Women laugh, chat and crochet as they enjoy another Whimsical Wednesday for Women at the Mustard Seed.
The Mustard Seed is a community outreach centre run by Fontbonne Ministries, a division of the Sisters of St. Joseph of Toronto. Located at 791 Queen St. E., the goal of this community centre is to help women and men who live on the street develop the life skills they need in order to change their situation.
Sister Gwen Smith, the 81-year-old director at the Mustard Seed, says Whimsical Wednesdays tries to help those in the community who cannot help themselves, without making individuals feel as if they’re any less capable than people who seem to have more.
“Our whole mission is to nurture community,” she said. “There are a couple women (here) who have issues with men and most of our programs are co-ed so we decided to have one day a week for women.”
On Whimsical Wednesdays, women can pop in for meditation, a community kitchen and a foot care clinic is available by appointment. In the sewing room, women go through yards of cloth to make things. One is learning how to design a skirt from scratch.
Joan, a program participant (who didn’t want her last name used because of the stigma around mental illness), visits the Mustard Seed’s community kitchen, meditation group. She takes part in a pottery class hosted by one of the Sisters of St. Joseph, called “Studio on the Hill.” She says the environment the Sisters of St. Joseph have created differs from other programs in the city.
“I don’t get on well generally with drop-ins at all, but this drop-in is not like a normal drop-in,” Joan said. “It’s spotlessly clean. Nobody talks down to you … People just accept you.”
Joan says one of the best things about the Mustard Seed is being able to deal with people who treat you fairly instead of judging based on any personal issues you may have.
“If you do something that was not helpful … they would say something, but they would say it in a way that they would say it to any other person,” she said. “So it’s not something that you feel really put down about or that you did it wrong.”
Smith says it’s important that staff and volunteers treat participants with respect through solid communication. Since she doesn’t have anger management training, she makes a point to communicate clearly with program participants in an effort to avoid conflict.
“We’re real. We all make mistakes. You speak to the person first about the behaviour and tell them how it upset your life and try to remedy it,” she said. “That’s what we’re about, just letting people know where you belong and we love you.”
Sister Gwen Smith says some time in the community kitchen is dedicated to teaching the importance of budgeting, nutrition, effective grocery shopping and healthy eating. While the Mustard Seed goes to the grocery store, the participants are the ones who put the meals together.
“We have a good working relationship with most of the people,” she said. “They learn the basics but I told the hospital based on my … experience I know they will be healthier.”
The Mustard Seed is a community outreach centre run by Fontbonne Ministries, a division of the Sisters of St. Joseph of Toronto. Located at 791 Queen St. E., the goal of this community centre is to help women and men who live on the street develop the life skills they need in order to change their situation.
Sister Gwen Smith, the 81-year-old director at the Mustard Seed, says Whimsical Wednesdays tries to help those in the community who cannot help themselves, without making individuals feel as if they’re any less capable than people who seem to have more.
“Our whole mission is to nurture community,” she said. “There are a couple women (here) who have issues with men and most of our programs are co-ed so we decided to have one day a week for women.”
On Whimsical Wednesdays, women can pop in for meditation, a community kitchen and a foot care clinic is available by appointment. In the sewing room, women go through yards of cloth to make things. One is learning how to design a skirt from scratch.
Joan, a program participant (who didn’t want her last name used because of the stigma around mental illness), visits the Mustard Seed’s community kitchen, meditation group. She takes part in a pottery class hosted by one of the Sisters of St. Joseph, called “Studio on the Hill.” She says the environment the Sisters of St. Joseph have created differs from other programs in the city.
“I don’t get on well generally with drop-ins at all, but this drop-in is not like a normal drop-in,” Joan said. “It’s spotlessly clean. Nobody talks down to you … People just accept you.”
Joan says one of the best things about the Mustard Seed is being able to deal with people who treat you fairly instead of judging based on any personal issues you may have.
“If you do something that was not helpful … they would say something, but they would say it in a way that they would say it to any other person,” she said. “So it’s not something that you feel really put down about or that you did it wrong.”
Smith says it’s important that staff and volunteers treat participants with respect through solid communication. Since she doesn’t have anger management training, she makes a point to communicate clearly with program participants in an effort to avoid conflict.
