EAST SCARBOROUGH STOREFRONT
At the Mall
255 Morningside Avenue, Suite #305
416-208-9889
Reported by Andrew Antinucci, Photo by Margery Armstrong, July 20th
Need help with employment? Need help with mental health? Need help with anything at all? Well you’re in luck. The East Scarborough Storefront is a partnership project that helps anyone in the East Scarborough with virtually any type of situation. They cater their assistance to every one of any age, race, income, and culture.
The basic goals of the Storefront are to promote and to create a thriving community. It offers a wide array of services that can help people out with any situations. How it works is that you go to the Storefront, tell them your need or required, and they relay your situation to an agency that can accommodate that special demand. It offers health, legal, employment, education, and computer assistances, and also provides various programs for seniors, youth and women and much more. It also has support groups as well; for example it has a Tsunami Support Group and Mental Health Counseling to mention a few. One of the more surprising and new facts about the Storefront is that it is quite well funded by 4 different supporters, which are the City of Toronto, United Way, Service Canada, and other local foundations. This kind of support is virtually unheard of for a project like the Storefront, and it is pleasing to hear that there is a well-funded partnership program like the Storefront found within Scarborough.
The Storefront is truly a place where the atmosphere is warm and a place where everybody is welcome. They greet everyone with a smile and are always ready for business. We talked to Lukimda Kabambi, who is a daily patron of the East Scarborough Storefront and states that the place overall is “warm, and a great area”. He uses the Storefront to find out facts of the community, process computer documents, and help him generate job searches. Kabambi stated that the Storefront is fairly easy to access. “[The] people that work here are very, very friendly,” Kabambi added his opinion of the storefront staff. Kabambi finally added that he “highly recommends everyone of any age” to be a part of this partnership project. This is a true testament on how well it operates and how well the Storefront reaches out to the people of Scarborough.
We also spoke with the volunteer who works with the seniors that are registered with the Storefront, Ruth Jeyaratnam. She has been a volunteer at the Storefront for just over 4 years and has been very active with the seniors there. She assists with various events with the seniors. For example she helps facilitate walking events for seniors. “There are currently 60 seniors that are joined with these programs, and it makes me happy to help and guide each and everyone of them, and when I see a smile on their faces I am happy as well” she adds when asked on how she feels when working with the seniors. This shows that all the volunteers that are part of the Storefront are more than happy to help you with your services and needs.
We also caught up with another worker for the Storefront, a youthful employee by the name of Kevin Sison. He is a summer employee of the Storefront and is an Assistant Community Resource Specialist. He stated that the space is “very open and can be very busy at times”. He adds that the Storefront is “an encouraging atmosphere, and that it’s a rewarding place where I feel like I am making a difference.” This type of attitude helps create an encouraging and helpful ambiance that corresponds to what the Storefront exemplifies - a helpful, promising community resource.
All in all, this is a place that helps create and establish a community full of respect and helpfulness. Anne Gloger, the Coordinator of the East Scarborough Storefront, believes that if all the communities got together within this partnership program, it can only spell for a more thriving community. We asked her if tying in Highland Creek would help out the Storefront, and she replied “Tying in the two communities [Highland Creek and (East) Scarborough], can only make it better.” You can’t put it any better than that. You can visit there any time from 10:00am – 7:00pm Monday – Friday, on the third level on Morningside Mall or visit their website at www.thestorefront.org or e-mail them at info@thestorefront.org. They are awaiting final approvals to move to the 42 Division Police Station on Lawrence in October, which is a bigger space better serve its high demand. They hope to see you there!
Photo, left to right: Kevin, Kivinya, Anne, Mr. and Mrs. Sivanathan