Community Development and Social Action Program

The Community Development and Social Action Program works to engage our staff and program users in a process of social change. Staff work with clients, focusing on their strengths and identifying opportunities for long term engagement. As our mission states, together we will “identify, prevent and alleviate social and economic problems.”

Check out the second issue of our Community Development Social Action newsletter!

This process of change is commonly referred to as “community development”. Some of the tools we use to give clients a voice include:

• Client involvement in program design, development and decision making. This could include taking part in program advisory committees, committees and board membership, focus groups and other forms of feedback to keep improving our programs to meet their needs
• Skills building
• Civic engagement - taking part in the political process, such as making a speech at a committee of city government, participating in rallies, voting in elections, etc.

St. Stephen’s Community House has a long history of community development dating back to 1974. More recently, we took part in the Toronto Neighbourhood Centres (TNC) Community Development Renewal initiative. In this initiative, community development training was provided by the Building Movement Project. Building Movement works with social service agencies to help them become more active, engaged and effective as social change agents and facilitators with and for their clients.

For the St. Stephen’s community, good quality affordable housing, employment options, safety, reduction of poverty and social inclusion are top priorities. The process of community development works with clients to identify and give voice to these concerns.

Our clients are increasingly speaking up on issues. Newcomer participants have presented deputations to City Council on housing needs and how to reduce poverty. A Youth Arcade participant made a successful deputation asking that the City’s Community Service Partnership grant be increased. Seniors have written to their MP asking for money to fund community needs. Clients in our Corner Drop-In have written letters to the Ontario Government stating why they need the Special Diet Allowance. LINC students wrote the Ontario Government about the need for new affordable housing. Clients of our Corner Drop-in attended a leaders’ forum to discuss the next steps for poverty reduction in Ontario.

Staff have taken part in Community Development trainings and are becoming more active in involving clients in work for social change. We are active with a variety of campaigns, coalitions and networks that are addressing these issues, including Toronto Neighbourhood Centres, I Vote Toronto, Fair Fare Coalition, Toronto Open Budget Initiative, Toronto Drop-in Network and the 25 in 5 Network for Poverty Reduction (see LINKS to these and other partners).

These campaigns are also translated into Advocacy Positions and Endorsements for the House. Our Board of Directors has an Advocacy Committee that gathers, reviews and recommends these advocacy positions and endorsements. We are proud to post these positions on our website.

St. Stephen's Annual General Meeting 2010


Joey, Kevin and Tom from the Corner Drop-in collect comments about the TTC at the St. Stephen's Annual General Meeting in June 2010.