Community Links

Toronto Seniors Helpline 416-217-2077

WoodGreen Community Services, Toronto Central CCAC, and Toronto Central LHIN are pleased to launch the Toronto Seniors Helpline (TSH)!

The Toronto Seniors Helpline is a single phone line that streamlines access to community, homecare and crisis services for seniors, their caregivers and their health care providers.  Through this initiative, CNAP, Seniors Crisis Line and TC CCAC information and referral staff have unified as a single team with a shared focus on information and referral, supportive counseling and service navigation services.  As a result, seniors will experience the ease of one access point, more streamlined care, and warm transfers to the services that best meet their needs.  TSH is for seniors, caregivers, and health care professionals.

TSH can be reached at 416-217-2077.  The number is TTY-compatible; interpretation services are available.

TSH is answered by certified staff who connect people to the care they need, including CCAC home care services, crisis outreach teams, and other services in our community that support seniors’ safety, health and wellbeing.  The team is comprised of information and referral staff from the TC CCAC and WoodGreen staff, all of whom have been cross-trained in service offerings across the home and community sector, including crisis services. 

The team responsible for answering TSH is physically located at the Toronto Central CCAC, 250 Dundas St. W. and has been working together in this capacity for the past several months.

Over the coming weeks we will be actively promoting TSH with our partners in the community.  Magnets, posters and rack cards are available and may be used for community outreach events, meetings with external stakeholders and while discharging patients, as appropriate.  These materials will be available to you upon request. TSH is a joint initiative of WoodGreen Community Services, TC CCAC, the Toronto Central Local Health Integration Network (TC LHIN) and CNAP – a network of over 30 community support agencies across Toronto. 

Andrea Austen – Lead, Toronto Seniors Strategy
Phone: 416-392-5140
E-mail: andrea.austen@toronto.ca
www.toronto.ca/sdfa

Times have changed — marching in the streets has been largely replaced by participation on governmental and civil society policy committees, and at discipline-crossing conferences on social justice and equality issues. OWN maintains a close relationship with the following organizations, sending a representative to their meetings on a regular basis.

Governmental Policy-Making Bodies with OWN Representation

  • OWN rep. to Housing Committee
  • OWN rep to Health and Long-Term Care Committee
  • OWN rep. to Liaison Committee

Twice-yearly meetings gather representatives from seniors’ organizations across Ontario, who make policy suggestions on service delivery of Old Age Security (OAS) and Canada Pension Plan (CPP).

Civil Society Policy-Making Bodies with OWN Representation

  • Senior Pride Network. Queer-identified people, organizations and government departments, together with those who are not, work to eliminate homophobia and advocate for the needs of seniors in Toronto who do not identify as straight. Senior Pride hosts an annual conference.
  • Women’s College Hospital — OWN rep. to Community Advisory Panel. The first and only independent ambulatory care hospital in Ontario, and the only hospital in Ontario with a primary focus on women’s health, it supports research and training in women’s health. However, during the two past years, no meetings of the hospital’s Community Advisory Panel – Women’s Health have been held, due to fiscal restraints, and the panel is in abeyance; this is a matter of concern, as we are deprived of a voice on health issues with an age/gender lens. [OWN Annual Report 2009-2010, 2010-2011]
  • St. Michael’s Hospital, Children and Women’s Health Community Advisory Panel (WHCAP) and Elder Care Working Group. Each CAP has about 20 members, made up of community volunteers, patients, consumers, community agency representatives and hospital staff from front line to senior management. The Women and Children’s CAP provides advice and frontline experience to make St. Michael’s services better for women and their babies. Since 1992, the Women and Children’s CAP has worked on behalf of hundreds of women from downtown Toronto to improve services and programs for women at all of life’s stages, including services for older women.

Groups with Common Issues

In addition to the above ongoing commitments, we try to stay abreast of the activities of a number of other organizations which are working on issues that we are concerned with. For the reader’s guidance, we have tried to note whether an organization is primarily focused on advocacy and research [AR], service [S], or information collection and dissemination [I]. Grouped by issues, here are the more important of these:

Pension Reform

  • Common Front for Retirement Security [link is to a pdf document, not a website] is a coalition of 21 organizations representing 2 million Canadians. The CFRS advocates pension and capital market regulatory reforms through political and other representations. OWN is a charter member organization. [A]
  • Canadian Labour Congress “The Canadian Labour Congress is the largest democratic and popular organization in Canada with over three million members. The Canadian Labour Congress brings together Canada’s national and international unions, the provincial and territorial federations of labour and 130 district labour councils.” [AR]
  •  Canadian Pensioners Concerned (CPC) “A provincial and national membership-based, non-partisan, voluntary, advocacy organization of mature Canadians committed to preserving and enhancing a human-centred vision of life.” [AR]

