The Home Pitch

07/14/2022

On July 10, Denise Balkissoon, the Ontario bureau chief for The Narwhal tweeted:

“Police responded to a mental health call in Toronto last night, took a 26-yr-old into custody, and now he's dead. Very few details.” Balkissoon included a link to a Toronto Star article with further details.

“A police-free mental health response pilot project is underway. I hope it succeeds and expands.”

On July 7, John Tory announced the launch of two new Toronto Community Crisis Service pilots.

“The new alternative model of crisis response for residents of Toronto aims to better support community health, wellness and safety by providing a community-led solution to respond to mental health crisis calls and wellness checks,” according to a statement released by the City.

What does this actually mean for folks struggling with mental health?

Black, Indigenous and many other groups like No Pride in Policing Coalition (NPPC) have called to defund and abolish the Toronto Police service and redistribute its budgets to fund housing, food, public transit and other life-giving supports.

06/09/2022

Many of Toronto’s mutual aid networks and neighbourhood pods formed as a response to the pandemic, but mutual aid has a long and robust history in the city.

“Mutual aid has become a very popular term through the pandemic, but actually, it has been happening in Toronto communities for decades and decades,” Nahum Mann, a Davenport-based organizer who helped start the Davenport Mutual Aid Network, said.

While resource-sharing and economic support are often the most urgent work of mutual aid, another critical piece is around community safety. This work is invaluable, but it brings up the question of why mutual aid is needed in the first place?

For many marginalized people, especially Black and Indigenous folks and those living with mental health issues, a police presence in their neighbourhood could be harmful and even dangerous. For this reason, it can be empowering for these communities to self-determine what safety looks like for them.

“One of the big principles of mutual aid is this idea that we keep each other safe,” Mann said.

Read the full story here:

While resource-sharing and economic support are often the most urgent work of mutual aid, another critical piece is around community safety. This work is invaluable, but it brings up the question of why mutual aid is needed in the first place?

06/06/2022

Repost from our friends at Human Nature Projects Ontario:

We are super proud and excited to announce our first-ever news feature in The Home Pitch!!

Following our successful community cleanup, HNP was asked to share their thoughts on various political strategies and plans pertaining to environmental sustainability, the effectiveness of current environmental policies and how lowering the voting age might prove beneficial in pushing for and achieving better results!

⭐️ SWIPE to learn more about The Home Pitch article and the organization’s founder, Melissa Embury ⭐️

Be sure to check out the article via LINK IN BIO and visit to learn more about the many prevalent challenges confronting today’s underrepresented communities

06/02/2022

For many local people in Toronto, the art world is an inaccessible community, with exhibits behind closed doors or in places where many folks don’t feel represented, invited or welcome. The curators of the Toronto Biennial of Art have worked to change this concept and ensure that contemporary art is free and accessible to everyone.

This year the Biennial, which opened on March 26 and runs until June 5, is one of the largest art events open to the public. The majority of Biennial sites are AODA-compliant, with a range of accessible outdoor projects and a hybrid programming model of virtual and in-person events, all reachable by public transport.

Take a deep dive with us through the 2019 and 2022 themes, how far the Biennial has come as an organization, supporting artists first and why having the same curatorial team was important for placemaking, community and collaboration.

The Home Pitch explored the Biennial in person. With June being National Indigenous History Month and Pride Month, here is our curated list of highlighted exhibitions by Indigenous and 2SLGBTQ+ artists on until June 5.

For many local people in Toronto, the art world is an inaccessible community, with exhibits behind closed doors or in places where many folks don’t feel represented, invited or welcome. The curators of the Toronto Biennial of Art have worked to change this concept and ensure that contemporary art ...

05/24/2022

Human Nature Projects Ontario (HNP) is a local, youth-led non-profit environmental organization working to raise awareness, provide education and empower the next generation of change-makers to take action.

