When members of Parkdale Activity-Recreation Centre (PARC) step off the bus at Camp Kandalore, Victor Willis said it's as though the stresses of life just melt away."It's tough living in poverty so people are sometimes pretty guarded and defensive. But, you get people out into nature and some of that just disappears," said Willis, the executive director of PARC, a drop-in centre for the marginally housed and homeless.
"We see that it has so much benefit, especially for people who never get away," he said. "For people who are really poor and pretty much locked into that life, you never get away from your poverty or where you live."
So every year for the past 20 years PARC has taken some of its members to Camp Kandalore, in Minden, north east of Toronto. It all began when some PARC staff and members found Camp Kandalore, which at the time was in rough shape. They went up one spring and helped to fix it up and their sweat equity paid for their first camp trip.
Camp Kandalore operates as a youth camp, so since that first year, PARC has paid to take members there at the end of the season after all the young people have gone back to school.
The camp is on a lake and campers have the opportunity to take part in canoeing, archery, campfires and hikes.
It's an expensive excursion for the not-for-profit, but it has become a fundamental program that Willis said he finds the funds for every year. Although the program doesn't have a permanent source of funding, members will be returning to Camp Kandalore this year on Sept. 2, thanks in part to the help of East York artist Darlene Martin and Parkdale's Made You Look Jewellery Gallery.
Martin, owner and founder of Bijouxbead, was at an event at Made You Look when she said she had her first true exposure to Parkdale.
"It was a nice event, and we had some food there, and as it was winding down two homeless gentlemen came in," Martin said. "How Sarah (Hamel, the owner of Made You Look) interacted with them had a huge impact on me."
Martin said the men were treated with dignity and without any pre-judgment.
"She didn't point a finger at them and tell them to get out," Martin said.
Seeing different communities of people living together in Parkdale and treating each other with respect sparked the idea for the "Summer in Parkdale" show and sale. Inspired by Parkdale's history, challenges, art and culture, the jewelry ranges in price from $40 to $400 and, depending on how much she is able to sell, Martin said she will donate as much as 30 per cent to PARC and the camp program.
The pieces are made of soft blues, steel and pewter. Martin said for her the colours represent the arts and culture that are so prominent in Parkdale and also the challenges, like poverty, the community faces.
The collection is being shown at Made You Look Jewellery Gallery, 1338 Queen St. W. until Aug. 31. It's a relatively small collection. Three necklaces are named for specific Parkdale historical landmarks: the old O'Hara Estate, Gwynne Estate and Dunn Estate. From there, the necklace collection grew to include pieces titled the Gladstone, the CNE, Palais Royale, Sunnyside and Parkdale Cool as well as a few bracelets and earrings featuring pyrite, turquoise, crystal quartz, blue topaz and silver.
Willis said PARC is delighted to have the support of Martin and Made You Look, particularly because it was unexpected and unsolicited.
PARC is about to enter 30 years of operation. It has 2,000 active members, about 1,200 men and 800 women.
Between 40 or 50 members go on the annual trip. They try to have even numbers of men and women attending camp as well as a mix of new campers and members who have previously gone, because they know the camp and can offer peer support.