Field Dispatch: Scarborough Town Centre | April 15, 2026

Jesse Asido, Founder of Scarborough Spots, made history yesterday at the Scarborough Walk of Fame.

His induction into the Scarborough Walk of Fame made him the first Filipino inductee in the award's history. In his speech, Jesse made clear the moment wasn't just his as he shouted out the Filipino community in his speech.

Jesse would go on to also name Niko Carino, Eric Bauza, Catherine Hernandez and Alex Mallari Jr. in his remarks, for their contributions & impact as Filipino's from Scarborough.

Among fellow inductees were Olympian Andre de Grasse, Musician & Singer Fefe Dobson, Photographer Trevor Godhino, Community Builder Geeta Moorthy, Educator Dr Ashleigh Molloy and Philanthropist’s John & Cathy Phillips .

Photojournalist:

Subscribe to Change Made Press for more visual journalism in local communities.

In 2023, I began writing for PhotoED magazine. As a documentarian, I love seeing stories published in print, and as a community builder, I know the importance of providing people with a platform to share their work.

PhotoED magazine allowed me to do both, and over three years, we featured more than 18 new photographers and the visual stories they made.

During the first two years, we featured creators from Scarborough Made, a documentary project championing the narratives of Toronto’s East and then last year, we shifted our focus to building Change Made, a visual journalism platform and creative studio that tells solutions-based stories for local and global impact.

Going into my fourth year with PhotoED, we’re launching our most ambitious partnership yet: The Next Chapter Mentorship Program

Beyond the Headlines: Why Solutions Journalism?

We’ve all seen news stories about what’s going wrong in the world. At Change Made, we also want to document and share stories about how people are working to fix those problems.

That’s why we focus on solutions journalism: stories that show how people, communities, and organizations are solving real issues and creating change where they live.

We’re already putting this into practice with our newest reporting series, “Solutions on the Streets.” This winter, we braved the cold to document a story exploring what can happen when transit infrastructure fails.

For this we brought on two emerging photographers,Sophie Bouquillon andJeremy Fegarido, to join the next chapter program and our visual desk as contributors to this solutions journalism, while also learning how to build and grow their work in visual storytelling.

Now, we’re looking for the next group of aspiring photographers and photojournalists to join our community.

Who we’re looking for?

If you’re an emerging photographer or photojournalist (ages 18–29) from Toronto or the GTA and interested in visual journalism, we want to support your learning through our micro-mentorship and take your photos from the lens to being published in print.

What’s in it for you?

• Get published: Your photo story will appear in a print issue of PhotoED Magazine.

• Mentorship: Work with the Change Made team to strengthen your visual storytelling and editorial skills.

• Gear & Support: Receive $200 worth of product from our partners at Think Tank Photo for being involved in this mentorship

• Build your skills: Get one-on-one support around project development, grant writing, and portfolio building.

• Community: Join a growing group of visual storytellers creating change in the GTA and beyond.

How to Apply

This micro-mentorship is a mix of self-paced virtual learning and hands-on field production that runs through Spring / Summer 2026 with additional learning opportunities that are optional.

Applications will be open year-round, but the first cohort will be chosen as early as the end of March. Selected participants will also have the opportunity to pitch and contribute to Change Made Press.

Let’s make space for the stories of change.

Sincerely,

Sid Naidu

Founder, Change Made

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Change Made is partnering with PhotoED Magazine and Think Tank Photo to spotlight lens-based mentorship initiatives and emerging visual storytellers in Toronto.

This collaboration builds on relationships that started through the Scarborough Made project, where we previously highlighted the journey and work of emerging BIPOC storytellers in Scarborough.

What this partnership means

At the heart of this partnership with PhotoED is a deepened focus on uplifting the work of grassroots organizations and image-makers who use photography as a tool for change.

and with Think Tank Photo involved their support is helping equip featured artists with select Think Tank gear to support their creative journeys, which we’ll be sharing across our channels.

About the first issue

Our first article of the 2025 season is featured in PhotoED’s Meld issue. It dives into the launch of Change Made by revisiting our first public art installation at Scarborough Museum last year and features the stories of two of our youth creators, whose stories have profiled local change-makers in Toronto’s East.

Why this matters

Partnerships announcements are easy to scroll by, so I want to share why this matters to me.

One of the best ways to build a stronger creative ecosystem in local communities is to help increase visibility, especially for communities that don’t get the same access through more traditional media.

