Community Knowledge Centre - Toronto Community Foundation

About this organization

Mission

PEACH provides transformative, youth-centred, social and educational programs that model what is possible for youth and their families within our Jane and Finch community.

PEACH bolsters the ability of very marginalized youth in the Jane and Finch community to re-imagine their future – to bounce back from setbacks, reconnect to education, experience strong adult support, improve learning skills, become engaged in community activities, express themselves, and feel connected. Every semester that a marginalized young person stays connected to education has a positive impact not only for the student, but for the family, the community, and our society.

We are leaders in building relationships and partnerships that guide youth in crisis and their families to the supports (such as school, health care, employment) they need to achieve their success.

History of Organization

Established in 1993, PEACH has stayed at the forefront of helping marginalized people in the vibrant and complex community of Jane and Finch realize a better life. In early years, our focus was Community Economic Development. PEACH created landmark projects such as The Jane-Finch Community Banking Project that introduced more equitable banking practices for newcomers; entrepreneurship training; a radio show and a community newspaper.

When the Safe Schools Act was introduced in 2000, PEACH galvanized community concern for youth whose education was jeopardized by these new policies. Long before “the summer of the guns”, PEACH established strong programming and partnerships that provided a safety net for youth who were being marginalized by the school system and being swallowed into a violent lifestyle.

Our programs continue to develop on an integrated model, based on the supports that youth need when they face adversity and multiple crises in their lives. PEACH integrates classroom education, positive mentoring for youth, and social programs for youth and their mothers into a supportive environment from which to bounce back from setbacks often associated with poverty.

Accolades and Accomplishments

“The Panel was inspired by the difference that PEACH has made in the lives of many Jane-Finch students, and sees PEACH as a model for providing services and hope to young people in other complex needs communities.” - The Road to Health: A Final Report on School Safety. (Julian Falconer, Chair). January 2008 (learn more).

 “With respect to the efficacy of strength-based practice, perhaps the most important conclusion of this study is that the experience of personal respect, concrete support, and self-identified success for these youths led to their increased potential for long-term social inclusion through employment and further education. PEACH became a space in these youths’ lives that offered them a subject position different from the way in which they were perceived at school. They were treated with respect, concern, and a belief in their potential. Much of this regard stemmed from their relationship with the coordinator, whose concern and support acted as an antidote to their alienation from other potential sources of positive regard. In the context of that relationship, their self-identified goals were taken seriously and their motivation was harnessed through the identification and support of their strengths.” - “An Investigation into youth’s perceptions of their experience of ‘Wraparound’”, Rossiter, Amy, et al. The Canadian Social Work Review, Vol. 23, Issue 1 and 2, Spring 2007. (This research won the Canadian Evaluation Society – Ontario Chapter’s 25^th Anniversary Contest.  Learn more.)

Programs

>School Away from School
>PEACH Wraparound
>Mom’s Group

Building resiliency is the aim of all PEACH programming. We create conditions that youth need to bounce back from adversity, by encouraging positive activities and relationships. At PEACH, we set clear and consistent boundaries; set and communicate high expectations; teach life skills; provide caring and support; and provide opportunities for meaningful participation. The components of our integrated program are:

• School Away from School (SaS) – provides a small, supportive space where an assigned TDSB teacher supervises academics with youth who are at risk of falling out of the school system, while PEACH staff  provide a web of other supportive programming that reconnects youth to their goals and their education.
• Wraparound – builds support teams of caring adults and service providers for youth with very complex needs and ensures that the members of the team respect and listen to the young person at the centre of the team.
• Moms Group – connects the often isolated moms of youth connected to PEACH with each other to develop friendship, capacity and knowledge.
• Music Studio – develops youth’s artistic expression and connections while also breaking down negative ‘turf affiliation’ that inhibits youth from moving freely in their community.
• Youth Outreach – links youth with programs in the community, and identifies gaps in service that need to be filled through creative organizational partnerships.

School Away from School

School Away from School (SaS) focuses on youths’ strengths and goals, through a balance of academics (supported by TDSB teacher on site), life skills, and recreation. Since 2004, this program has provided a respectful space in their own neighbourhood for youth to deal with the challenges they face, create bonds with adults who care about them and reconnect to their educational goals.

SaS participants are youth whom the school board has had difficulties placing because they have needs that have not been met in a conventional school setting. Youth are referred to PEACH because of violence, police issues, a home crisis, mental health issues, or threats to their own safety.

