By Dimitrije Martinovic
Dimitrje is a staff with FOCUS MEDIA ARTS CENTRE

The SDP Stakeholders Table is the main decision-making body responsible for the implementation of Social Development Plan.  The Stakeholders Committee meets four times yearly.

Intended to be a coalition of stakeholders serving or residing in Regent Park, participation on the Stakeholders Table is open to anyone including market and TCHC residents; Agencies, Grassroots Groups, Faith Groups and businesses located in or serving Regent Park; TCHC and its development partners; City of Toronto, and elected representatives serving Regent Park.

While membership is open to all, voting privileges are restricted to residents and stakeholder groups who are actively involved on the various working committees of the SDP. The working committees are communications, community building, safety, employment & economic development, funding, and evaluation and benchmarks. The SDP Stakeholders Table is coordinated by a planning committee.

The September 20th, 2022, hybrid & in-person meeting of the Regent Park Stakeholders Table took place at the CSI Community Living Room located on the first floor of Daniels Spectrum and it was live-streamed on Zoom and the Regent Park TV Youtube Channel.

The meeting was chaired by Ismail Afrah- the TCHC resident co-chair, Marlene Degenova the Market resident co-chair, and Greg Gary, the Executive Director of the Boys and Girls Club Toronto Kiwanis representing the Executive Directors Network.

Marlene De Genova began the meeting with a welcome, Greg Gary did the land acknowledgement and Ismail Afrah reminded the purpose of the Stakeholders Table.

The first item of the agenda was brought by Michael Rosenberg and Walied Khogali with an introduction into the decision-making process which is worked by consensus and a voting procedure when there’s no consensus.

Walied presented a motion to strike a committee to implement a strategic planning process in 2023. He emphasized the importance of this decision-making item regarding strategic planning in order to create an effective strategy to achieve goals and set a direction for future action. After some discussion and no objections to build consensus on creating a strategic planning committee, the motion was approved.

Adonis Huggins from Focus Media Arts Centre introduced the next agenda item with a presentation of the initiatives that were funded by the SDP in 2020 such as Regent Park TV, let’s hear what Adonis have to say.

The next agenda item was introduced by the Access to Recreation Group. Joel Klassen and Hani Afra explained some of their activities and how Regent Park residents have worked to address accessibility issues in Regent, such as the Aquatic centre. Hani Afrah continued with some of the other work the Access to Recreation Group is doing with respect to finding work for young people.

The much awaited Regent Park community app Hello Neighbour has finally been created and was launched this summer. Ibrahim Afrah explained some of the history in its development,  such as the funders: The United Way, The City of Toronto, Regent Park Social Development Plan (SDP)- Communication Table, Young Street Mission, Regent Park Neighbourhood Association. This mobile app brings everything you need to know about your community in a convenient app format.

Features:
* Navigate a portal to find current programs, services, and grassroots groups
* Use a directory to discover who are local artists & entrepreneurs
* An integrated Google Maps platform will find restaurants and other places nearby
* Apply to jobs through the community job board
* Connect with your Neighbourhood Association
* Enjoy your neighbourhood news and receive community-wide broadcasts
* Sign-up, register, or request information to local events and meetings through the app
* Save upcoming events you don't want to miss
* Communicate through an online form and post your comments

The next item was the report from the Employment and Economic Table (EED), Ismail Afrah provided that update. The goal of the EED is increase entrepreneurial and employment opportunities for Regent Park residents. The tangible results were 150 engagement sessions, 120 new contacts, and the total number of stakeholders has been increased to 175.

The last presentation was made Joel Klassen from Community Civic Engagement Collaborative(CCEC). Joel announced that CCEC is hosting an all-candidates meeting on Wednesday  Oct 12, 2022, to be held at the Daniels Spectrum. Candidates will present their individual party platforms for the up-coming Municipal Elections on October 24, 2022.

As the meeting drew to a close, Waleid Khogali Ali summed the critical takeaways from the meeting: the Regent Park Social Development is work, residents are more connected, residents have a voice, residents  have a strategic plan for their future, which is to create a sustainable and inclusive community for all.