“We’re real. We all make mistakes. You speak to the person first about the behaviour and tell them how it upset your life and try to remedy it,” she said. “That’s what we’re about, just letting people know where you belong and we love you.”
Sister Gwen Smith says some time in the community kitchen is dedicated to teaching the importance of budgeting, nutrition, effective grocery shopping and healthy eating. While the Mustard Seed goes to the grocery store, the participants are the ones who put the meals together.
“We have a good working relationship with most of the people,” she said. “They learn the basics but I told the hospital based on my … experience I know they will be healthier.”
Ex-mayoral candidate and ex-Liberal Rocco Rossi says he jumped ship to the Progressive Conservative party because his goals weren’t in line with the Liberal government.
Rossi, a former national director of the Liberal Party, became the provincial Progressive Conservative candidate of record this week for the Toronto riding of Eglinton-Lawrence.
“Last year was the most intensive political year of my life,” Rossi said. “It was a time when I had to develop my own platform … and what was interesting was that more Conservatives than Liberals were attracted to (my) message.”
Rossi stressed the importance of having a government that is responsible with money.
“The issues I have in terms of fiscal responsibility and value for money … align better with (Ontario’s Conservative leader) Tim Hudak than the Liberals,” he said. “I want to ensure that we build a proper plan to move Ontario out of the ‘have not’ column and back to being the hub of Canadian economy.”
Rossi said it’s also important to have a government that assists the average family.
“I want to make sure that people feel that their tax dollars are working as hard as possible (and) to get them to a stage where they’re better able to make ends meet,” Rossi said.
Media consultant Allan Bonner has witnessed a few political candidates change parties. He says this change could be difficult for Rossi, but there are a few factors working in his favour.
“Rossi … hasn’t been in elected office yet and that’s what he has working for him,” Bonner said. “If (John) Tory supports him he will get away with it but he has to have that support.”
Another important group that has to believe in Rossi’s goals, Bonner says, is the voters.
“If the Conservative workers support other candidates than they may do better than Rossi,” he said. “He has to have the (support) of the community.”
Liberal MPP Mike Colle has been elected in Eglinton-Lawrence since 1995.
Though Rossi knows he has his work cut out for him, he says the people in the Eglinton-Lawrence riding are ready for something new.
“The early indications from people in this riding (are that) they’re looking for a much needed change at the provincial level,” Rossi said. “(But) this is going to be a tough battle; the Liberals have dominated the political scene in Toronto provincially and federally.”
Rossi, a former national director of the Liberal Party, became the provincial Progressive Conservative candidate of record this week for the Toronto riding of Eglinton-Lawrence.
“Last year was the most intensive political year of my life,” Rossi said. “It was a time when I had to develop my own platform … and what was interesting was that more Conservatives than Liberals were attracted to (my) message.”
Rossi stressed the importance of having a government that is responsible with money.
“The issues I have in terms of fiscal responsibility and value for money … align better with (Ontario’s Conservative leader) Tim Hudak than the Liberals,” he said. “I want to ensure that we build a proper plan to move Ontario out of the ‘have not’ column and back to being the hub of Canadian economy.”
Rossi said it’s also important to have a government that assists the average family.
“I want to make sure that people feel that their tax dollars are working as hard as possible (and) to get them to a stage where they’re better able to make ends meet,” Rossi said.
Media consultant Allan Bonner has witnessed a few political candidates change parties. He says this change could be difficult for Rossi, but there are a few factors working in his favour.
“Rossi … hasn’t been in elected office yet and that’s what he has working for him,” Bonner said. “If (John) Tory supports him he will get away with it but he has to have that support.”
Another important group that has to believe in Rossi’s goals, Bonner says, is the voters.
“If the Conservative workers support other candidates than they may do better than Rossi,” he said. “He has to have the (support) of the community.”
Liberal MPP Mike Colle has been elected in Eglinton-Lawrence since 1995.
Though Rossi knows he has his work cut out for him, he says the people in the Eglinton-Lawrence riding are ready for something new.
“The early indications from people in this riding (are that) they’re looking for a much needed change at the provincial level,” Rossi said. “(But) this is going to be a tough battle; the Liberals have dominated the political scene in Toronto provincially and federally.”
