By Fred Alvarado -  Fred is a community journalist with FOCUS MEDIA ARTS CENTRE

Welcome to RPTV Weekly News Show Episode 56 (July 14th to July 21st). In this weekly news show hosted by RPTV reporters Fred Alvarado, Gabriel Meissner, Jabin Haque, and Victoria Nanetti, we present news that impacts on Toronto's Regent Park and the surrounding areas.

Episode 56 features segments on:

* Mayor Olivia Chow takes office as Mayor of Toronto on July 12th (01:46 min);
* Regent Park Community Health Centre celebrates 50th anniversary with Community BBQ and Party on July 13th (08:06 min);
* City Council appoints public members to the Confronting Anti-Black Racism Advisory Committee (13:26 min);
* Affordable Housing advocates and action groups demands Mayor Olivia Chow to stop developer’s plan to build a 47-storey luxury condo at 214-230 Sherbourne (16:27 min);
* St James Town Residents Council Hosts Summer Town Hall on July 11th (23:48 min);
* African, Refugee and Civil Society Groups assisting refugees demands action to help asylum seekers sleeping on Toronto streets (31:02 min);
* Police search for suspect in Regent Park stabbing on July 16th (35:27 min);
* Man stabbed in Cabbagetown, two suspects in custody (36:05 min); Toronto Fringe Festival presents Shanice Stanislaus’ “Mail Ordered” in Regent Park (36:51 min);
 

This week’s lead story:

Established in 1973, the Regent Park Community Health Centre (RPCHC) located at 465 Dundas St East is a community-based organization dedicated to improving the health and wellbeing of residents and communities in the Regent Park area of Downtown East.  

RPCHC provide integrated high-quality primary health care services, including health promotion services and community capacity building. Their priority is to reduce the health inequities experienced by low-income, immigrant, refugee, non-status, marginally-housed, and homeless populations.

On July 13th, 2023, the Regent Park Community Health Centre celebrated their 50th anniversary with a community BBQ and Party at the Big Park. There were Live DJ, games, raffles, Zumba, dancing, free BBQ and fun!

MPP for Toronto Centre Kristyn Wong-Tam was at the celebration to present a scroll of congratulations.

“I’m so happy to be here in the heart of Regent Park to celebrate an iconic milestone anniversary for one of our most beloved institutions, the Regent Park Community Health Centre has been serving the community for 50 years and that means community-based health care in the languages that are culturally appropriate to our community - it is so critically important, and especially after three years of the gruelling pandemic, it’s so nice to see so many come out to celebrate this iconic milestone. I’m here largely to bring remarks of congratulations and to present their executive director, their board and volunteers with a scroll of congratulations, it’s a symbolic gesture to say a big thank you to an organization that has been embedded in our community for all this time. They have served our community through several health crisis, they have been always here to serve newcomers and racialized communities, so that’s why I’m really proud of the work that the Regent Park Community Health Centre does here,” said Kristyn Wong-Tam.