The organization was founded in January 2021 by students Srija Das, Theo Liu and Muhammad Ansar. Their goals include educating Ontarians on the pressing environmental concerns we are facing and creating a plan for sustainable development.

With provincial elections coming up on June 2, we asked HNP’s youth executive team to share their thoughts on solutions and predictions from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, lowering the voting age to 16 and how major parties plan to tackle our environmental crisis.

To read the full story go to the link in our bio.

05/19/2022

Human Nature Projects Ontario (HNP) is a local, youth-led non-profit environmental organization working to raise awareness, provide education and empower the next generation of change-makers to take action.

There are many environmental groups doing important work in Toronto, but what makes HNP stand out as a model is the executive team of youth leaders who are recruiting volunteers from local high schools. These initiatives and events give local youth a fresh look at the possibilities for transforming the space they live in. HNP believes it’s better to start now with actionable solutions locally.

Last month, The Home Pitch attended HNP’s Community Clean-Up event in High Park, where 170 local high school students (and some residents) volunteered in person to remove garbage, discarded plastics and even old mattresses and tents — filling over 200 bags.

With provincial elections coming up on June 2, we asked HNP’s youth executive team to share their thoughts on solutions and predictions from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, lowering the voting age to 16 and how major parties plan to tackle our environmental crisis.

Read all about solutions via the link in our bio.

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05/19/2022

Human Nature Projects Ontario (HNP) is a local, youth-led non-profit environmental organization working to raise awareness, provide education and empower the next generation of change-makers to take action.

There are many environmental groups doing important work in Toronto, but what makes HNP stand out as a model is the executive team of youth leaders who are recruiting volunteers from local high schools. These initiatives and events give local youth a fresh look at the possibilities for transforming the space they live in. HNP believes it’s better to start now with actionable solutions locally.

Last month, The Home Pitch attended HNP’s Community Clean-Up event in High Park, where 170 local high school students (and some residents) volunteered in person to remove garbage, discarded plastics and even old mattresses and tents — filling over 200 bags.

With provincial elections coming up on June 2, we asked HNP’s youth executive team to share their thoughts on solutions and predictions from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, lowering the voting age to 16 and how major parties plan to tackle our environmental crisis.

Human Nature Projects Ontario (HNP) is a local, youth-led non-profit environmental organization working to raise awareness, provide education and empower the next generation of change-makers to take action.

05/17/2022

Here are the key takeaways from our deep dive with Dr. Sherry Boodram, the chief executive officer and co-founder of . She shares her knowledge on the future of psychedelic medicine in Canada for treating mental health.

Boodram was a senior compliance and enforcement officer at Health Canada before starting a consulting firm that specializes in cannabis and psychedelics licensing.

Learn about why representation matters, what it’s like being a racialized woman in a leadership position and how she’s changing the industry. We also take you through the history of legalization, where Canada is at for therapeutic treatment and clinical trials, how sacred Indigenous plant medicines are at the core of the movement and where we go from here.

For the full story: https://thehomepitch.com/?p=600

05/13/2022

Did you take part in the Festival this past weekend? We would love to hear your take-always on your relationship with our city!

If you couldn’t attend the online events this weekend, Jane’s Walk will be making the info from the panel discussions available through their website and newsletter after the festival.

And Fane stressed that while the festival happens from May 6 to 8, the organization runs year-round and anyone can hold a walk by contacting the festival organizers who will help promote it.

05/13/2022

Did you take part in the Jane's Walk Toronto Festival this past weekend? We would love to hear your take-always on your relationship with our city!

If you couldn’t attend the online events this weekend, Jane’s Walk will be making the info from the panel discussions available through their website and newsletter after the festival.

And Fane stressed that while the festival happens from May 6 to 8, the organization runs year-round and anyone can hold a walk by contacting the festival organizers who will help promote it.

For the full story:
https://thehomepitch.com/?p=629

05/06/2022

This Friday, Saturday and Sunday, Jane's Walk Toronto is holding its annual festival of free, community-led walking conversations inspired by Jane Jacobs — a Toronto urbanist and activist whose writings championed a fresh, community-based approach to city building.

