BY FANNIE SUNSHINE
April 10, 2008 04:51 PM

Two North York neighbourhoods will receive more than $120,000 each from Toronto Community Housing's $1.8 Million Tenant Allocation Day held April 5.

Tenant representatives from each of the 27 community housing units pitched building or community improvement projects to their peers inside the Council Chambers of the North York Civic Centre. The peers then decided where funding went.

Yorkwoods Village community, between 10 and 44 Driftwood Ave. in the Jane Street and Finch Avenue area, will receive $183,205 to repair and paint walls and curb surfaces, clean and repair asphalt, prune trees and install benches, bike racks, planters and plants.

The building at 1901 Sheppard Ave. near Jane Street will get $123,000 for a new children's playground and trees.

"It was quite a successful event," said Frank Clarke, community housing spokesperson. "There were a number of delegates from all community housing units."

Now in its fifth year, the allocation day allows residents to make a case for improvements needed to their residences, Clarke said.

Residents got to decide how their landlords spends $1.8 million in capital repair money in their homes and neighbourhoods based on tenant priorities. Applications for funding included new community spaces and playgrounds, improvements for wheelchair accessibility, picnic benches, new fences, video surveillance and access to systems to improve community safety.

"The residents know what is needed," Clarke said, adding Toronto Community Housing is the first public agency in Canada to introduce participatory budgeting. "These are tenant priorities for repair."

Toronto Community Housing is Canada's largest social housing and landlord, home to 164,000 tenants with low and moderate incomes.