SaS provides support to youth who often reject support from other sources and reverses the stigma that these youth often feel in school. We have found that even the toughest youth still want an education but they become overwhelmed when they have inadequate tools to deal with their big problems. Sensitive academic coaching and successful credit acquisition build confidence. At PEACH, youth gain social, emotional and intellectual resources that help them prepare to re-enter the larger school system.

Funding and Program Partners

The Toronto District School Board provides a teacher, an educational assistant, and a small percentage of the SaS operating costs.

Initial funding was provided by a United Way donor. For the last three years, the main source of funding has been the Youth Challenge Fund, which will end in 2011.

Donations from Toronto Community Foundation family foundations have enabled us to enrich our programming with additional field trips and nutrition programs. PEACH has partnerships with mental health, recreation, arts, and health-promoting agencies to augment our service.

Program Impact

Youth who have struggled in a large school setting do well in the SaS program, earning academic credits and preparing for re-entry to a new large school. The PEACH SaS Youth Worker actively links community, parents and school into a network working on behalf of each student. Parents who have endured years of negative communications with schools gain confidence working with the SaS team to advocate for their children’s education. PEACH staff collaborate in the transition back to a regular school, to be sure that the youth’s strengths and assets are presented; they are available with continuing support if necessary.

Toronto's Vital Signs® indicator(s) addressed by Program

“The percentage of people in the Toronto Region population yet to graduate from high school continues to fall slowly. 18.6% of those 15 years and over had not completed their secondary education in 2008.” (Toronto’s Vital Signs®, 2009)

PEACH’s School away from School program is a response to high drop out rates in the Jane-Finch area. By keeping youth connected to the formal education system during difficult times, SaS increases the number of youth who graduate from high school in our community. Education is a strong predictor of health and social inclusion.

Participant Vignette

From the beginning, “Brianna” was a bundle of contradictions: she came to the SaS program after an interrupted school year and incarceration for a serious offence but seemed to swallow math chapters whole, and took a leadership role despite complex gender politics. She became an adventurous cook in our nutrition program.

Brianna has been separated from her parents for most of her life and was living on her own. To help her maintain some stability when school ended in June, PEACH linked Brianna to a job and co-op program, so that she could work and obtain credits during the summer months. However, within a few days Brianna was re-arrested and incarcerated.

Incarceration initially strengthened her resolve to move from the ‘applied’ to the ‘academic’ level in her studies. PEACH helped her continue her classes in jail and after release, she returned to SaS, and got help sorting out social assistance, probation, and housing. But that second period of incarceration also reinforced Brianna’s aggressiveness. PEACH staff kept reinforcing her strengths and our high expectations, but the academic momentum slipped away.

Brianna’s story is still in progress. She is living with the consequences of her actions. PEACH’s role is as a force that nurtures the positive. We expect her to walk through our door again, saying “What’s up? I need some help with page 272 in the math book. And then I’m going to cook lunch.”

PEACH Wraparound

PEACH Wraparound is a process that helps individual youth who are facing a lot of difficult situations at the same time. It is especially suited for youth who have had limited or no success with other interventions. The Wraparound worker establishes trust, creates an action plan with the youth, then builds a team of other supportive people in the community who will commit themselves to helping the youth achieve his/her goals.

The three principles of Wraparound are Voice, Ownership, and Access.

• Voice: the voice, choices and opinions of the youth are heard and respected.
• Ownership: the youth and family know that their goals and their pace are at the centre of the process.
• Access: the Wraparound worker builds bridges to other specialized service providers, who join the youth’s support team and commit themselves to providing ongoing support in the future.

The key to Wraparound is the strong sense of team support that the youth and family experience over time. When the immediate goals are accomplished, the youth and family still have a team of resources to return to if there are future problems.

Funding and Program Partners
Royal Bank Foundation and the City of Toronto have supported the PEACH Wraparound program for several years. Other agencies that wrap their support around individual youth in the Wraparound program through their in-kind support are Children’s Aid Society, Catholic Children’s Aid Society, school staff and administrators, YConnect (Children’s Mental Health), Toronto Public Health, probation services, YouthInc (employment), and Prevention Intervention Toronto.

Program Impact

In 2004, through a Leveraging Our Strength grant from York University, Professor Amy Rossiter (Associate Professor, School of Social Work) conducted in depth interviews with five youth who had experienced Wraparound. She concluded:

“Perhaps the most important conclusion of this study is that the experience of personal respect, concrete support and self-identified success for these youth led to the increased potential for long-term social inclusion through employment and further education. All youths connected the … Wraparound program with support and respect. Much of this respect stemmed from their relationship with the Coordinator, whose concern and support acted as an antidote to their alienation from other potential sources of positive regard”.

