge, and voice necessary to access good food with dignity.

Launched in 2014, the Good Food Organizations program offers access to tools and resources, customized training, an annual conference, and opportunities to network and promote shared priorities. By working together through a set of shared principles, this important initiative connects the MIND Program to like-minded and progressive organizations across the country that are using food to tackle problems of food insecurity, inequality, poor health, and social isolation.  

“The Good Food Organizations program provides support and inspiration to organizations across the country — community health centres, food banks, community markets, and many others — that are doing important grassroots food work,” said Kathryn Scharf, Chief Operating Officer at Community Food Centres Canada. “We have seen that when community food programs foreground healthy food in a dignified setting that offers meaningful opportunities for engagement, there can be a profoundly positive impact on people’s health and overall well-being. We want to amplify these outcomes to build a national case for an investment in healthy food for all.”

See a complete list of the Good Food Organizations here

Media inquiries: Doug Pritchard, MIND Program, 416 421 7079

Media inquiries: Kennedy Baker, Communications Manager, Community Food Centres Canada

416 531 8826 ext. 228 or kennedy@cfccanada.ca

The Good Food Organizations program is offered by Community Food Centres Canada (CFCC). Since 2012, Community Food Centres Canada has been working with partners to build and support vibrant places in low-income communities that build health, belonging, and social justice through the power of food. Find out more at www.cfccanada.ca.