Little Jamaica Residents Survey

PURPOSE:

In partnership with the City of Toronto’s Confronting Anti-Black Racism Unit (CABR), Keele & Eglinton Residents and Black Urbanism TO will be leading foundational work in the Little Jamaica neighbourhood to explore strategies that the local community can implement collectively to address affordable housing, food insecurity and economic development.

Who is Black Urbanism TO?
Black Urbanism TO (BUTO) is a non-profit organization founded in 2018 to strengthen Black communities within Toronto so that we can thrive in the neighbourhoods we call home. Over the past 4 years BUTO has been advocating for Black residents and business owners in Little Jamaica to have an active voice and role in the redevelopment of this culturally significant neighbourhood.

BUTO is currently leading a separate but related project called “Pathways to Community Ownership”, which aims to identify community ownership models including Community Land Trusts to increase property ownership among Black business owners in Little Jamaica. This project is based on one of the recommendations in our 2020 Black Business Conversations report to identify the barriers to commercial property ownership among Black business owners and create measures to reduce their displacement along Eglinton Ave. West.

Who is Keele & Eglinton Residents?

Keele & Eglinton Residents (K.E. Residents) is committed to providing equitable and inclusive spaces for children, youth and community members. K.E. Residents serves the Eglinton West - Little Jamaica community through community engagement by hosting and supporting multiple types of projects and events to strengthen neighbourhoods & community connections.

About the Confronting Anti-Black Racism Unit (CABR)

The City of Toronto's Confronting Anti-Black Racism Unit (CABR) is responsible for rolling out the Toronto Action Plan to Confront Anti-Black Racism. The five-year action plan is SMART – strategic and specific; measurable; achievable; relevant and realistic; and timely. Most importantly, it responds to the priorities identified by Toronto’s diverse Black communities. Read the Toronto Action Plan to Confront Anti-Black Racism.

The CABR Unit is also a member of the City of Toronto’s Interdivisional Team for the Little Jamaica Initiative. In response to Council’s direction and calls to action from the community, an Interdivisional Team was established with membership from a number of City divisions with current mandates in Little Jamaica including actions to address anti-Black racism measures, mobility, housing, development review, and social development services. Read the Introduction and Status Report here.

What is a Community Land Trust
A community land trust is a not-for-profit, member-based organization that acquires and manages land for permanent affordability through community ownership. CLTs promote community ownership and democratic control of land. Historically Black communities in the US have organized cooperative land trusts during the civil rights era. An example of this model is from a group of Black farmers in Georgia in the 60s who lost their homes and were unable to vote at the time. They organized themselves with the help of other community organizers, like Martin Luther King, were able to purchase 5700 acres of land collectively with the help of investments from the community. Today, CLTs have grown to become a proven method to build collective economic power and invest in community well-being. 

Area included in the Little Jamaica Residents Survey

 Source: https://thelittlejamaica.com/about/

Notice of Collection: Black Urbanism TO is collecting personal information  (i.e. name, age, gender, ethnicity, email address and postal code) for the followng purposes:

• to ensure eligibility to participate in the survey
• to contextualize the feedback provided in the survey; and
• to process and administer honoraria for survey participation.

As part of the Agreement between Keele & Eglinton Residents, Black Urbanism TO and the City of Toronto's Confronting Anti-Black Racism Unit (CABR), Black Urbanism TO and Keele & Eglinton Residents will submit a final report sharing project outcomes and findings. All information related to the survey will be de-identified and aggregated before it is shared with CABR. De-identified means that information that could be used to identify specific individuals will be removed. Aggregated means that survey responses will be analyzed as a whole and not as individual responses. 

If you have any questions about the collection, use, or disclosure of your personal information, please contact:

BUTO@blackurbanismto.com

Earlier we mentioned a term "Community Land Trust". Community Land Trusts or CLTs are community-based, non-governmental organizations aimed at securing long-terms affordability and community control over land. This is done by acquiring land either by purchasing or donation and removing the land from the speculative market and gentrification pressures.

CLTs can be used for a number of purposes including to provide affordable housing, urban agricultural land, commercial space or cultural and economic uses. Regardless of the purpose CLTs are accountable to the people who live or work in a definable geographic area.   

Below are a few CLT models that can help address affordable housing in Little Jamaica. Which of the following models are of interest to you?