Toronto's Vital Signs® indicator(s) addressed by Program

”The clear link between low income and poor health outcomes underscores inequality in the City of Toronto. Low income is linked to other factors, such as immigration status, family structure and educational attainment and all of these interact to create significant health inequalities between Toronto’s wealthier and poorer neighbourhoods.”

“Focused investment in some of Toronto’s poorest neighbourhoods may be starting to make a difference.” (Toronto’s Vital Signs®, 2009)

By making a focused investment of time and energy in individual young people and their families, the Wraparound program has a significant positive impact on the lives of people previously marginalized by systems unable to accommodate their complex needs.

Participant Vignette

PEACH has “wrapped around” Kevin and his family for several years. Where others may see him as volatile, and at risk, we see him as a resourceful and talented young man who has faced and will continue to face challenges.

Kevin initially entered School Away from School after assaulting a teacher in his middle school. He left PEACH with improved behaviour and learning skills, and managed well in his new school placement. At PEACH we encouraged his musical talent, and worked to place him in an arts-based school. At the new school, he lost the old stigma and entered adolescence able to become a student at a large high school.

Knowing that Kevin would continue to face challenges, we encouraged him to remain part of the Wraparound program. Last summer Kevin was seriously attacked by a stranger in a public place. PEACH staff visited him, supported his mom in conversations with hospital medical staff, and helped her access compensation for time missed from work. Fortunately a surgery reconnected nerves, and his face is fine.

The Wraparound worker keeps in touch with Kevin and his school, helping staff there to understand his challenges and find solutions. So far, Kevin is maturing into a calmer young man and hanging on in school. His mother and sister seek support from Wraparound in issues that affect their family life; they think of PEACH as a home base for their whole family.

Mom’s Group

PEACH recognizes the essential role that mothers play in the lives of their adolescents. Our Moms Group provides friendship, networking, sharing of experiences, and programming that promotes health and well-being. When youth are in trouble, moms who themselves are newcomers to Canada become isolated, whether out of shame, stress, or a feeling of helplessness. Hence we build trusting relationships with mothers when their individual youth are in trouble and are referred to other PEACH programs, and then sustain the relationships through our monthly Moms group. Great things happen: Moms become leaders themselves, return to school or training, declare what they want to learn, and help other moms in navigating the systems.

Each monthly Moms meeting has a check-in, a meal, a program that the mothers have requested, and informal discussion that shares community information and builds friendship.

Funding and Program Partners
In the past, this program has received small amounts of support through Royal Bank Foundation, Youth Challenge Fund, and City of Toronto Community Services. Many local and city-wide agencies provide guest speakers and materials. A York University professor, a senior social worker, and a psychologist attend the group informally as mothers and supporters, and share their insights with the group.

Program Impact

Moms say that Moms Group is the best night of their month. They can share, relax, laugh and cry. The group breaks down social isolation that builds when children are in trouble.

• “You’re not alone. There are others here too.” 
• “They (other mothers) listened about my son. Some of them have sons the same age.”
• “It’s like a family. There’s laughter.”

The PEACH Moms group helps women access community resources, increases their capacity to participate in their community, connects them to other supports, and improves their ability to respond to crises.

Toronto's Vital Signs® indicator(s) addressed by Program

“In 2005, the City identified 13 Priority Areas (PAs) for particular investment aimed at building stronger, healthier neighbourhoods. The results of the 2006 Census indicate some of the ongoing challenges: The 13 neighbourhoods had higher numbers of populations vulnerable to poverty than the City averages: visible minorities (66.2% vs. 46.4%), lone parent families (25% vs. 20.3%) and recent immigrants (14.4% vs.10.7%).” (Toronto’s Vital Signs®, 2009)

Mothers who are a part of the PEACH Moms Group live in a Priority Area and have been impacted by poverty, stress and violence. They have often not accessed community services prior to coming to PEACH.

Participant Vignette

For two years, Caroline was a constant, quiet, sleeping presence at Moms Group. An older mom, she came to the program after a long day of work and often slept at the table. In subtle stages, things started to change. She started smiling. She changed her hairstyle. She stopped sleeping at meetings. She brought a neighbour. She said “I can laugh here”, and she did. And, instead of listening quietly to others, she started talking about her daughter, who had run into trouble with school and the police.

In the last year, Caroline has declared her new strength in two ways. A few months ago, after a presentation from a school psychologist about Special Education, she asked for a card so that she could call and talk about her daughter. And in a presentation about self-care, she talked about her own previous abuse, and her own ways of coping.

Caroline is really discovering her own resiliency and voice – slowly and steadily – as a result of the companionship and information she has gained through the PEACH Moms group.