By Korbin Milo
(Korbin is a journalist with the Focus Media Arts Centre)

Wednesday March 23, 2022, was a day of jubilation for the residents and friends of Regent Park. After two years of caution and separation on account of the pandemic, members of the SDP (Social Development Plan) orchestrated an in-person celebration packed with music, foods for all tastes and preferences, and ample opportunities to reconnect with neighbours and community members.

The day started with a market place in the Daniel’s Spectrum Arts Centre’s foyer.  The foyer was filled with residents eager to explore the tabled offerings of local merchants and entrepreneurs. These booths offered a wide range of authentic homemade foods, organic merchandise, handmade crafts, and opportunities for community networking.

The marketplace hummed with activity and excitement until 5pm, when Denise Soueidan O’Leary, mounted the cafe counter top to officially launch the CSI (Centre for Social Innovation) Community Living Room.  The CSI  Community Living Room is a partnership between CSI, Daniels and Artscape. The space, consisting of tables, lounge chairs, books, children’s toys, a café and a TV, was designed as a public living room for residents and community members to informally gather and use as they see fit.   

Along with offering an informal space, the community Living Room is also a neighbourhood-level experiment to build community wealth, community enterprise and social enterprises at the ground level.  Towards this end, the space will be a place for entrepreneurs to gather, network and work on their ventures. The launch of the space featured speeches by Denise Soueidan-O’Leary and Tonya Surman from CSI, Farid Jalil from Artscape and Heela Omarkhail from Daniels.

A cupcake toast concluded the community living room and the first portion of the day's SDP events.