This collaboration is part of Change Made’s broader social impact directive: creating space to amplify local storytellers who are making a difference in the arts, and learning out loud about how mentorship programs create long-term impact in Canada’s creative economy.

Change Made Arts

If you want more updates like this that highlight stories about creators building change through their work or organization using the arts as a tool for social impact, we building a dedicated column for Arts & Culture.

If you’re working on a lens-based mentorship program in Toronto, or know someone who is, we’d love to to hear from you

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A revised version of this announcement was originally published on changemade.co for the 2025 season of PhotoED Magazine.

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Sawyers is the CEO of BGC East Scarborough and MAAT Youth Innovation and Cultural Centre. As someone who grew up in Scarborough herself, she understands the community and sees firsthand the challenges young people face—food and housing insecurity, and the quiet struggles many carry alone. This inspired the Silent Struggle Campaign, which highlights the urgent housing crisis affecting Toronto’s youth and young families, and helps raise funds for Yemoja.

We had the privilege to sit down with Sawyers and find out more about Yemoja Village and the journey that led her to it.

Q: What does the ‘silent struggle’ mean to you?

Silent struggle, for me, is a way of life. Like when you arrive in Canada as a newcomer, especially if you come without support, you’re immediately in a silent struggle. From the minute you step off the plane, you’re trying to find meaning, purpose, and belonging.

One of our value statements is that we’re a place where people belong—a good place to be. For youth navigating social systems, it’s often a struggle, and culturally, we’re often taught not to vocalize challenges or traumas. Many youth are unable to express their struggles or voice their needs, which can lead to more trauma. There isn’t always community advocacy to speak on their behalf, especially in safe spaces where they feel heard. The silence stems from cultural norms around expression, and when I look at newcomer populations and first- or second-generation Canadians, these values persist in families.

It’s hard for youth to admit they’re food insecure or that they’re couch-surfing or sleeping in stairwells. Even if they’re dressed in expensive clothes, they may be struggling financially or lack stability. We want to create systems that encourage youth to use their voices, eliminating the need for them to silently push on.

Q: Can you tell us about your journey to becoming CEO of the Boys and Girls Club?

It’s been a long, exciting, and adventurous journey with many peaks and valleys. I was born in East Scarborough, at Scarborough General, on the eighth floor. My parents immigrated from Trinidad and Jamaica by way of England.

Growing up in East Scarborough, I’ve worked all over the city, but nowhere beats the livelihood, community, and culture of East Scarborough. I was educated here, took my first steps in employment here like many of our youth, and my community and culture have shaped my career path and ambitions.

I’ve always focused on the impact and my passion, rather than money. I had the opportunity to work as an educator, running Toronto’s first Afro-Caribbean science and art school with my husband. For almost ten years in Scarborough, we provided a unique, self-defined space for Black children and families looking to circumvent the traditional education system.

That experience put me on a path toward community development. I then worked in food systems at FoodShare for about nine years, covering everything from food development to procurement and policy. I was an inaugural board member for Food Secure Canada, focused on food policy and community voice in food security. My specialty in food justice includes food equity and embedding infrastructure through policy to shift the paradigm.

This journey led me to BGC East Scarborough and MAAT Innovation Cultural Centre, where my mandate has been to expand work with children and youth from cradle to career, embedding principles of cultural competence, safety, and dignity. This intentionality led to Yemoja Village, as I had a deep understanding of the community here. I recognized youth were being displaced in housing crises, often house-surfing or sleeping in stairwells to stay within their community. We were seeking not only to develop a youth centre but to ultimately create a space with affordable housing options.

Q: What does community look like to you?

Community is multifaceted. It’s not just people. It’s topography, places, smells. I remember as a child, growing up in Markham and Eglinton, walking along the strip between Mason Road and Markham Road. You’d pass a burger place and get the smell of charcoal burgers. Then you’d pass Fishers, a Caribbean store, with the smell of saltfish and brine from the salted meats. You would just get the aroma of the community.

Community is a fabric of individuals, places, sounds, music, religion, institutions, and more. Most of us went to school or daycare in this community—in a church, community centre, or classroom. It’s all these transient components that make up this collective. Community is a space of support, with micro-communities and microcosms that are the stabilizing components of what makes up a thriving, healthy community.

Q: Was there anything specific that inspired Yemoja Village?

