Archive for the ‘recent events’ Category

Imagining Toronto’s better future

27 Jan

Join the Parkdale Activity Recreation Centre
and Small Wooden Shoe in
Imagining Toronto’s better future.

What kind of city would you want to live in, if we could make a city from scratch?

Upper Toronto starts with a terrible idea. We want to build a new city in the sky above the current Toronto.

It’s a terrible idea that allows us to ask what would happen if, knowing what we now know, we could start fresh.

We are meeting with people from all across Toronto to ask them about the city that they live in now. What do you love about it? What do you hate about it? What would you change?

Spend an evening with other people from your community and help us dream of a better city for everyone.

Tuesday, February 7 at 7PM at the 
Parkdale Activity Recreation Centre
1499 Queen Street West
Free (with snacks) 

WHAT TO EXPECT
Expect a quick introduction to the ideas that drive Upper Toronto. Expect guided brainstorming and playful design work. Expect time to think about city planning with a freedom and depth rarely permitted to even the experts. Expect to laugh. Expect to examine your own ideas about what’s most important in city life.
By opening this process to people across Toronto we hope to learn about your civic dreams and imaginations while giving you an experience of civic engagement and the challenges of planning.

WHO WE ARE
Small Wooden Shoe is an award winning arts company that uses current and effective consultation practices, mixed with our own innovative and idiosyncratic performance style. We bring experience with conferences, unconferences, keynote presentations, debating workshops, online collaboration, and 10 years of events in which groups come together to make the world a more interesting and engaged place. We are bent on proving that good ideas are entertaining and that pleasure and thinking require each other.

 
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Buy the book “Let’s Face It”

11 Jan

A 241 page book filled with creative work from PARC members you would  want to have in your library and share with friends. “Let’s face it” documents and presents publicly the talent of the homeless, social-isolated and marginalized people in Toronto.

I thought that you were lost or in hiding

I thought that you had abandoned me

I found myself searching for you everywhere

I looked in the trees

I looked amongst the leaves

and the bark

and the roots……

— excerpt from A Letter (My Dear Soul) by Renata Edan

To buy this book ($25), please contact Raveen at 416-537-2262 ext 268

 

 

 
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Posted in News and Events, People, recent events, special projects, Writing

 

Happy Volunteers Day

05 Dec

December 5th is the International Volunteer Day and we at PARC want to remember it locally. PARC started with the efforts of many volunteers and still volunteers have an important role in the daily activities. More than 100 volunteers help the organization wherever the need is: kitchen, drop-in, music and art groups, committees and boards, admin and event. Some are PARC members who want to give back being thankful for the support they are receiving. Others are supporters from the community who believe in PARC mission and want to support it.

 Mary McMillan and Eric Tchao have been faithfully volunteering with PARC since 2010. Mary having a lot of administrative experience has been supporting every Thursday the Management team and has been a real help to the staff. Eric is teaching Yoga classes every Sunday at the Healing Room and is a good example of a professional who loves to support during his weekends. I asked some questions related with their experience with us:

1. -It has been more than one year you are volunteering at PARC. What keeps you doing it, even in the midst of various challenges?

Mary: Cathy (Finance Director) has developed a routine that works for us.  She has a pile of things that I know how to do, and she introduces new tasks one at a time.  I feel like I am making life a bit easier for her and happy to do time-consuming jobs that need to be done.

Eric: I believe that healthy and happy communities start with healthy and happy individuals. Yoga is an excellent way to work towards this and can be practiced by anybody almost anywhere.

 2. Can you tell us a bit about yourself?

Mary: In addition to volunteering at PARC, I enjoy going to the YMCA, reading, knitting, Yoga, a wide range of music, walking and travelling.  I love living in Parkdale.

 Eric: I was first introduced to yoga by my wife. We lived abroad for 4 years and during that time our yoga practice grew. We realized that we loved Toronto and the people that lived here and knew that when we moved back, we wanted to get involved and contribute to this community.

3. What do you think is unique at PARC that you would like to promote?

Mary: I particularly like the respectful philosophy that PARC espouses.  Members are encouraged to do their own thing and are respected for who they are.

 Eric: PARC is a unique meeting place for a diverse group of people. Each of them brings their own experiences, stories and opinions. Each of them get something out of PARC that is unique to them and that’s what I love. Even in our yoga classes, some members enjoy the sweat of a work out, some enjoy stretching their muscles while others just like to listen to the music and meditate.

 4. Why a professional like you, wants to volunteer?

Mary: I know that there is always more work to do than time in which to do it.  If doing routine chores a few hours a week helps, I am happy to contribute.  In addition, I enjoy the variety and relaxed atmosphere at PARC.

Eric:I live and work nearby and volunteering at PARC provides me a great way to be involved with the neighbourhood.

Volunteers like Mary and Eric are so needed in PARC and we are thankful for everyone.

If you are interested to volunteer with PARC please consider applying online here.

For more questions contact Endrit at 416-537-2262 ext 264 or emullisi@parc.on.ca

 
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Posted in People, recent events, Volunteer

 
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