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- Belka Enrichment Center
- Montage support services
- 13th Division Police Department
- Reboot Canada
- Christie Ossington Neighbourhood Centre
- Pasta Quistini Corporation
- Betty's Law Firm
- Canada Overseas Services
- Grace Covenant Chapel International
- Bansah & Associates
- GTA Adventist Community Services Federations
- The Macaulay Child Development Centre
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Hope Community Development International
Greetings from the Executive Director
Dear Community,
Accept greetings from our Board of Directors, and the entire staff of Hope Community Development International. It is indeed my pleasure to welcome you all to HCDI, a registered charitable non-profit organization that engages in providing services through activities designed to improve the quality of life of people in our community.
I am delighted to serve as the organization's first Executive Director, surrounded by staffs that are focused and committed to giving back to the community. HCDI is managed by the Board of Directors and we have some of the finest members that have been extremely instrumental in supporting the organization.
As a U.S. trained Professor of Economics, and a Senior Economic Development Practitioner / Consultant with multilateral development organizations such as World Bank and European Union / European Commission on foreign projects. The Vaughan / Oakwood neighbourhood community shall be the perfect place for me to transfer my expertise and knowledge in the community development field.
Vaughan / Oakwood neighbourhood is one of the poorest and "Less Developed Communities" by all measures in the GTA. The community has its potentials and strength that originates from its diversity; however, it also suffers from a terminal level of poverty, high unemployment, lack of community services designed to enhance program to accommodate the youth, single mothers, job search and skills development providers, and high level of undocumented immigrants. A community is the foundation of our political leaders, without the people in this community they wouldn't be elected to represent them in the various levels of governments.
I hereby call upon our elected officials to enhance the availability of funds to rebuild our community through empowerment and reconstruction and development. I am delighted and motivated to working with the offices of our policy and decision-makers in the St. Paul's riding such as Hon. Dr. Carolyn Bennett, PC, MP; Dr. Eric Hoskins, MPP and new provincial Immigration Minister; and the two City Councillor's that serves in our community milieu of operation, Mr. Howard Moscoe and Mr. Joe Mihevc. The both Councillors have promised full support in assisting HCDI. We have also received full support from our able Staff Inspector of 13th Division Police Department, Mr. McLeod and his crews; they are doing an outstanding job in spearheading meetings geared towards serving and protecting our community.
Staff Inspector McLeod of the 13th Division and his crews were the first to welcome HCDI into the community and they were the first to help due to their understanding of the importance of the programs and services we provide to the community. Our drop-in food bank program is every Friday from 12.00 to 4.00 pm, and it serves between 60 to 85 clients and some have a family of 4; on Mondays through Thursdays we have 15 to 20 drop-ins of people who are hungry and have no food to eat. One of our policies is that we provide food to anybody who is hungry and needs food to eat. Our Settlement services for Newcomers and the Job Search & Skills Development programs are equally growing at an alarming rate - which demonstrates the need for such services in our community. The issues linked to poverty in our neighbourhood are man-made, and without any reservation it can only be fixed by us all.
According to some of the findings of the Macaulay Child Development Centre "Eglinton-Oakwood Community Report 2009", it is clearly evidence that our community has a rich history, potentials and strength, but lacks imperative service providers such as the programs and services that HCDI offers. The timing is right and we are hopeful to working with the aforementioned officials to collectively build our community.
We the community leaders also expect all forms of support from political leaders to enhance funding processes and to frequently debrief community organizations of availability to funds that could be used to enhance the deliveries of programs in our community.
I am proud to be part of an organization that believes in collaboration, synergies, and alliances for the improvement of our community. These alliances are capable of providing the necessary access to innovations, cost-effective opportunities, and wider opportunities to those in need. These are some of the reasons why we believe in the power of collaboration and synergies, and this is precisely one of the greatest characteristics of this organization. However, results shall not be achieved without the valuable support of the aforementioned officials.
I thank all of those from the MP's and MPP's offices, including organizations who have continuously supported us such as Christie Ossington Shelter; Montage Support Services; Betty's Law Firm; Belka Enrichment Centre; Pasta Quistini; GTA Adventist Community Services Federations; 13th Division Police Department; and Macaulay Child Development Centre who has demonstrates excellence in working with us as partners for the improvement of our community.
For questions and suggestions please don't hesitate to contact me directly. See our website for details.
Sincerely,
Ekema J. Manga, Ph.D.
Executive Director
Hope Community Development International
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