Need. Our goal and mandate are to serve local children and youth. Our core values include advocating for those who are marginalized. The city is at a crossroads with housing, and we work with a unique population—youth, many of whom face challenges around identity acceptance and safety within their homes.

Emergency housing isn’t a long-term solution for creating healthy, sustainable living circumstances. We saw youth bouncing between emergency centres nightly just to find a place to sleep. We recognize that housing, food, and clothes are paramount for stability. The Black Youth Action Plan helped us survey local youth, and housing, employment, and food security were the biggest issues identified. Since we secured a space with surplus land, we could look at housing as an option. We were inspired by clubs in the U.S. and Canada with housing components, and we wanted to replicate a meaningful model locally.

Q: How would you describe Yemoja Village to somebody?

Yemoja Village is a unique place providing housing opportunities that are culturally competent. We’re being intentional about the experience you get when you walk in the door. Community is not just the individuals but a tapestry of institutions and functional pieces. It will also be a green building that considers the environment.

Yemoja Village will have 47 units, including family and individual units, with some reserved for elders. Even though it’s youth-focused, having elders creates opportunities for cross-generational learning and guidance.

The Village is close to MAAT Youth Innovation and Cultural Centre, which provides employment programs, childcare, cultural arts, and connections to educational institutions. We’re hoping to complete the village in 2025, having it recreate our ancestral support systems, with services and resources right at your doorstep.

We’re looking at the whole community experience and not just a housing development or a place to store people. We’re seeking to create communities that provide as much support as possible.

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Q: What are some of the challenges for an organization trying to take on a project like this?

The number one challenge is that although we’re a children and youth organization, people often might think of us as just a recreation centre or community centre. What isn’t always visible is the breadth of our work—we provide programs and resources for youth violence prevention, youth justice programming, autism support, community food support, and much more.

During COVID, we served as the emergency services provider for East Toronto and later Southeast Scarborough. Housing is new for us, so building our capacity in that area has been a learning curve. I personally have some knowledge of real estate, but this has required new skills.

We’ve partnered with United Way and other nonprofits with decades of experience in nonprofit housing to help us. One of our community partners with over 20 years in housing is managing the facilities while our staff shadow them. So, we’re learning how to eventually manage on our own.

It’s not just about building housing; it’s about managing it—being prepared for plumbing issues or social dynamics challenges. We’ve had to learn zoning processes and other first steps before even breaking ground. Our board of directors has been a great resource, providing their own expertise as well as helping us hire specialists in housing to make this project a reality.

Q: How have you and your team handled the challenges?

We were realistic from the start, expecting downs as well as celebrating the ups. Our focus is on maintaining peace, pushing forward, and celebrating progress with the support of our community. We’re fortunate to have strong local support, from our counsellors to even the mayor, who recently voiced support for our vision.

Community is about having shoulders to lean on, and we celebrate the good times while relying on community support during the challenges. Our phenomenal staff and board have really driven their areas, bringing resources and talent to make sure this project comes to fruition.

Q: Considering the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals, how does Yemoja Village relate to Goal 1, no poverty, and Goal 11, sustainable cities and communities?

Sustainability for us involves the environment and modelling behaviour for our children. Children learn by observing, so Yemoja Village will model sustainability from its design to day-to-day experiences—like having a community, rooftop gardens, bike spaces, programs, and more. It permeates their understanding, making it a way of life.

As for tackling poverty, we have to address mental poverty before financial poverty. Marginalized communities often struggle with understanding their own value and potential, which can be a barrier to financial stability. Simply injecting money into a community isn’t enough if we don’t address mindset and microeconomics. Our aim is to build community stewardship and an understanding of how local spending impacts us.

Yemoja Village is based on the African tradition of MAAT, which is about balance, universal giving, and community. Our philosophy is that I don’t progress unless my community progresses, and we want children and adults alike to live this purpose-driven approach.

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Q: What change is Yemoja Village bringing about?

Yemoja Village will be a unique model for Afro-Caribbean and Afro-Indigenous communities, one that can be replicated in urban and rural settings across Canada. There’s a shift happening as people move from cities to rural areas for access to cleaner, greener spaces, and we have to ensure our communities are served everywhere.

Yemoja will create a framework with core components that can be adapted locally. We know that what works in one neighbourhood might be different in another. This model emphasizes localized community building, creating meaningful change, especially in affordable housing, by understanding and addressing each community’s unique needs.

