"Ephraim’s Place is much more than just another program designed to promote positive changes in the community. It is a community in and of itself designed with only one thing in mind..love."
Lorna Brown. Ephraim's mother.
Blog
Welcome to the Ephraim’s Place blog! Come here for updates on what we’re doing and what’s happening in the community.
About Project HEARTcore
June 22, 2011
Not too long ago, Ephraim’s Place Community Centre conducted a comprehensive Community Assessment of our neighbourhood. Various stakeholders (educators, parents, service providers, police officers, business leaders, etc) were interviewed to help identify the pressing needs in our community. It did not take long before a theme began to develop around the negative reputation for our community. Just as the question was asked in the scriptures, “Can anything good come from Nazareth?”, so also people across Toronto asked the same question of our community, “Can anything good come from Jane-Finch?” This has a devastating effect on our youth. The community assessment revealed that our youth have begun to “own” this reputation as a reality in their lives. Many have surrendered their lives to a hopeless future.
Out of the discovery of this need, EPCC has designed a program unique to our community called Project HEARTcore. Project HEARTcore is an after school program that helps youth believe beyond the barriers of our community that they can and will have a successful future.
There are three parts of the program. The first part is designed to help youth think differently about themselves by teaching them personal leadership skills they will need to be successful in life. The second part is designed to help them think differently about our community by helping them become agents of change. We help them discover their own passions and gifts and combine them with their personal leadership skills to design a community development project that meets a need in the community about which they are passionate. The third part of the program is designed to help others think differently about our community. The youth are taught media production skills and are given access to video cameras and production software to document their community development programs and other success stories in our community. Then, they share these with others to help them see our community in a different light, thus breaking the cycle of hopelessness.
As a result of the Project HEARTcore program, we are proud to say that the answer to the question, “Can anything good come from Jane-Finch?”, is a resounding “YES!”
Related: Project HEARTcore
Project HEARTcore has come to an end
June 8, 2011
There are many words that would be able to describe this after-school program. There have been ups and downs and lots of challenges and obstacles, but at the end of the day, it’s safe to say that each participant that was involved in HEARTcore, has been changed for the better. Whether it was bake sales, book drives, basketball tournaments, or several different awareness campaigns, the students were able to make a small difference in their school and community.
One successful event was run by the elementary school students. They had all collectively agreed on putting on a 3-on-3 basketball tournament for students in grades 6 to 8. They were also able to get 3 basketball donations to give away as prizes. The HEARTcore students all designed flyers and posters to put up and hand out to students and friends in the community and even accepted $5 registration fee from each team. The money raised would go towards project HEARTcore.
The event ended up gathering 12 players and about 10 students who watched as the tournament went on for 2 and a half hours. It was great to see a lot of kids in the community get together and do something they love to do- play basketball and hang out with their close friends. It was by far one of the most rewarding and successful events that HEARTcore had put on this year- not only because the community was able to get together, but also because it started off being a vision from a few kids. They were able to display persistence and leadership to its fullest.
Related: Project HEARTcore
Upward Basketball 2011 Recap
May 5, 2011
Our latest seaon of Upward Basketball was a huge success! It was an exciting few months filled with fun and friendship. We had a great group of volunteers that made this season enjoyable for everyone. We’d like to say a huge thank you to all the volunteers who made this year possible!
To cap off our season we had a celebration for all our players and their families. It was a great night with lots of highlights. Here is a video with some of the most memorable moments. Sorry, if you’re in the video! I had to post this.
Hope to see you all next season.
Kevin
Related: Upward Basketball
Bay Street Hoops
April 7, 2011
We’ve been very fortunate to be a beneficiary of the annual Bay Street Hoops Basketball Tournament for the past 2 years. This year’s tournament took place last week. Instead of writing about the tournament we decided to do a vlog entry(video blog). This is our first one. Hope you enjoy it. And again, we’d like to say a huge thank you to Bay Street Hoops!
Related: Upward Basketball
It’s been a while!
February 16, 2011
Wow! It’s been a while since we’ve updated our blog. Things have just been super busy around here. But so much has been happening we thought we would bring you up to speed!
The Ephraim Brown trial came to an end in December. Both of the accused received a not guilty verdict. It was a very tough time especially for the Brown family. We felt that we all had to do something about this. This is something that we should all be concerned about. This is our city. Check out our response here.
As of right now, our Upward Basketball League is a little more than half way done. It’s been a great season so far! There are approximately 60 kids signed up in our league. We’ve been having a lot fun and the kids are really enjoying it. We’re hoping to finish the season strong.
The Role Model Moms program has just started. This semester we have 22 young moms that will be here every day in class trying to get their GED. This is an exciting time. We wish them all the best.
The Project HEARTcore program is getting ready for semester 2 which starts on February 28th. The first semester went really well! Students developed their own community development projects at the end of the semester about issues they were passionate about. The projects included a bake sale for animal rights, candy cane-o-grams for Free the Children, a video game tournament for project HEARTcore, chalk art for bullying, and a video for drug abuse. Congrats to the first graduating group of Project HEARTcore!
Lastly, we’ve been gearing up for Refresh 2011 and Refresh 2012. The summer is fast approaching and we might be painting in 3 different communities which is a first for us! But we’re excited about it. So right now we’re looking for volunteers, donors, and just getting things ready for another great week of Refresh.
So that’s what’s been happening here at Ephraim’s Place. You can help us by spreading the word about us on Facebook, Twitter, and to anyone else who is willing to listen.
Hopefully, you don’t have to wait this long again to hear from us.
Related: This is Our City | Upward Basketball | Role Model Moms | Project HEARTcore
A Day in the Life of the Role Model Moms Program
September 22, 2010
Students arrive to school at 9:00am like any other student – with overloaded bookbags, packed snacks, friends to catch up with, and homework done – except at this school they also come with strollers, pacifiers, and baby bottles. The unique factor is that this class is geared towards young moms working towards their high school equivalency (GED). They come to the school and place their babies in the babysitting room under the good care of the ECE workers hired by Toronto City Mission. They then proceed downstairs to the classroom filled with other women in their same situation – all without their Ontario high school diploma.
The lesson begins by taking up any questions from the previous night’s homework. Then it’s time to start the morning’s lessons. The subjects include math, reading, writing, science, and socials. In the morning schedule there are two breaks evenly spaced part. The first break is the “stretch break” which is used to check up on the babies, have a smoke, or to chat with the teacher. The second break is known as “question-of-the-day.” This is a chance for the students to build community in the classroom by getting to know each other. Questions range from embarrassing moments to talking about achievements. Lots of laughs and sometimes the occasional tears help bring out the students’ personalities. At close to noon, the lesson ends and homework is assigned.
The moms then proceed back upstairs to pick up their children and to start their individual journeys back home. This routine is continued for five months. At the end of the five months, the students write their GED equivalency test which consists of five gruelling tests over two days. It’s a very stressful two days filled with an average of five hours of testing each day. The class then celebrates their accomplishments together with an “all-you-can-eat” buffet while waiting for the results to arrive in the mail.
Related: Role Model Moms
