Our Fundraiser event “An Evening With the Starts” which took place on October 19, 2012 was a great success! We were featured on your local newspaper by SNAP.  Click HERE for more information.  

NEWCOMERS TO CANANDA WALKING TOGETHER!

This walking program is for people of all abilities and everyone is welcome!!!

The Newcomer Walking Group is designed for newcomers to Canada living in and around Ajax who are interested in walking, being more active, creating new friendships and connecting with other people of all ages, abilities and backgrounds. Non-immigrants are welcome to take part in the newcomer walking group in order to meet people from different cultures, share their Canadian experiences and get involved with their community.

The Newcomer Walking Group is on a break for the winter. We will update the spring and summer 2013 schedule as soon as it is available.

For more information please contact:
Bozena Stobinska, Community Connections
905-686-2661 ext. 103
bstobinska@cdcd.org
of visit the Town of Ajax website
www.townofajax.com

On behalf of the collaborative partnership between the North Durham Social Development Council (NDSDC), the Community Development Council Durham (CDCD) and the Enhancing Social Planning in Durham Region Collaborative, we would like to take this opportunity to thank anyone who participated in our research to establish the Enhancing Social Planning and Research Capacity in North Durham and Clarington: a community social profile and needs assessment. The Social Planning Enhancement project in North Durham and Clarington is now complete and could not have been such a success without your input and dedication to the communities in which you live, work, and play.  

 In April 2009, the collaborative established an overall goal to increase the social planning and community development capacity of the volunteer sector in Durham Region’s rural and underserved communities, such as Uxbridge, Brock, Scugog, and Clarington. The collaborative envisioned enhancing the research and social planning activities in these communities in order to more effectively respond to changing socioeconomic conditions and ultimately develop more inclusive and engaged communities. 

 As a collaborative we have achieved these goals through creating the community social profile and needs assessment, facilitating civic engagement at Fall Fairs and distributing information in regards to the strengths and challenges identified by representaives of these communites, in the final report, and finally through partnership development in Clarington by holding a networking meeting for organizations who serve Clarington and its surrounding communities.  

 We will continue to move forward with recommendations from the final report and will keep you engaged in our future endeavors. Please comtinue to visit the CDCD website  or the NDSDC website at www.northdurhamsdc.com for updates and upcoming events. 

 Once again, thank you to those who participated in the research process and for being committed to your community and volunteering your time to contribute to our community social profile and needs assessment. Without your insight and experiences the report and community engagement initiatives we have organized as a result of your recommendations would not have been such a great success.

On Thursday March 17th, 2011, Campaign 2000, Community Development Council Durham, Make Poverty History and Family Service Toronto co-hosted a communty forum on poverty. The forum was held in the Council Chambers at the Town of Ajax. Carol Goar, a journalist from the Toronto Star moderated the two hour event, which was also broadcast across Canada, thanks to the Leadwell Foundation. 

The forum was a community discussion on how to work in partnership towards reducing poverty in Canada, as recommended in a recent parliamentary committee, report & Bill C-545, an Act to Eliminate Poverty in Canada.

Speakers included:
Mike Creek, Voices from the Street
Mark Holland, M. P. (Ajax-Pickering)
Chris Alexander, (Conservative Candidate, Ajax-Pickering)
Trish McAuliffe, (NDP Candidate, Whitby-Oshawa)
Rebecca Harrison, (Green Party Candidate, Whitby-Oshawa)

To view the video footage from this event follow the link below;
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XHcVoMrxCB4

Edad de oro Group

Through activites that will provide opportunites for social interaction and promote wellness among Seniors, this program will encourage and develop leadership while giving the Seniors opportunities for continuous learning, general enjoyment and will facilitate cultural integration.
This program is offered in Spanish.

If you are 55+ come and join us!!

Time: 1:30-3:30 PM (Every Wednesday)
Location: Oshawa Seniors Citizen Centre - John St. Branch (43 John St. S, Oshawa, ON)
Contact: Teresita Perera at 905-686-2661 ext. 105 or by email at tperera@cdcd.org

Hispanic Women's Group

Through a series of workshops Hispanic immigrant and refugee women will develop the skills, knowledge and confidence to better enable them to successfully settle in their new community, break isolation and achieve their individual goals.
This program is offered in Spanish.