Yemoja Village is more than just a housing project; it’s Sawyers’ vision for a thriving, supportive community rooted in cultural pride and belonging. By combining affordable housing with resources like job programs, community services, and educational opportunities, Yemoja Village provides the foundation for youth and families to grow and succeed within their own neighbourhood. Inspired by the African philosophy of MAAT, which emphasizes harmony, balance, and community, Sawyers is creating a place where young people feel at home, empowered, and connected to their roots.

As Scarborough evolves, projects like Yemoja Village highlight the importance of building spaces that address real, local needs while preserving the cultural richness of the area. This model of culturally-centred community development has the potential to transform neighbourhoods, offering a new approach to affordable housing that could inspire similar projects across Canada.

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Written by Huma Hamid

Photography by Sumeya Farah

Aerial Video by Sid Naidu

Produced by

Utcha Sawyers’ responses have been paraphrased in some places for clarity.

This post was originally published through changemade.co on March 2025

Reporting for this project was made possible by strategic funding from the Toronto Arts Council to support local capacity building around storytelling with emerging artists from Scarborough.

“When someone comes into the hospital, they don’t even want to identify they’re Indigenous,” says Henry. “And if they do, they’ve got nothing but bad stories.”

When Ellie Henry walks into Scarborough Health Network (SHN), she brings with her a mission to change health care for Indigenous communities. As the Indigenous Patient Navigator, she advocates for safe, inclusive, and culturally sensitive care environments where Indigenous patients feel heard and respected.

Henry’s work confronts the historical racism, mistreatment, and poor care that Indigenous people face in healthcare facilities, frequently leading to deaths like in the case of Joyce Echaquan in Quebec. Such treatment has left many wary of hospitals.

Part of SHN’s 2022-2025 Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion strategy, Henry’s role was created to strengthen SHN’s Indigenous Health Program. With over seven years of experience supervising healthcare professionals within First Nations communities, Henry is dedicated to making health care more supportive for Indigenous patients and their families.

Her approach centres on trauma-informed care, which considers the deep impact of historical and intergenerational trauma. Supporting Indigenous patients includes creating an environment where they feel safe to seek traditional healing if they wish, she explains.

Henry actively engages SHN staff in Indigenous cultural sensitivity training, embedding principles of trauma-informed care throughout the network. Learning has to be ongoing, Henry says, emphasizing the need for hands-on sessions that build empathy and understanding. “If everyone understood where everyone was coming from, then people would just treat people better in general.”

“In a hospital setting, they’re just looking at your physical symptoms,” she says. However, cultural practices and ceremonies can help provide more holistic care for Indigenous patients. “Be open to allowing for ceremony as part of healing.”

Henry envisions hospital spaces that offer holistic healing options, like sacred fires and sweat lodges, reflecting a broader view of health encompassing mental, spiritual, and emotional well-being.

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Her commitment extends beyond individual interactions to policy development and community outreach. Henry has spearheaded initiatives like a smudging policy at SHN and organizes events, such as drum socials with local partners like the Scarborough Centre for Healthy Communities. These gatherings foster a sense of connection and visibility for Indigenous culture within health care.

Henry’s work addresses significant challenges Indigenous patients face in health care, aiming to dismantle the systemic barriers that have historically marginalized these communities. Despite her achievements, she remains the only Indigenous liaison at SHN, limiting her capacity to support Indigenous patients consistently. She dreams of expanding her team to offer continuous support, noting the gaps left when she’s not there. Instances of discrimination or inadequate care in her absence highlight the need for an expanded support network.

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Written by Huma Hamid

Photography by Nikita Goutam

Aerial Video by Sid Naidu

Produced by

This post was originally published through changemade.co in March 2025

Reporting for this project was made possible by strategic funding from the Toronto Arts Council to support local capacity building around storytelling with emerging artists from Scarborough.

The attack came without warning in 2010, when Nhial Deng was living in the western Ethiopian town of Itang, helping his father provide for the family while his mother raised his younger siblings in a nearby village.

When armed militias descended on the area, Nhial fled. His father stayed behind to protect what they could not carry. Nhial was 11.

He walked for weeks, crossing more than 2,000 kilometres, until he reached Kenya’s Kakuma refugee camp — a sprawling settlement near the South Sudanese border that today holds 308,415 people, many fleeing war, famine, or political persecution across East and Central Africa.

