Care Without Barriers
Why Now
North Etobicoke’s residents face unique needs—seniors in isolation, families without primary care, youth struggling with mental health.
A one-size-fits-all system fails them all—our model combines a central Campus of Care with neighborhood-based Care Blocks.
The Campus serves residents with high or complex needs—seniors, people with chronic conditions, and those requiring coordinated medical and social support. Everything is under one roof for seamless transitions.
Care Blocks are small, local hubs for moderate-to-low needs. They offer primary care, mental health counseling, parenting support, and daycare—right in the neighborhoods where people live.
This tiered approach matches care intensity to individual need. It reduces hospital strain, catches problems early, and keeps residents healthier by respecting personal dignity and choice.
How Does This Impact Me?
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You get a “Teen Territory" safe space to hang out after school, plus library-based navigators who can connect you to free mental health counseling, tutoring, or youth job programs without needing a doctor’s note.
Students from Humber College (18-24) will have access to the off-campus support at Campus of Care locations on major intersections, and gain access to work-based learning opportunities that could lead to employment.
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Support for Care Economy Co-ops via Ontario Cooperatives Association and Humber College will help to create a direct path to worker ownership options for union-backed professions like PSWs, DSWs, or ECEs.
Access to Mobile Care Team will help to reduce 911 response times for crises, making your neighborhood safer without over-policing.
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Care Blocks relieve your "sandwich generation" stress by offering one-stop access to daycare, senior day programs, and mental health supports right in your local library or community hub, so you aren't running across the city for help.
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The Mobile Crisis Team and Social Prescriptions bring healthcare workers and social connectors directly to your door or local senior center, helping you manage chronic conditions and fight isolation without navigating complex hospital waitlists.
My First 100 Days
Day 45: Launch a Mobile Care Team pilot in the Rexdale and Albion corridors with the Mobile Crisis Intervention Team (MCIT).
Day 60: Partner with Toronto Public Library to create "Care Navigator" roles to pilot "Social Prescriptions" (connecting residents to community programs via their library card).
Day 90: Host 6 community health town halls to design "Care Blocks" for all ages and abilities.
Day 100: Begin a feasibility study for a Care Economy Co-op (PSWs, DSWs, ECEs) with Humber College.
ROAD MAP
(1-4 YEAR PROJECTS)
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This initiative adapts Bogotá’s “Care Blocks" to create a "Campus of Care" at every major intersections. Care blocks (Manzanas del Cuidado) are neighborhood-based hubs that reduces the burden of domestic work by delivering support for both dependents and caregivers using the following services:
Respite & Wellness: Free laundry facilities, psychological counseling, fitness, and recreational/dance classes.
Education & Training: Flexible training programs aligned to finish at primary/secondary school hours, computer literacy courses, and certified technical job training.
Economic Autonomy: Legal aid, entrepreneurship workshops, and pathways to income-generating opportunities
The operational framework unites fragmented municipal, civil, and private resources into a single, accessible node, while mobile units extend reach to marginalized populations. Over 1-4 years, the project aims to reduce social isolation, improve health outcomes, and generate cost efficiencies through shared infrastructure.
Major Activities
Site Conversion & Service Integration: Retrofit the selected mall space to co-locate preschool/school-age care with adult day services, and start the "care for caregivers" suite (laundromat, legal aid, counseling, job training) within the hub.
Network Mapping & Partnership Mobilization: Formalize agreements with municipal agencies, schools, and health centers to create the integrated 15-minute service network and establish protocols for resource sharing.
Mobile Outreach Deployment: Procure and deploy mobile care buses and home-delivery assistance to extend services to populations outside the walking radius, ensuring equitable access.
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Building on Humber River Health's provenHUB@2115 model, this initiative repurposes underutilized space into a Paramedicine and Social Medicine Coworking Facility—a proactive hub that stops crises before they reach the ER.
Overseen by Toronto Public Health, the Hub co-locates community paramedics with social medicine navigators (social workers, peer supports) under one roof. Together, they make daily home visits to treat chronic conditions, address housing/food insecurity, and divert non-emergency 911 calls—all while sharing real-time data and care plans.
Two strategic drivers enable sustainability: the Black-Focused Social Prescribing pilot and the Creative Co-Location Property Tax Subclass (up to 50% tax relief), which subsidizes operations. The Hub functions as a living R&D lab: paramedics and navigators systematically document what works, for whom, and in which cultural contexts—refining mobile care protocols alongside the communities served. Care is never generic; it is continuously adapted to the diverse realities of those who need it most.
Major Activities:
Establish Link Navigator and Care Coordination Infrastructure: Recruit, train, and deploy dedicated Link Navigators to screen for social determinants, connect clients to primary care, and coordinate wraparound services including housing, food security, and income supports, replicating the proven BFSP model.
Secure Partnership Agreements and Governance Structures: Formalize data-sharing and service delivery agreements with Ontario Health Teams, Community Health Centres (including Rexdale CHC), Humber River Health, and community organizations to define roles, responsibilities, and referral pathways.
Adapt Municipal Levers (Space, Tax Incentives, Planning): Execute lease agreements for Woodbine Mall storefronts, apply for the Creative Co-Location Facilities tax subclass (up to 50% property tax reduction), and coordinate with Toronto Public Health to integrate preventive programming into the hub's service offering.
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North Etobicoke’s geography creates transit barriers that fragment addiction care. This 1–4 year pilot applies a Campus of Care model to make Rapid Access Addiction Medicine (RAAM) clinics accessible with primary care, detox, and mental health services.
