OUR VISION
A strong community where all belong and thrive.
OUR MISSION
To support our diverse community to achieve its goals, and to enhance the strength and resilience of our neighbourhoods.
OUR HISTORY
In 1990, East Toronto Community House Service (‘ETCHS’) came into existence as a result of a sizable donation from an anonymous benefactor. Over the course of 30+ years, this single act of generosity grew into an organization dedicated to assisting newcomers to Toronto in settling and integrating into their community, and to building strong neighbourhoods.When ETCHS doors first opened, it operated out of a tiny Bathurst Street storefront with a staff of two. As the community changed, ETCHS kept pace. In the intervening years,ETCHS has grown, moving into several locations and expanding its services. Today, a staff of over 100 conducts services in 50 locations to over 25,000 individuals annually. A few things at ETCHS have remained unchanged, things like our commitment to working with individuals in an effort to strengthen communities.
Imagine, all this from a single, anonymous donation.
1988
Councillor Howard Moscoe Metro Councillor for East Toronto -Spadina, Howard Moscoe, received notice of an anonymous donation to be made to his community with the funds to be allocated to a worthwhile community project. The benefactor requested that the project be rooted in the Bathurst-Lawrence area and that the funds be used for capital expenditures. Councillor Moscoe was named to act on the donor’s behalf in the determination of the community project.
Metro Councillor Moscoe publicly announced an open process whereby community members had the opportunity to put forward project ideas, and make recommendations for the use of the funds.
1989
A press conference was held announcing the joint project proposal for East Toronto, to eventually be known as the East Toronto Community House Service (ETCHS). East Toronto Inter-Agency and Community Council was awarded $900,000.00 from the anonymous donor to be held in trust until such time as the ETCHS established itself with a Board of Directors, incorporation status, and charitable status.
1990
A Steering Committee was organized to direct the establishment of the settlement house. The Steering Committee worked to develop objects of incorporation, goals and objectives for the future community house, a mission statement, policies, a constitution and bylaws, and membership criteria.
The existing Steering Committee, with additional members, became ETCHS first Board of Directors and officers were elected.
A location was secured in the Bathurst-Lawrence core of East Toronto, as requested by the benefactor.
ETCHS hired two staff persons and opened its doors at 3101 Bathurst Street.
1991
ETCHS established English as a Second Language Program with classes in the Bathurst/Lawrence and Trethewey communities. The first Annual General Meeting was held, electing a 12 person Board of Directors.
1992
1993
Programs to serve the Tamil, Vietnamese and Spanish-speaking communities were developed. The community space at 505 Lawrence was leased for seniors programming. Community offices were opened in Joyce Public School and Trethewey.
The existing Steering Committee, with additional members, became ETCHS first Board of Directors and officers were elected.
A location was secured in the Bathurst-Lawrence core of East Toronto Community House Service, as requested by the benefactor.
ETCHS hired two staff persons and opened its doors at 3101 Bathurst Street.
1994
ETCHS staff and participants
ETCHS became a United Way member.
1995
ETCHS, in collaboration with other organizations serving newcomers, co-ordinated seventeen settlement workshops for Vietnamese, Chinese, Tamil and Spanish-speaking newcomers.
“The House Special”, East Toronto Community House Service own newsletter was initiated.
1996
East Toronto Community House Service moved its main site from Bathurst and Lawrence to larger premises at 1200 Lawrence West (Lawrence and Caledonia). East Toronto Community House passed a comprehensive Anti-Discrimination Policy and Procedures.
1997
East Toronto Community House Service Community House developed a new vision and set of program priorities and, as a result, developed new programs and services including a resource centre and after-school tutoring program for children.
East Toronto Community House provided leadership to develop and obtain funding for an innovative partnership model to provide tutoring and settlement services to the Latin American community in southwest East Toronto .
1998
Through funding provided by the Ministry of Citizenship, Culture & Recreation, ETCHS expanded its settlement services to the Tamil community.