When he finally arrived in Kakuma, he was placed with a foster family. Almost nothing felt familiar to him except stories.

“My father’s radio kept us connected to the world,” he recalls.”When everything else was uncertain, stories gave me hope.”

In Kakuma, Nhial immersed himself in narratives of resilience, ingenuity, and perseverance shared by fellow refugees. Recognizing that outsiders often retold these personal accounts, he was determined to amplify the voices of those within the camp by allowing community members to share their own experiences in high school.

By December 2017, Nhial’s passion for storytelling had evolved into a broader commitment to peacebuilding through Refugee Youth Peace Ambassadors. Through peace dialogues, sports, mentorship programs, and social entrepreneurship workshops, the initiative reached over 15,00 young people by the end of 2023.

Nhial observed that the women and girls rarely occupied leadership roles or were fully engaged in activities. Disturbed by this disparity, he took a course in women’s rights in 2018. He later joined the Women Deliver Young Leaders Fellowship to deepen his understanding of system barriers and strengthen his commitment to feminist leadership.

After realizing that women and girls were often excluded from leadership spaces, Nhial Deng founded SheLeadsKakuma to challenge patriarchal norms and expand access to education and opportunities within the refugee community.

Nhial recognized that access to education, patriarchal norms, and lack of resources perpetuated inequalities. Determined to dismantle these structural barriers and ensure that everyone in the community had a role in building solutions, he established SheLeadsKakuma, an organization centred on women and girls at its core.

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“If we want to promote gender equality, we must involve the entire community,” says Nhial.”We need men as allies, elders, women, community leaders, and local authorities.”

SheLeadsKakuma employs a collaborative model focused on actionable solutions, empowering young women and girls to design and lead their own programs.

We see the young women and girls we work with as partners,” Nhial explains. “They are not just participants or beneficiaries; they’re the leaders designing the programming.”

This vision redefines leadership as a shared responsibility. By treating women and girls as equal stakeholders, SheLeadsKakuma fosters sustainable, community-driven development in which every voice is valued.

One of Nhial’s core leadership principles is active listening. He emphasizes that true empowerment isn’t about speaking for others but equipping them to speak for themselves.

“Listen, listen, listen,” he stresses. “Activists shouldn’t claim to be the ‘voice for the voiceless.’ Everyone deserves to have their own voice.”

For Nhial, education is foundational for empowerment, particularly in the context of scarce opportunities. By equipping girls with the skills to challenge societal norms, advocate for their rights, and lead within their communities, SheLeadsKakuma positions education as a catalyst for transformative social change.

“Education is the only path for refugee youth to build brighter futures,” he says. “For girls especially, it breaks cycles of gender inequality, poverty, and conflict.”

SheLeadsKakuma doesn’t just educate — it trains future leaders. Young women and girls develop initiatives addressing community challenges, such as establishing leadership clubs, running health awareness campaigns, and mentoring younger peers. In doing so, they become community advocates, using education as a platform to transform their realities.

“SheLeadsKakuma is creating a space where everyone feels welcome,” Nhial says. “We cannot build a world that works for everyone until everyone feels included.”

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Nhial’s journey highlights the transformative power of storytelling and education. Guided by his vision, SheLeadsKakuma continues to grow, driven by the belief that genuine progress comes when all voices are elevated.

However, with diminished global aid, the future of grassroots, refugee-led initiatives like SheLeadsKakuma, which rely on international support to provide programming, is uncertain.

Recent geopolitical developments have plunged humanitarian aid into crisis for refugee camps. Under President Trump, the United States announced that it would scale back its contributions, which accounted for 43% of global humanitarian funding. Following suit, international aid budgets have been slashed by approximately 27% in Germany, 25% in Canada, and 19% in France, as reported by CNN and The New Humanitarian.

On the ground, the impact of these critical funding shortages was almost immediate. In May, the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) warned that refugees in Kenya faced heightened levels of food insecurity, prompting the agency to reduce food assistance to the lowest levels ever recorded. By June 2025, rations had fallen to just $5 per person per month (20¢/day) in August, “differentiated assistance”, which groups refugee households based on their “assessed vulnerability”, was implemented — leaving roughly one third of refugees with no food assistance at all.

Shrinking, unpredictable aid swiftly pushed Kakuma households from chronic under-nourishment into a full humanitarian shock, as local credit and commerce collapsed, food insecurity and malnutrition intensified, and increasingly violent protests erupted.