 Housing

  • Inclusionary Housing Canada — Their website aims “to assist community members, activists, government planners, policy makes and housing developers to gain a better appreciation of Inclusionary Housing as a policy and program tool to increase the supply of affordable housing in our neighbourhoods and communities.” A project of the Wellesley Institute. [I]
  • Centre for Equality Rights in Accommodation (CERA) — “The only organization in Canada dedicated to ending discrimination in housing and promoting human rights in housing. CERA carries out this work through public education, research, law reform, human rights casework, test case litigation and using international human rights law and mechanisms. If you have experienced discrimination related to your housing, call us.” [AR]
  • Unitarian Commons  –  Accessible and affordable living for all.  A small group of Unitarian-Universalists working together, creating affordable, accessible homes open for everyone.  Fostering community by including shared common areas.
  • Seniors Lifestyle Mag – Housing — Buying a home, selling a home, decluttering a home, buying or selling a second home like a cottage or trailer. Maybe modifying your home to stay home longer, or deciding to move  to an assisted facility or long term care facility. Many housing things to read about.

Health and Long-Term Care Advocacy

  • Ontario Health Coalition — A network of over 400 grassroots community organizations representing virtually all areas of Ontario, the preeminent health advocacy organization. Their primary goal is to empower the members of constituent organizations to become actively engaged in the making of public policy on matters related to health care and healthy communities. Through public education and support for public debate, it contributes to the maintenance and extension of a system of checks and balances that is essential to good decision-making. OWN is a member organization. [I]
  • theConference.ca — Online-only conference that showcases what’s happening in healthcare, around the corner and around the world. The “presenters” change every month. They will send you an email announcement of the current topics each month if you sign up. [I]
  • Care Watch — “A volunteer-run, not-for-profit advocacy organization focusing on older adults and committed to improving the quality of life for persons receiving care in their own homes. We recognize the value of choice in living arrangements, the importance of greater involvement in decisions that affect older peoples’ lives, individually and collectively, and the necessity for society to provide support to those who need it.” [A]
  • Concerned Friends of Ontario Citizens in Care Facilities
    Founded in 1980, Concerned Friends of Ontario Citizens in Care Facilities is a non-profit corporation and registered charity dedicated to reform of the long-term care system and improvement of quality of life for residents. The organization is supported by membership and donations without government funding. Its activities are undertaken entirely by volunteers. The Board meets monthly in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Newsletter March 2017
  • Drug Dangers and Devices – Drug Dangers was developed to educate the public and lend a hand to people who have been affected by defective drugs and medical devices. Our goal at Drug Dangers is to keep the public educated and informed of all defective medical devices and dangerous medications that are currently available on the market today. Pharmaceutical companies are trusted to put safe products on the shelves, yet thousands of people lose their lives each year due to prescription medications with adverse side effects. By spreading awareness, we believe we can lower this statistic by decreasing the number of recalls, saving more lives of those who have been affected.
  • The Ontario Health Study is soliciting participants for a large, long-term study that will help researchers learn more about how genes, lifestyle choices and environmental risks can cause chronic diseases, such as cancer and heart disease. Information gathered from participants will be put in a confidential health information “bank” that scientists can then use for approved studies. We are encouraged to visit the site and sign up. [R]

Public Transportation and Mobility

Justice

  • Canadian Voice of Women for Peace (VOW) — A non-partisan non-governmental organization (NGO) comprised of a network of diverse women, with consultative status at the United Nations ECOSOC. For over 50 years, VOW has provided a means for women to exercise responsibility for the promotion of world peace and justice, and is currently one of the major advocacy organizations. http://vowpeace.org/chapters/ontario-chapter/[I]
  • Soroptimist — Soroptimist International is “a worldwide organization for women in management and the professions, a global voice for women through Awareness, Advocacy and Action.” The Eastern Canada and Toronto website is currently under development.
  • Feminist Alliance for International Action (FAFIA) is a dynamic coalition of over 75 Canadian women’s equality-seeking and related organizations, the largest organization advocating for women in Canada. FAFIA’s mandate is to further women’s equality here through domestic implementation of Canada’s international human rights commitments, and is the watchdog for the status of women at the federal level. OWN is a member organization. [AR]
  • Council of Canadians — “Since 1985, the Council of Canadians has brought Canadians together to act for social, economic and environmental justice here in Canada and around the world. Our work is built on a strong foundation of timely and strategic campaigns to fight for the values, social programs and progressive policies that Canadians believe in.” [IAR]
  • Fair Vote Canada (FVC) — In August 2000, a group of concerned citizens formed Fair Vote Canada with the aim of building a nationwide campaign for voting system reform. We envisioned FVC as a multi-partisan, citizen-based campaign bringing together people from all parts of the country, all walks of life and all points on the political spectrum. [AR]
  • Equal Voice is a multi-partisan organization dedicated to electing more women in Canada at all levels of Government and, ultimately, changing the face of Canadian politics. [AR]
  • Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives (CCPA) is “an independent, non-partisan research institute concerned with issues of social and economic justice… one of Canada’s leading progressive voices in public policy debates.” [IAR]
  • Ontario Nonprofit Network (ONN) is “a network of networks composed of public benefit organizations working for various causes across Ontario. ONN facilitates cross-sectoral collaboration on issues and helps increase our capacity to participate in public policy discussions….” [AR]
  • Social Planning Toronto (SPT), also known as Social Planning Council, is committed to independent social planning at the local and city-wide levels in order to improve the quality of life for all people in Toronto. It is committed to diversity, social and economic justice, and active citizen participation in all aspects of community life. Over 130 member organizations.