ETCHS received funding from United Way to further develop its programs for children aged 0-6 and their parents. A parent child drop-in program was developed.
1999
ETCHS successfully developed and implemented community kitchen groups to address violence prevention and education for women
ETCHS expanded its English language classes to include part-time evening classes. As a result,
ETCHS provided 5 English classes at a variety of different levels.
2000
ETCHS further expanded its children’s and family programs to include a wide range of programs for children and their families. Through funding from United Way, ETCHS instituted community kitchen groups to help newcomer women settle.
ETCHS celebrated its 10th Anniversary at its Annual General Meeting in June.
2001
ETCHS moved to its current location at Lawrence Square Mall at Lawrence Ave. and the Allen Expressway.
ETCHS continued to expand its children’s and family programs to provide March break and full-time summer programs for newcomer parents.
ETCHS initiated the Newcomer Connection Program, a pilot project which trains immigrant women to reach out to newcomer families.
2002
With funding from the Trillium Foundation and the City of Toronto, ETCHS expanded its women’s programs to provide a variety of women’s groups and further develop the Newcomer Connection program.
2003
ETCHS initiated a partnership project with organizations and residents to develop and carry out programs for children, youth and women in the Trethewey and Martha Eatonway neighbourhoods. This project received 3 year funding from the United Way of Greater Toronto, as part of their Strong Neighbourhoods, Healthy City strategy.
Through a partnership between Macaulay Child Development Centre and the Early Years Centres, ETCHS opened three new early years’ programs for parents and their children aged 0-6.
2004
In 2004 ETCHS settlement program in the schools (SEPT) program expanded to serve schools in the Rexdale community and to offer settlement workers in 25 different schools.
ETCHS women’s programs and family program expanded to provide programs in additional languages and in new neighbourhoods.
The Community on the Move partnership project in Trethewey community is having a major impact on the community. With funding from United Way and a partnership between agencies and community residents, a variety of exciting children’s, youth and women’s programs are being offered.
2005
ETCHS Newcomer Connection program was chosen by the Toronto Community Foundation as a Vital Idea and awarded a grant.
ETCHS women’s and family programs provided new programs for the Vietnamese and Somali communities.
ETCHS Community on the Move partnership project in the Trethewey community expanded to include the Success in Schools project, which helps young people succeed in high school and plan for their future.
2006
ETCHS launched the Newcomer Connection film, which tells the story of the experience of three Newcomer Connection participants. With ongoing funding from United Way, the Newcomer Connection program expanded its training.
ETCHS piloted the Get Moving! Program to support newcomer women and their families to become more involved in healthy physical activities.
ETCHS community kitchen programs expanded to include more groups focused on food security issues.
ETCHS was selected by United Way to initiate the Action for Neighbourhood Change (ANC) project. This project provides intensive community development support on the Lotherton/Caledonia neighbourhood.
ETCHS SEPT program expanded to include 38 schools.
The new Library Settlement program was initiated at Yorkwoods library.
ETCHS partnered with two other East Toronto organizations to expand our community development activities and integrate community development across ETCHS.
2007
Additional activities and initiatives were begun in Lotherton, including the new Lotherton summer camp.
The Get Moving! Program was expanded to provide a wider range of activities and serve more adults and children through a three year grant from the Ontario Trillium Foundation.
2008
ETCHS received additional funding from Citizenship and Immigration Canada to implement the new Host and the Youth Mobile Settlement programs.
Action for Neighbourhood Change moved into its community offices in the heart of the Lotherton community.
ETCHS digital storytelling program began with the training of the settlement in the schools workers.
A new community and leadership engagement training program was implemented.
The NOW (Newcomer Orientation Week) program began in four SEPT schools to introduce newcomer students to Toronto’s high schools.
2009
2012 Catering was awarde the Toronto Enterprise Fund business plan award for 2012 and the Culinary Employment Training program began.