“Less support will force refugees to make heartbreaking choices — parting with essential belongings, withdrawing children from school, or even a return to home countries despite the dangers,” said Baimankay Sankoh, WFP’s Deputy Country Director in Kenya, in a news release.

Differentiated aid may ration calories; it also rations futures. Each cut pushes girls from classrooms to care work, or queues, from speeches to survival. SheLeadsKakuma can teach confidence; it cannot substitute for lunch.

And still, hope lies with the young leaders of Kakuma as they continue to forge pathways of hope, demonstrating that even amidst adversity, determined communities can transform challenges into opportunities.

Through education, inclusive leadership, and community-driven initiatives, Nhial and Kakuma’s young leaders prove that a refugee camp can become more than a temporary sanctuary — it can be a launchpad for innovation, collective leadership, and thriving futures.

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Writing & Photojournalism by Sophie Bouquillon

Reporting for this project was made possible by strategic funding from the Toronto Arts Council to support local capacity building around storytelling with emerging artists in Scarborough.

“For the Scarborough Environmental Association, the environment isn’t just green spaces or climate change, it’s also the environment we exist in,” says Veerasingam.

Growing up with limited means in Scarborough, Krissan Veerasingam learned early on how a supportive community could make all the difference. Now, as the co-founder of the Scarborough Environmental Association (SEA), he’s paying it forward—empowering marginalized groups in Scarborough and helping deepen their connection to their community.

Born and raised in Scarborough, his dedication to addressing social inequities and fostering community in the city stemmed from personal experiences. Veerasingam grew up watching community members turn to his father whenever they needed help, learning firsthand the value of community bonds and shared responsibility.

His early experiences shaped his understanding of how strong a community can uplift its members, especially those facing systemic barriers. Through the SEA, he now works to cultivate that connection for others who may feel isolated or disenfranchised.

The mission of the SEA is rooted in giving a voice to those who too often go unheard. By meeting residents’ immediate needs—through shared events, services, and spaces—as well as informing them and advocating for them, the organization empowers these individuals. Starting by addressing the small, everyday problems and barriers people face, they move towards bigger conversations about collective change, Veerasingam explains.

SEA provides a range of services and programs aimed at helping residents engage with their surroundings and neighbours. One popular initiative is free birdwatching events. These sessions consistently draw Scarborough residents, who form connections over a shared love of wildlife and the environment. “When we started our bird walks last year, we saw how so many people who never experienced it before, through it, gained a new appreciation for the spaces around them.”

They also have a regular free bike repair program that serves underserved neighbourhoods. This initiative provides practical support as well as promoting mobility and independence, says Veerasingam. Additionally, SEA collaborates with local businesses to host service-based events, boosting the visibility of small enterprises while giving back to the community.

Veerasingam’s commitment to Scarborough goes beyond the work of SEA. As a board member of TTC Riders, a grassroots transit advocacy organization, he advocates for affordable and accessible public transit—a lifeline for many in the area. His work with housing issues has also addressed systemic inequalities, informed by his own experiences as a renter navigating affordability challenges.

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Through SEA and other roles, Veerasingam tackles some of Scarborough’s most pressing issues, from waste reduction to improving infrastructure. Educating residents about sustainable practices and promoting green spaces are central to his vision. Green spaces are vital for mental health, community building, and accessibility, especially for people who might not have other options to connect or move around, he says.

He believes in the transformative power of green spaces to create equity and foster collective action. When neighbours come to these shared spaces and meet each other, real change starts, he says. “If you don’t know your neighbour, how are you going to change the space around you?”

Under Veerasingam’s leadership, the SEA is more than an environmental organization, it’s a movement for social equity in Scarborough. By addressing both environmental and social inequalities, the group is creating a model for how communities can work together to foster resilience and inclusivity.

Veerasingam’s work is a reminder that the environment isn’t separate from daily life. It’s the parks where people gather, the services that keep neighbourhoods running, and the connections that hold communities together. Through his vision, Scarborough is becoming a place where everyone can thrive, one initiative at a time.

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Written by Huma Hamid

Photography by Ella Saini

Aerial Video by Sid Naidu

Produced by

This post was originally published through changemade.co in March 2025

Reporting for this project was made possible by strategic funding from the Toronto Arts Council to support local capacity building around storytelling with emerging artists from Scarborough.