Centre the first of its kind to open in Toronto

Print

E-mail

Text

For native peoples, having a gathering place is an integral part of their culture.

Commonly referred to as a friendship centre, it's a place where people meet, offer support, celebrate and educate one another about Native culture.

Located at 16 Spadina Rd., The Native Canadian Centre of Toronto is a registered charity and is the largest and oldest friendship centre in Toronto. It opened in 1962 to offer support services and resources to Aboriginal Peoples living in the city, said Lana Morissette, communications and referrals officer at the centre.

Part of her job as a referral officer is connecting clients to different services within the aboriginal and non-aboriginal community.

"Anything ranging from employment, to housing, to education, to treatment centres to cultural facilities," she said.

Like most centres, this one was built out of a need to have a place for the aboriginal community to come together because there was no such facility at the time.

"There were people coming in from reserves and from out of town and they had nowhere to gather, so this was the idea behind it," she said. "They also wanted to be able to share information in regards to services that could be offered."

Morissette said the program was originally formed in the 1950s by four people at the YMCA of Toronto who felt they needed a separate facility geared specifically to their culture. After being in a smaller space for a few years, they moved to their current building in the '60s.

At that time, Morissette said there weren't as many services offered for First Nations people as there are today.

The centre offers arts and culture programs, services like employment referrals, senior services and housing and rehabilitation programs.

Morissette said many of the city's aboriginal homeless find their way to their centre and need housing or need treatment, so she sees some great transformational life stories.

"It's really rewarding; we start from the ground up. We work with clientele that the majority are homeless," she said.

They also have a lunch program to feed the homeless and under-privileged that costs a dollar if you're not working, as well as a breakfast program that runs from November to March each year.

Morissette said being accessible to those who need and want to use their services and programs is important, and that's why their membership fee is only $20 per year with no cost for the under-privileged.

They have a diverse selection of arts and cultural classes such as Ojibway language classes, martial arts, beading and drumming classes, sharing circles and painting. They also offer workshops on things like moccasin and regalia making.

Taking care of their elders is a priority, said Morissette, and they offer extensive services geared towards aboriginal seniors.

"We trained personal support workers who take care of the daily needs of our seniors and we have a building next door that is seniors housing so they go there and make sure their needs are taken care of," she said.

The youth program aimed at 15 to 25 year olds, offers a myriad of opportunities, and currently, Morissette said they are doing a lot of media-based programs including publishing their own magazine, web design, writing and photography.

"We're trying to get more youth involved in the culture because they're the ones who are going to be carrying it on so we want to keep them educated, occupied and interested," she said.

The centre participates in several fundraising initiatives each year as well as charitable functions.

"We also have a Christmas dinner for the community where anyone is welcome," she said.

While the centre is geared towards aboriginal teachings and programming, Morissette said they have many services that are helpful to all people. They see about 150,000 people come through their door each year and she said anyone is welcome.

"We're about community, education and about opening doors," she said.

For more information on the Native Canadian Centre of Toronto visit www.ncct.on.ca