The Lotherton community continued its revitalization through Action for Neighbourhood Change with several new initiatives including the Village Bloggurls and Girls’ Mentoring program, the launch of the new basketball court, and the Family Fruit Tree project.
Lotherton’s community garden and fruit tree project is a finalist for a City of Toronto Live Green award.
ETCHS moved into the Bathurst-Finch Hub as anchoring partner and expanded its services in the Bathurst Finch community.
ETCHS Welcome to the Circle anti-violence program in Lawrence Heights was awarded the Mayor’s Community Safety award.
ETCHS partnered with a group of volunteers to initiate ShareThanksgiving.
2010
ETCHS moved into the Jane Street hub as an anchor tenant and began to develop women’s programs for the community. Youth programs in Trethewey wound down.
ETCHS began its new 5-year strategic plan.
The digital storytelling program was expanding to include additional locations.
A business plan for a catering social purpose enterprise was developed and Delightfully Yours catering began.
2011
A new program model was developed for the SEPT program in order to serve more newcomers and more schools.
The financial literacy program for women and youth began.
A new communications plan, including the use of social media, was developed.
ETCHS first fundraising benefit, “Journeys of New Canadians” was held at the Shamba space and raised $16,000.
2012
The Lotherton community continued its revitalization through Action for Neighbourhood Change with several new initiatives including the Village Bloggurls and Girls’ Mentoring program, the launch of the new basketball court, and the Family Fruit Tree project.
Lotherton’s community garden and fruit tree project is a finalist for a City of Toronto Live Green award.
ETCHS moved into the Bathurst-Finch Hub as anchoring partner and expanded its services in the Bathurst Finch community.
ETCHS Welcome to the Circle anti-violence program in Lawrence Heights was awarded the Mayor’s Community Safety award.
ETCHS partnered with a group of volunteers to initiate ShareThanksgiving.
2013
ETCHS released its report “DIY: Immigrant Entrepreneurs are Doing it for Themselves” report which was a result of a year of participatory research with immigrant entrepreneurs and community organizations.
The Stepping Stones to Leadership program to support and mentor newcomer volunteers began operation.
Action for Neighbourhood Change is awarded the East Toronto Urban Heroes Award in community.
ETCHS led the initiation of the Toronto Settlement Collaborative to identify and pilot new models to serve newcomers.
ETCHS participated in the Resiliency Pilot project to build resiliency in organizations serving newcomers.
2014
ETCHS gets a new look with a new logo and tagline.
ETCHS launched The Perspectives Project and brought together newcomers who identify as LGBTQ to discuss their issues and concerns, as well as to connect with each other and to the supports they need.
Village Bloggurls win the Michele Landsberg Community Award created by the Canadian Women’s Foundation to celebrate community initiatives that empower girls and raise awareness about women’s equality issues in Canada.
The Digital Stories team facilitates The Digital Divide – a Digital Storytelling project that brought newcomer youth and seniors together to share their stories and experiences, while learning about various computer programs and technology.
ETCHS participates as an official charity for the first time in the Scotiabank Toronto Waterfront Marathon with 32 ETCHS staff, volunteers, friends and family members.
2015
ETCHS celebrated its 25th Anniversary, looking forward to many more years in the community.
ETCHS developed a new strategic plan, building on the Theory of Change which focuses its work in the three progressive impact areas of Settle, Thrive and Lead. Staff participated in the development of action plans for ETCHS key program areas (including youth, settlement, language, community development and healthy living, among others).
2016
With the arrival of families affected by the crisis in Syria, ETCHS hired Settlement Workers to provide support specific to the Syrian community. These staff members were able to meet with clients across several different locations, helping them through the unique challenges involved in starting a new life in Canada.
The Newcomer Connections for Senior Caregivers project launched several new programs with the goal of engaging
and supporting senior caregivers who are at high risk for social isolation due to language and cultural barriers.
ETCHS integrated financial coaching (which helps people to change their behaviour around finances) into existing settlement services – with significant support from Prosper Canada.
