Regent Park residents officially have their own educational hub following the formal opening of a learning centre at Dundas and Sackville streets.
The Regent Park Centre of Learning (RPCL) will improve access to post-secondary education while serving as a meeting place where residents can share experiences."When I first came across this space, it was just a little box in the building," said Toronto Community Housing vice-president of development John Fox. "I asked what it was going to be and was told there was an idea of making it into a learning hub. Now it's a reality - a brand new hub for learning in Regent Park."Partnering with the University of Toronto, Ryerson University and George Brown College, the centre will offer a selection of courses ranging from college entrance preparation and computer skills, as well as civic and community engagement opportunities, digital storytelling and learning circles for women.The courses are all free of charge, and the curriculum is based on needs voiced by the residents of Regent Park.While the centre has been running some programs since April, it held an official opening event on Wednesday, Dec. 1 to celebrate its newfound home at 540 Dundas St. E., at the foot of one of the new Regent Park residential buildings.Managed by the Toronto Centre for Community Learning and Development (formerly known as East End Literacy,) the RPCL marks a new direction in community-building.Martin Blake of the Daniels Corporation, Toronto Community Housing's partner in the Regent Park redevelopment, said the learning centre represents the new community. Where the Regent Park community was once isolated from Toronto with few amenities or services, the new Regent Park has a number of vital features such as a grocery store, a bank and other features often taken for granted."The Regent Park Centre of Learning really encapsulates everything we had hoped for back in 2006 (when the revitalization was still in the planning stage,)" he said.The opening festivities also featured "digital stories", short videos in which Regent Park residents spoke of their own experiences - both positive and negative - in Toronto Community Housing. While the videos included some horror stories, including tales of cockroach, bedbug and mouse infestations and recollections of the nervousness and hassle of being forced to relocate, the residents were predominantly effusive in their praise of the new Regent Park.That praise was echoed by representatives of the colleges and universities who have partnered with the RPCL. Gervan Fearon, dean of Ryerson University's Raymong G. Chang School of Continuing Education, said the centre is just what an up-and-coming community needs."I think it's really important for there to be spaces such as this for education and for knowledge, but most importantly for knowledge exchange (between residents,)" he said.George Brown College president Anne Sado agreed, calling the RPCL, "the right type of commitment to make for our community."While the centre will undoubtedly open doors for many who would otherwise have been cut off from formal education, the key to making it successful lies in allowing the residents to continue to act as leaders in their own quest for education, said Ryerson president Sheldon Levy."Ultimately, it will only work if it works for the people that use it," he said. "It isn't so much what (the schools) want to put in here; it's what (residents) need in here."Councillor Pam McConnell, who has a long history of education promotion in the community stretching back to her days as a local teacher 35 years ago, said the RPCL is the culmination of a long-standing dream for the community. She noted when she and others took steps to keep local youth on the path to education decades ago, she heard from many adults who wished they had similar opportunities.After years of residents agitating for change, she said the RPCL would provide more opportunities for all."This centre is the spirit, or the heart, of Regent Park and it is the key to what will make Regent Park work," she said.