Feature Story: Toronto Community Housing’s community outreach during the pandemic includes food security projects supported by agencies – and by neighbours

TORONTO, June 3, 2020 — TCHC staff and tenant volunteers, food banks and community agencies have been delivering groceries and hot meals to hundreds of tenants during the pandemic, finding creative ways to help seniors and families with food security under challenging circumstances.

And now some TCHC neighbours are pitching in as well: high school student Tristan Sharma contributed nearly $7,000 in food donations, as well as a helping hand delivering groceries to his downtown neighbours this past weekend. Sharma, his family, and TCHC staff and volunteers delivered 150 cases of groceries on May 29, after he raised funds to support his neighbors in the Jarvis St. TCHC building near his home. Longo's delivered and packaged the groceries without charge and honoured Tristan as a hero on its daily web banner.

Tristan's generous contribution, raised through the contributions of family friends and neighbours, purchased the groceries. The student and his family are neighbors of a Jarvis TCHC building where many seniors reside. Their Queen's Quay East condo building is now "twinned" with their neighbouring TCHC building. Tristan's hope is that the neighbours helping neighbours effort will be a blueprint for other communities, and he's already had inquiries online from as far away as Nova Scotia about his efforts.  "I hope others in the community will duplicate this model of helping out our fellow men and women in our neighbourhoods," he said.

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About Toronto Community Housing

Toronto Community Housing is Canada's largest social housing provider. We are owned by the City of Toronto and provide homes for nearly 60,000 low- and moderate-income households in more than 100 of the city's neighbourhoods. Our 2,100 buildings represent a $10-billion public asset.

Media contact: TCHC media line 416-737-1352 or media@torontohousing.ca