Non-profit Community Land Trust 

The community creates a non-profit corporation that is devoted to purchasing residential properties in Little Jamaica. The corporation would own the land, and sell or lease the homes or units in a housing development to residents of African descent at affordable rates (lower than market value).
Community members own the land collectively and have an equal say in electing a board to manage the corporation and the properties. This ensures that Little Jamaica remains permanently affordable and accessible for Black residents in the future.

Real Estate Investment Trust

A group of investors including residents and business owners of African descent, and partners with vested interest in Little Jamaica (including the broader Black community) pool money together in an investment fund. The fund is then used to purchase real estate in Little Jamaica to provide affordable housing in partnership with a social housing provider. The fund is open to external donations.
This model allows community members the opportunity to be part of the financial solution to address housing affordability while generating income or a return on investment for investors.

Housing Co-operative

Community members of African descent form a housing co-op which manages a multi-unit residential property. Residents do not own their individual units, but instead own shares in the corporation with voting rights and responsibility for managing the property. Members are able to live in their units permanently until shares are sold. 

Co-op Types:
Market Rate Co-ops: Allows co-op members to buy and sell shares at whatever rate the market will bear.
Limited Equity Co-ops: Sets restrictions on the price at which shares may be bought and sold.
Leasing Co-ops: The co-op corporation leases the building rather than owning it and accumulates no equity value. In this case, the co-op may have a cash reserve on hand if the building ever goes up for sale. . Residents of the co-op become members and share voting rights and responsibility for managing the property.

Community Capital Fund

A group of  business owners and residents of African descent in Little Jamaica pool money together in a community fund. All community investors have an equal say in deciding how the money is used. The money is put back into the community in a way the members see fit. This could include investing in people, projects and businesses and the acquisition and sharing of land for affordable housing initiatives. This model returns control to the community while also building equity for community investors.

Which of the following recommendations do you feel align with your vision for Little Jamaica:

Recommendation #1- Access to Growing Space: Reimagine public land as an opportunity to build community resilience through land-based learning initiatives and repurposing land to promote stewardship and urban agriculture initiatives.

Recommendation #2 - Accessible Infrastructure: Improve access to assets that drive economic and social benefit in Black communities, including community and incubator kitchen spaces and other facilities to expand equitable access to development and community food education opportunities.

Recommendation #3 - Black Food Hubs, Procurement and Cultural Markets: Create an enabling environment for community wealth building initiatives and collective Black economic prosperity. This would be achieved through the establishment of food supply chains that support resilient and sustainable Black-owned and Black operated food businesses that can participate in procurement opportunities, support workforce development, and improve cultural food access.

Recommendation #4 - Culturally Rooted Community Health and Nutrition Programs:
Cultivate and deliver African-centered nutrition, mental health and health promotion programs informed by African, Caribbean and Black communities’ distinct experiences, culture and needs, to deliver responsive, trauma-informed, holistic and supportive healthcare resources and services to address food and diet-related health disparities.

As mentioned, CLTs can be used for a number of purposes including to provide urban agricultural land and generate economic activity.  

Below are a few CLT models that can help achieve food soverignty for people of African descent in Little Jamaica and the broader City of Toronto. Which of the following models are of interest to you?

Community Capital Fund

A group of business owners & residents in Little Jamaica of African descent pool money together in a community fund. All community investors have an equal say in deciding how the money is used. The money is put back into the community in a way the members see fit. This could include investing in people, projects and businesses and the acquisition and sharing of land for food sovereignty initiatives. This model returns control to the community while also building equity for community investors.

Non-profit Community Land Trust

A group community members and business owners of African descent create a non-profit corporation that is devoted to purchasing land in Little Jamaica. Community members would collectively own the land, and lease it to food producers to deliver food based programing at the site. Community members would have an equal say in electing a board to manage the corporation and any properties acquired through the CLT. This ensures that urban agricultural land is accessible in Little Jamaica and remains permanently affordable.

Food Co-operative

A group of community members of African descent including residents and business ownes forma food co-op. A food co-op is grocery store or market that is owned and operated by its members. Its membership could consist of its workers (i.e. worker owned), its customers (i.e. customer owned) or by both its customers and workers (i.e. shared ownership and decision making power).

The purpose of the food co-op would be to provide access to high quality food that is more affordable than a traditional grocery store. Any surplus or profits could be reinvested into the food co-op or returned to its members as dividens