2017
ETCHS expanded our range of new and innovative services for Syrian and other refugees. Our staff also began providing one-to-one and group services to support refugees’ wellness and mental health, and employment and other support services specially designed to support Syrian men.
ETCHS expanded our after-school program to 4 additional schools in North East Toronto. ETCHS now provides after-school programs in 7 schools in East Toronto.
We began offering webinars on a range of topics including employment services, civic engagement and volunteer development.
United Way chose ETCHS as one of only 62 ‘anchor agencies’ in the Greater Toronto Area. Anchor agencies are described as, “…the backbone of our community service network throughout the region…[who] take an active role in strengthening the sector as well as the partnership between communities and donors as we all work towards positive change.”
As a member agency of Toronto Neighbourhood Centres, the ETCHS Board was proud to sign the Decent Work Charter, which is a formal commitment to developing high quality jobs, and acknowledging that doing so benefits our community members.
The ETCHS Board of Directors established a Leading Board Task Force in 2017 to prepare us to pursue new opportunities as they arise, and better serve our community – both in the present and into the future.
2018 - 2019
ETCHS implemented Grounded a new project in partnership with InWithForward to better understand the everyday lives of community members – their hopes, fears, and challenges – and using this learning to create programs that meet their specific needs.
ETCHS launched a new program called Active Living and Learning for Seniors last year with the help of a generous grant from the Ontario Sport and Recreation Community Fund. The program has helped seniors stay active, learn new skills, and build strong connections with friends and family.
ETCHS has been working on deepening our knowledge and understanding of Indigenous peoples, both within our organization and in the community. Our staff formed a Truth and Reconciliation (TNR) work group to raise awareness and find ways to include truth and reconciliation work in our programs and policies. The TNR work group prepared a land acknowledgement that is now being used at ETCHS programs and events.
ETCHS Board of Directors and senior management worked on developing our next 5-year strategic plan, our theory of change and evaluation framework.
2019 - 2020
ETCHS opened our new location at Clair Ave. in Leslieville Heights, which consists of 9,000 square feet of accessible space designed specifically for the needs of our organization and community.
We focused on bringing innovation to ETCHS through working with the Filipino and Arabic-speaking communities to identify new models of service and providing opportunities for ETCHS staff to learn about innovation and practice using a variety of innovation tools in our journey to integrate innovation throughout the work we do.
Our Board of Directors and management team developed a new 5-year strategic plan that is aspirational, future-focused, and will enable us to embrace the changes that impact our society and the communities we serve.
In March 2020, the COVID 19 pandemic hit, and very quickly ETCHS made the decision to close our doors and shift to working remotely, providing our programs and services online.
Despite the significant challenges, we also used this opportunity for learning and experimentation. It has been a time for us to learn how to run group programs, support newcomer English learners, and engage children and youth in an online model.
2020 - 2021
The pandemic had a huge impact on ETCHS and on our community. In March 2020 ETCHS closed our physical offices and all our staff and services went remote. And over a year later, most of our programs and services are still being offered remotely.
We adapted and/or expanded our programs to meet the identified need during the pandemic. More resources were allocated to financial literacy and empowerment services. Once the pandemic began, we switched our tax clinics to an online model.
We partnered with FoodShare to provide Emergency Good Food boxes to residents in Lotherton, Neptune, and Lawrence Heights with the support of resident leaders and volunteers.
ETCHS launched two new programs this year – Canada Connects which addresses the isolation of immigrating to a new country by welcoming newcomers to Toronto through connections with volunteer mentors and our innovative 5-year partnership project, Journeys to Active Citizenship, which aims to develop civic engagement program models and curriculum tools that will ultimately be adopted by settlement agencies to continue fostering active citizenship amongst newcomers across Canada.
To help bridge the digital gap in our communities we developed a digital literacy program to help program participants and community members develop their digital knowledge and skills so that they can participate in online programs. We worked with our funders, schools, and organizations to provide tablets and laptops to program participants.