Women walked topless in public in Toronto recently; they were advertising the need for greater awareness of breast cancer.
Joy Thorne-Enright, co-ordinator of Centennial College’s advertising program, says charities and corporations are more likely to use these kinds of in-your-face images to capture attention.
“Because we’re so bombarded with messages on a minute-by-minute basis, people … trying to get a message across need to do it in a powerful way,” she said. “And sometimes for health issues, shock value is needed.”
The anti-smoking lobby has also used shock value on cigarette packages to make get its message across. Thorne-Enright believes that the technique has been proven effective.
“If you look at (the statistics), you’ll find that smoking has gone down so that would back up the point that shock value is working,” she said. “They’re trying to reach a younger audience … A younger crowd doesn’t want to have their teeth looking like that and don’t want cancer of the mouth.”
Garfield Mahood, honorary executive director of the Non-Smokers’ Rights Association, said advertisements on cigarette cartons have less to do with shock value and more to do with law.
“In Tort law (the tobacco) industry has an obligation to warn consumers of over 20 terminal diseases,” he said. “They have to warn them of the nature of the risk and also the magnitude of the risk.”
Mahood added that an individual’s influence to begin smoking comes from a variety of places.
“Kids see these things on the coffee table. They see them on the seat of the car … They see them all kinds of places before they ever try their first cigarette,” he said. “The name of the game for the tobacco industry is to grab as many of (the) kids who have mixed influences … and get them hooked on their products for life.”
Mahood said the best way to show young people the dangers of smoking is through real images.
“If you have 37,000 deaths (yearly) … if you have more people dying from tobacco than from AIDS, homicide, suicide, alcohol and traffic accidents combined, why would you want less drastic measures?” Mahood said. “This industry kills one out of two of its long-term customers … If you can affect just one per cent of the population … that’s 370 (fewer) deaths.”
Thorne-Enright said variety in advertising is important, which is why a subtle approach may not always be the most effective.
“Done in the right place at the right time for the right target audience (a subtle approach) works,” she said, “If it’s done all the time the message can get lost. And a lot of campaigns don’t lend themselves to that and it’s a good thing. That’s why we need variety.”
Joy Thorne-Enright, co-ordinator of Centennial College’s advertising program, says charities and corporations are more likely to use these kinds of in-your-face images to capture attention.
“Because we’re so bombarded with messages on a minute-by-minute basis, people … trying to get a message across need to do it in a powerful way,” she said. “And sometimes for health issues, shock value is needed.”
The anti-smoking lobby has also used shock value on cigarette packages to make get its message across. Thorne-Enright believes that the technique has been proven effective.
“If you look at (the statistics), you’ll find that smoking has gone down so that would back up the point that shock value is working,” she said. “They’re trying to reach a younger audience … A younger crowd doesn’t want to have their teeth looking like that and don’t want cancer of the mouth.”
Garfield Mahood, honorary executive director of the Non-Smokers’ Rights Association, said advertisements on cigarette cartons have less to do with shock value and more to do with law.
“In Tort law (the tobacco) industry has an obligation to warn consumers of over 20 terminal diseases,” he said. “They have to warn them of the nature of the risk and also the magnitude of the risk.”
Mahood added that an individual’s influence to begin smoking comes from a variety of places.
“Kids see these things on the coffee table. They see them on the seat of the car … They see them all kinds of places before they ever try their first cigarette,” he said. “The name of the game for the tobacco industry is to grab as many of (the) kids who have mixed influences … and get them hooked on their products for life.”
Mahood said the best way to show young people the dangers of smoking is through real images.
“If you have 37,000 deaths (yearly) … if you have more people dying from tobacco than from AIDS, homicide, suicide, alcohol and traffic accidents combined, why would you want less drastic measures?” Mahood said. “This industry kills one out of two of its long-term customers … If you can affect just one per cent of the population … that’s 370 (fewer) deaths.”
Thorne-Enright said variety in advertising is important, which is why a subtle approach may not always be the most effective.
“Done in the right place at the right time for the right target audience (a subtle approach) works,” she said, “If it’s done all the time the message can get lost. And a lot of campaigns don’t lend themselves to that and it’s a good thing. That’s why we need variety.”