Time: 1:00-3:00PM (Every Other Thursday)
Location: 66 Simcoe St. Oshawa, ON (enter by the church's parking lot)
Contact: Teresita Perera at 905-686-2661 ext. 105 or by email at tperera@cdcd.org

Spanish Speaking Early Learning Drop-In Program

A program delivered in Spanish for parents and caregivers with children 0-6 years old. Children will learn arts and crafts, sing songs and interact with other participants.

Time: 10:00AM-12:00PM (Every Saturday)
Location: OEYC-Pickering 1822 Whites RD. Pickering, ON (YMCA-Amberlea Plaza)
Contact: Cristina Gomez at 905-430-8506

DO YOU HAVE QUESTIONS ABOUT LIFE IN CANADA?

WOULD YOU LIKE TO PRACTICE ENGLISH?

COME OUT AND JOIN OUR ENGLISH CONVERSATION CIRCLES!

The conversation cirlces take place 5 days a week at different locations in Pickering, Ajax, Whitby & Oshawa.

To view the complete schedule including dates, times and locations, click here!

COME AND JOIN OUR NETWORKING SKILLS GROUP!

Location: Pickering Public Library - Library Boardroom, 2nd Floor
Address: One The Esplanade
Time: Every Wednesday from 10-12:30PM

This program provides the opportunitiy to enhance your networking skills, learn to use the internet, share interview tips, and develop specific skills for certain jobs.

For more information please contact:

Bozena at 905-686-2661 ext. 103 or by email at bstobinska@cdcd.org

Uzma at 905-686-2661 ext. 109 or by email at ukhan@cdcd.org

For more information about the Community Connections program, click here.

The Social Planning Network of Ontario's (SPNO) latest report, Ontario's Social Landscape: Socio-demographic trends and conditions in communities across the province, provides valuable information about Ontario and its evolving communities. Chalk-full of demographic and socio-economic data, the report is offered as a resource for program planning, needs assessment, advocacy initiatives, pubic policy development, research projects and more.

Drawing mainly on data from the census, researchers hone in on several themes including diversity, aging, the economy and recession, housing and electoral participation. The report includes a focus on ethnoracial diversity, immigrant communities, Francophones, and Aboriginal people, as well as, residents living with different physical abilities and mental health issues. It incorporates local stories of challenge and change across Ontario communities, and points the reader in the direction of other great resources.

For further information contact:

Ben Earle, Research Team Member
bearle@cdcd.org, (905-686-2661)

Janet Gasparini, President, Social Planning Network of Ontario
jgasparini@spcsudbury.ca

To view the Report Summary click here.

The full report is available at www.spno.ca.

This report entitled Enhancing the Social Planning and Research Capacity in North Durham and Clarington: A Community Social Profile and Needs Assessment is a social profile of North Durham and Clarington and summarizes the feedback gathered from focus groups and interviews conducted with local agencies and community members on the needs and expectations for future planning and research.

For the full report, click here.

To view other CDCD Publications,  click here.

On June 2nd 2010, the Ajax News Advertiser published a news article about the Newcomer Walking Group program coordinated by the CDCD in partnership with the Town of Ajax and funded by the Ministry of Health Promotion.

Click here to read the article!

A Recovery Free Zone: The Unyeilding Impact of the Economic Downturn on Nonprofit Community Social Services in Ontario

This is a follow-up document to the Hard Hit report released in 2009. This report shows that despite 'green shoot' sightings of recovery in some areas of the economy, Ontario's nonprofit recession rages on.

A total of 311 nonprofit community social service agencies from across Ontario, providing a host of programs and services to a broad cross-section of communities and population groups, took part in the 2010 survey. This year's survey was expanded to include a survey of 33 non-governmental funders.

Some key finding are outlined below:

• 92% of agencies agree or strongly agree that the communities that they serve continue to be affected by the economic downturn
• 62% of nonprofit community social service providers experienced mostly an increase in demand for their programs and services over the past year since April 2009, with almost 80% attributing the increase in demand, primarily or in part, to economic conditions
• Among 208 agencies providing details about key programs with increased service demands, 91% reported an increased number of clients, 73% reported increase complexity of needs among their service user base and 54% reported doing more crisis management with less time for preventative programming

To read the whole report and view the media release click here.