Other Organisations of Interest

This list is alphabetical, and includes both those discussed above (with link to their section) and additional groups (with link to their website).

Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act Alliance — See above

ACORN Canada

Advocacy Centre for the Elderly (ACE)

Asbestos.com a web resource that provides information about senior health, caregivers, and mesothelioma.
Due to the long latency period of mesothelioma, approximately 20-50 years, about 80 percent of those who are diagnosed with this terrible disease are seniors. This organization works 1-on-1 with individuals to help them find local doctors, treatment centers and support groups.

Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives (CCPA) — See above

Canadian Health Network (CHN) — See above

Canadian Labour Congress — See above

Canadian Peace Alliance (CPA)

Canadian Pensioners Concerned (CPC) — See above

Canadian Research Institute for the Advancement of Women (CRIAW) — See above

Canadian Voice of Women for Peace (VOW) — See above

Canadian Women’s Foundation

Carewatch Toronto — See above

CARP (Fifty Plus)

Centre for Equality Rights in Accommodation (CERA) — See above

Centre for Women’s Studies in Education (CWSE)

Collaborative Aging – Collaborative Aging combines several concepts, creating an empowered model for aging – Sue Lantz is Founder and Managing Director.

Common Front for Retirement Security Coalition — See above

Concerned Friends of Ontario Citizens in Care Facilities

theConference.ca — See above

Council of Canadians — See above

Church of The Redeemer

DisAbled Women’s Network Ontario (DAWN) — See above

Elementary Teachers’ Federation of Ontario

Equal Voice — See above

Fair Vote Canada (FVC) — See above

Family Service Association of Toronto

Federation of Canadian Municipalities (FCM)

Feminist Alliance for International Action (FAFIA) — See above

FoodShare Toronto

Gender Action

Gender Equality in the Workplace and Education   The Australian story.

The Health Communication Unit

Housing Again — See above

Inclusionary Housing Canada — See above

Income Security Program, Service Canada (Ontario) — See above

Inter Pares

Legal Aid Ontario (LAO)

Living Assistance Services, a Canadian home health care service provider for senior citizens.  http://www.laservices.ca

Metropolitan Action Committee on Violence Against Women and Children (METRAC)

Ontario Coalition of Senior Citizens’ Organizations (OCSCO) — See above

Ontario Gerontology Association (OGA)

Ontario Health Coalition — See above

Ontario Health Study — See above

Ontario Human Rights Commission

Ontario Nonprofit Network (ONN) — See above

Ontario Seniors’ Secretariat (Provincial Ministry of Citizenship and Immigration) — See above

Parliamentary Committee on Palliative and Compassionate Care (PCPCC) — See above

Physicians for Global Survival

Recovery Village (The) – Raise awareness of substance abuse in seniors. Seniors usually begin to supplement their health with over-the-counter medications and prescription drugs, which can create harmful interactions. With age, the body’s ability to process medications slows significantly. For this reason, seniors can develop a dependency to much smaller doses of prescription drugs than young people. This is in the US, but has lots of good information.

Registered Nurses Association of Ontario (RNAO)

Right to Housing Coalition

Riverdale Immigrant Women’s Centre

Self Help Resource Centre

Seniors and Addiction (in the US: The Recovery Village Ridgefield, 888 Hillhurst Rd., Ridgefield, WA 98642, (360) 857-0007)

Senior Pride Network — See above

Sistering

Siyanda

Soroptimist Toronto and International (Canada) — See above

St. Michael’s Hospital — See above

Sunshine Centres for Seniors

theConference.ca — See above

The Health Communication Unit

Toronto Women’s City Alliance (TWCA)

United Nations Women – International Women’s Day 2016

Voice of Women for Peace (VOW) — see above

Wellesley Institute — See above

WomenCAN!

Women’s College Hospital CAP — See above

Women’s Human Rights Resources Programme (WHRR)

Women’s UN Report Program and Network (WUNRN)