Jane’s Walk encourages anyone to lead a walk to share stories about their neighbourhoods, discover unseen aspects of their communities and use walking as a way to connect with their neighbours, according to Kate Fane, co-manager of the festival.

The festival this year runs from May 6 to 8 and has 84 walks lined up on the schedule. Walks stretch all the way from Etobicoke to Scarborough and North York to Toronto Island. In complement to the festival, panel discussions will be hosted by community leaders on topics of food insecurity, affordable housing and gentrification in our communities.

🖊 Melissa Embury

This Friday, Saturday and Sunday, Jane’s Walk Toronto is holding its annual festival of free, community-led walking conversations inspired by Jane Jacobs — a Toronto urbanist and activist whose writings championed a fresh, community-based approach to city building.

05/06/2022

The increasing sprawl of gig work across Ontario’s labour landscape has precipitated a series of labour reforms, allegedly designed to ensure gig workers get paid properly and can access basic health benefits. Most recently, in late February 2022, the Ford government announced Bill 88, the so-called Working for Workers Act — its name invoking the need for legislation that includes all workers, including the 10 or so per cent doing gig work. Bill 88 claims to guarantee a $15 minimum wage (which will increase to $15.50 in October 2022, as per the scheduled minimum wage hike) to all gig workers employed on app-based platforms, but it has been widely denounced by gig workers and labour activists alike.

Read the full interview with Jennifer Scott and Brice Sopher of Gig Workers United here:

https://thehomepitch.com/?p=525

🖊 Isabel Armiento
📷 Eli.stang

04/21/2022

In our first column on mental health, we spoke to chief executive officer and co-founder Sherry Boodram, of CannDelta Inc.
on being a racialized woman in an executive role, her journey to becoming an expert in the industry and the future of psychedelic medicine in Canada for treating mental health.

Since the war on drugs started in the 1970s we've seen huge growth in the psychedelics sector, and on Jan. 5, 2022, Health Canada made groundbreaking amendments to the Special Access Program (SAP).

What does this mean for medical practitioners and eligible patients in Canada? Where is Canada at with clinical trials for PTSD, depression, anxiety, eating disorders and addiction?

Boodram shares her deep knowledge of the current regulatory landscape of the cannabis and psychedelics sector for a close look at where Canada is headed.

In our first column on mental health, we spoke to chief executive officer and co-founder Sherry Boodram, of CannDelta on being a racialized woman in an executive role, her journey to becoming an expert in the industry and the future of psychedelic medicine in Canada for treating mental health.

04/19/2022

04/19/2022

04/19/2022

Paul Taylor, Executive Director of FoodShare Toronto shares his insights on food insecurity in Ontario and how you can take action.

Taylor urges people to look at those who experience food insecurity disproportionately for a better way to help understand the issues. The data shows that Black, Indigenous, immigrants, disabled people and single-parent households are all communities that are more likely to experience food insecurity.

Taylor believes strongly that this data clearly shows that food will never solve the issue of anti-Black racism that exists in public policies, institutions and systems in Canada. Further analysis that recognizes the impact of anti-Black racism and removes white universalism within the sector is greatly needed, according to Taylor.

For the full story go to https://thehomepitch.com/?p=1

“The most effective remedy for food insecurity is also the simplest: provide people with income to purchase food," Taylor wrote in a recent op-ed.

04/08/2022

The majority of GTA workers are precariously employed, doing part-time, gig or otherwise unstable work.

Toronto's Jennifer Scott and Brice Sopher, of Gig Workers United, are fighting for workers' rights to a real minimum wage, health and safety, social safety nets and compensation for work expenses.

We spoke to them both for an in-depth look at Ontario's new Working for Workers Act, the development of a "portable benefits program," and the future of gig labour activism.

🖊 Isabel Armiento
📷 .stang