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The Cabbagetown Youth Centre was founded in 1972 by volunteers to provide social and recreational programs for youth in the eastern inner city core of Toronto. The CYC is a private, not-for-profit organization governed by an 11 member board of community residents. Over the years, the CYC has expanded to meet the growing needs of the community, by providing a range of recreational, social and skill development programs for all ages, with a specific focus on at-risk children and youth.
The CYC was developed in response to a need for preventative services in a community with one of the highest youth crime rates in Metro Toronto.It has gradually expanded programs from sports to social activities to learning skills, health promotion and vocational development for residents of all ages.
In 1996, a site at 240 Wellesley Street East was developed.It includes classrooms for ESL instruction and computor training, child-care facilities and a large auditorium.
In 1999, the CYC redeveloped an old YMCA in the sub-basement of a large apartment building in St. James Town.Since then, recreational, community and skill development programs have been offered at 650 Parliament Street.The site operates at capacity six days a week and is presently straining existing resources.
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The CYC mainly serves the St. James Town, Cabbagetown and Regent Park communities, which are located in Ward 24 of the City of Toronto. This area is bounded by Bloor Street East to the north, the Don River to the east, Wellesley Street East and Sherbourne Street to the west to Lake Ontario to the south.
Within the St. James Town area, there are 18 high-rises apartment buildings. St. James Town is the most densely populated area in Canada, with an official density of 65,547 people per square kilometer. 98% of residents are renters compared to 49% in Toronto, overall, 71.5 % are visible minorities compared to 41.2% overall in Toronto and 70.1% of residents in St. James Town have a family income of less than $40,000 compared to 40.5% overall in Toronto (Statistics Canada, Toronto Public Health). St. James Town is a high-demand, under-serviced community, where the development of new opportunities for residents is seriously compromised.
The characteristics of residents living in St. James Town are highlighted in two City reports: St. James Town Community Service Strategic Plan (ward 7) and St. James Town area Neighborhood Profile. Of specific note is the predominance of lone parent families, seniors living alone, people whose home language is not English or French, recent immigrants, low-income individuals and families, people on social assistance, births to teenage girls, low birth weight babies and a high incidence of suicide.
In any given year, the CYC serves close to 8,000 participants in Social, Recreational and Skill development programs. The CYC also effectively partners with community cultural organizations to provide programs for Tamil, Chinese and Filipino residents. Many of these participants are children and youth at-risk or in need whose chances for success in life are seriously limited or non-existent.
The CYC could neither be physically nearer to the community nor socially closer with the network of volunteers and participants. The CYC has been remarkably successful in the delivery of programs to many diverse communities through our four locations, three of which are located in the heart of St. James Town.
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