Anchored mobile outreach delivers harm reduction supplies and training directly to shelters and worksites, while a family support hub offers Community Reinforcement and Family Training (CRAFT) coaching and peer support. This framework ensures easy-to-navigate care transitions, eliminates travel as a barrier, and strengthens family engagement as a pathway to treatment, ultimately creating a continuous, low-barrier continuum from street outreach to sustained recovery.
Major Activities:
Establish Integrated RAAM & Wellness Hub: Co-locate medication-assisted treatment, voluntary detox, primary care, and mental health counselling within the Campus of Care, with coordinated scheduling and shared health records to ensure seamless transitions between care levels and reduce missed appointments.
Deploy Mobile Harm Reduction Outreach: Operate a mobile team to distribute naloxone, safe supplies, and overdose training across North Etobicoke shelters and worksites, with protocols for warm handoffs to on-campus RAAM, detox beds, and housing.
Launch Family Support & CRAFT Programming: Implement virtual and in-person CRAFT coaching, peer support groups, and a helpline for families of treatment-refusing individuals, integrated with on-campus clinical services to create a concurrent, stigma-free pathway to treatment entry.
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This initiative repurposes underutilized public and private assets—including school gymnasiums, community centers, and vacant retail spaces—into a coordinated, low-cost network of safe, youth-designed indoor spaces. Leveraging the Community Use of Schools framework, we ensure affordability through waived or sliding-scale fees, extending evening and weekend access to dedicated teen-only zones. By doing so, we alleviate park overcrowding, counter social isolation, and transform idle infrastructure into vibrant hubs for belonging and preventive wellness.
Youth Employment & Social Prescription (Memory Cafés):
Expanding on the HUB@2115 model and inspired by Japan’s Anki Cafe and Humber College’s PSW program, we are converting vacant mall stores in Albion, Woodbine, and Rexdale into Memory Cafés. These intergenerational hubs function as social prescription sites, addressing both senior isolation and the youth "third-place" deficit. Youth co-lead programming—including recipe archiving, craft-to-digital exchanges, oral history podcasts, book clubs, mural creation, games, dementia awareness training, and youth culture showcases—building employability while fostering meaningful cross-generational connection.Integrated Support & Leadership Development:
Beyond recreation, the initiative bridges critical service gaps left by cancelled youth programs. We embed "off-campus" mental health drop-in support, peer leadership training, and intergenerational activities directly into these spaces. Through co-design with teens, we ensure cultural safety, accessibility, and relevance—positioning public assets not as passive facilities, but as dynamic engines for skill-building, social connection, and community resilience.Major Activities:
Co-Design Teen Advisory Councils: Recruit 20–30 diverse teens from local high schools and community centers to co-create programming, safety protocols, and space-use schedules, ensuring activities reflect youth priorities (e.g., esports, art, mental wellness).
Program Registration: Develop a digital portal for real-time facility reservations with automated fee waivers for low-income families, plus dedicated blocks for teen-only drop-in hours at each site.
Launch a “Safe Space Steward” Training Program: Train 15 part-time youth workers and adult allies in conflict de-escalation, mental health first aid, and cultural competency to staff evening/weekend shifts, fostering consistent, trusted adult presence.
Youth Cooperatives for Memory Cafes: Youth staff earn wages and training in elder care, empathy, and business management. This cooperative would deliver low-risk, high-impact social medicine for Ward 1’s diverse seniors while building youth skills and community connection.
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In 2025, the LiUNA Local 506 Training Centre Construction and Child Care Research Initiative reported that union-financed, non-standard hour care is both feasible and necessary. LiUNA’s model: negotiated union trust funds financed through employer contributions and collective bargaining, deliver care designed for the early mornings, overtime, and unpredictable schedules of building trades work.
Ontario faces a shortage of 380,500 construction workers by 2034, yet care responsibilities—for children, aging parents, and disabled family members—force tradespeople to turn down shifts, delay apprenticeships, or leave the industry entirely, disproportionately burdening women. Underpaid care providers (ECEs, PSWs, and DSWs) face the same impossible choice: care for others or care for their own families.
This closed-loop system delivers for the whole family:
Workers in Construction and related trades can stay on the job, gain flexible dependent care for their families; or, gain access to a care network that makes caregiving practical for future family needs and normalized for current needs.
Workers in the Care Economy build careers, gain higher wages, ownership stakes, and create a provider network that alleviates their own care burdens.
As your councillor, I will pilot this model in Ward 1. Using municipal land-use and convening powers, I will enable construction unions (LiUNA) to finance and retrofit multi-generational facilities, while care worker unions (PSWs, DSWs, ECEs) own and operate cooperatives within them.
Major Activities
Leverage Municipal Land to Unlock Union Capital: Identify surplus municipal properties for long-term leases, de-risking union investment. This allows LiUNA to direct training funds and collective agreement dollars toward retrofitting multi-generational care hubs, and union properties for dependent care options serving children, seniors, and people with disabilities .
Convene a Union-Union Partnership Table: Launch a North Etobicoke Union Care Co-op pilot, leveraging the Canadian Built Opportunities Platform (C$800M+ Fiera Capital/UBC fund) to unite skilled trades unions (Carpenters Local 27, IUPAT, BACU) with care worker unions (CUPE) to provide ECE/DSW/PSW co-op services—giving trades workers child/elder care benefits while creating stable union care jobs.
Launch a Pilot & Track Triple Outcomes: Oversee the first co-located hub offering non-standard hours care (early mornings, evenings, overnights) for dependents of all ages. I will track three outcomes with labour unions.
