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

04/08/2022

A report from US-based NGO The Tibet Action Institute uncovered data revealing that nearly 900,000 children have been separated from their families and communities in an effort to eliminate Tibetan identity and neutralize any resistance to Chinese rule. These children are not allowed to speak Tibetan or perform religious rituals and are forced to learn the Chinese language instead.

For many Indigenous people, who were forced into residential schools by Canada’s government policies, the grief and reconciliation are neverending.

“You cannot live on Turtle Island and not make the comparison between what young children had to go through here and what’s happening in Tibet, although the Chinese government is making it difficult for the international community to notice,” Lhamo said.

For a close look into what’s happening in Tibet, read our latest deep dive. Link in bio.

04/08/2022

Tibetans in Toronto are rising up to protest the ethnic cleansing happening in their homeland of Tibet.

Parkdale is home to an estimated 8,000 Tibetans –– making the neighbourhood one of the largest Tibetan communities outside of Asia.

Join us for a close look into the local Tibetan community's history, and what a free Tibet would mean for their people.

Canada Tibetan Association of Ontario-CTAO
RTYC Toronto
Tibetan Women's Association of Ontario
ཁེ་ན་ཌ་ས་གནས་མདོ་ཁམས་ཆུ་བཞི་སྒང་དྲུག Dhokham Chushigangdruk Canada
Students for a Free Tibet Canada

A deep dive into the Tibetan community here in Toronto, Tibetan Uprising Day, the history of suppression in their homeland, and what a free Tibet would mean for their people and the rest of the world.

04/05/2022

Tomorrow, on April 6, 2022, Toronto City Council will be voting on a motion that calls for an update to the Toronto Food Charter.

Join FoodShare Toronto in telling City Council that you support an updated food charter led by communities most impacted by food security.

Find the tool at:
http://foodshare.net/righttofood/

If you didn’t catch our deep dive with Paul Taylor on food insecurity — https://thehomepitch.com/?p=1

03/31/2022

TRANSGENDER DAY OF VISIBILITY
How to be an ally to Trans, Enby and GNC people:

Listen to and share stories:
Listen to Trans, Enby and GNC people.
Know when to 'pass the mic'.
Act when asked to.

If you see someone being harassed:
Talk to the person being harassed and ask if they are ok.
Get them somewhere safe.

Come out and show up:
Use your privilege.
Ask for gender-neutral language and toilets.
Ask for your office to have trans awareness training.
Be vocal about your support.

Challenge Transphobia:
In your home, workplace, social life and in the media.
Let Trans, Enby and GNC people speak for themselves.

Hire Trans, Enby and GNC people:
Hire Black Trans women.
Representation matters.
Let folks speak for themselves on what they need in the workplace.

Prioritize pronouns:
Understand the importance of getting pronouns correct.
Normalize asking for pronouns and share yours too.
Apologize when you make a mistake.

Read and learn about:
The lack of access to healthcare, widespread discrimination in the workplace, housing inequality, mental health risks, disability rights and racism.
Don't expect emotional labour from Trans, Enby and GNC folks.

Resources:
https://egale.ca/acronym-mar-31-2022-trans-day-of-visibility/
https://www.the519.org/education-training/training-resources/our-resources/creating-authentic-spaces/being-an-effective-trans-ally
https://www.torontopflag.org/lgbtq2s-terms-to-know

03/23/2022

Ever wondered who is behind the coolest custom trailers you see at R***e Cinema?

As Torontonians gradually return to full-capacity outings this season, one local editor is helping independent theatres reintroduce the moviegoing experience to their audiences.

We spoke to Nathan Boone in his home studio on his trailer process, and how small cinemas are creating community in Toronto.

Read the full story - https://thehomepitch.com/?p=450

🖊 Jessie Skinner
📷 Eli Stange

Nathan Boone R***e Cinema
Neon Dreams Cinema Club
Drunken Cinema
The Royal Cinema - Toronto
Serena Whitney
Paradise
Volo

03/23/2022

Join us for a deep dive into Paul Taylor's story — from growing up in a low-income household in Toronto, through his journey as executive director with FoodShare, creating justice and equity for those most affected by poverty and food insecurity.

Taylor takes us through the most important data on food insecurity, explains how racism is the root issue in our public policies, institutions and systems in Canada and shares his plans for change.

Read the full deep dive https://thehomepitch.com/?p=1

FoodShare Toronto
Paul Taylor

🖊 Melissa Embury
📷 Stacey Newman

03/17/2022

The Home Pitch's 10 Values:

1. We believe The Home Pitch is for everyone. We value contributions from community members with different backgrounds, politics, ages and more.

2. We put people first over advertising and we want most of our funding to come from our communities so that we’re directly accountable to them.

3. We are dedicated to finding real solutions to the problems this city faces.

4. We value empathy and kindness in everything that we do.

5. We value collaboration over competition, and will work with community organizations and other local publications to amplify our voices.

6. We believe in transparency and will work to build trust with our communities through genuine relationships.

7. We will take a grassroots approach to use collective local action to effect change for our city.

8. We believe in compensating folks with fair pay for their labour and providing a living wage.

9. We believe in creating a learning environment for those looking to grow and develop.

10. We will show visible representation and are committed to anti-racism.

03/07/2022

COMMUNITY MENTAL HEALTH RESOURCES⁠
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People who are often the most criminalized and targeted by police — Black, Indigenous, People of Colour, street-involved, trans, non-binary, q***r, Muslim and Asian communities — already often have supports in place to avoid getting police involved, but may be unaware of mental health resources, housing and shelters available in our city.⁠
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The Home Pitch has put together a list of community resources for:⁠
Over the Phone / Online Crisis Supports⁠
Free Walk-In / Virtual Counselling⁠
Housing and Shelters⁠
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This is not an exhaustive list of all services available in the GTA. Reach out to The Home Pitch with questions or suggestions. DM's are open or email us at [email protected]⁠
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***r

03/01/2022

Renovictions Deep Dive:⁠
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A 'renoviction' is when a landlord evicts a tenant without going through the LTB, by claiming they will need to complete major renovations in order to raise the rent.⁠
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Told you need to move out due to renovations? Community group fighting against renovictions? Have a story to tell? Reach out to us for a solutions-based investigative deep dive!⁠
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DMs are open or email:[email protected] ⁠
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02/28/2022