Desi News Corp - Index

Desi News Corp - Desi News - June 2009 - Index

organization, an amalgamation
of different legacy companies,
with a strong vision and leadership.
There are growing pains,
but progress has been made.
“We refer to ourselves as
Landlord Plus,” she says. “We
recognize tenants face challenges,
we realize they are
marginalized, we know poverty
is the problem.
“We see ourselves as catalysts
for change, and we take a robust
role in neighbourhood development.”
Responding to media reports
about poor living conditions
in some Toronto Community
Housing units, Chatterjee
says, “These are sad stories.
No one wants tenants to live in
the kinds of conditions that
were described.
“Toronto Community Housing
is committed to providing
high quality housing for lowand
moderate-income families.
Despite inheriting a $300 million
capital repair backlog in 2001,
the majority of Toronto Community
Housing tenants live in
good conditions. Some 11,500
of our 58,000 tenants live in
refurbished units.”
By the end of the year, 3,500
more units will have new kitchens
and bathrooms. Every year,
tenants invest $9 million in
community priorities like gardens
and playgrounds and
community space – things that
make a real difference in the
community. A 10-year plan called
Housing Works will bring the
entire housing portfolio into a
NARI MAVALWALLA /DESI NEWS
“We see ourselves as
catalysts for change”
good state of repair.
Investing in people, believes
Chatterjee, is equally important.
“We invest in community
development, equipping communities
to solve their own problems
instead of perpetuating
dependencies. We connect tenants
to the services they need. We build
partnerships with community
based organizations, advocacy
groups, grassroots groups, service
providers and public institutions
to address community issues.
“Have we accomplished a
lot? We think we have. Is there
more to do? Absolutely.”
She cites the example of the
Regent Park revitalization project.
“Mixed use, mixed tenure
neighbourhoods look like this.
Mixed neighbourhoods are a
primary way to eliminate barriers,
to eliminate stigma. Look at
St. Lawrence Market. You have
co-op housing, private ownership,
social housing, rentals, and
you can’t tell who lives where.
It’s a vibrant neighbourhood
that facilitates communication.
When people learn about each
other, it’s difficult to stigmatize
people because of where they
live. Similarly, Regent Park Development
has been a community
process in which stakeholders
have taken ownership of the
whole decision-making process.
Our role is to create that table where
more of such thinking can find
a place.”
Chatterjee is aware that there
are those who oppose council
housing in their neighbourhoods
and believes in working
with them to come to an agreement.
In finding allies and
knowing who can push things.
“You pick your battles strategically!
Sometimes, the onus
is on others to get certain things
done.”
She describes her days as chaotic
and unpredictable.
“But that’s what I love about
them! My days are very processdriven.”
At the time of this interview,
Chatterjee had just returned
from Cape Town where Toronto
Community Housing works
with Communicare – an organization
that builds and manages
social housing – to find better
ways to involve tenants in the
manner in which services are
delivered to them.
A lot of her time is spent in
meetings, tenant engagements,
crisis intervention, working with
different support groups and
tenant groups, and with staff to
problem solve.
Thirty-one year-old Chatterjee
says she enjoys her work so
much that she has to think when
asked what she does for fun.
“I guess I would have to say,
spending time with my partner,
Mark Thomas, reading, listening
to music.”
As director of Development
and Community Engagement
for SCCC, Chatterjee had taken
eight young people from different
ethnic backgrounds to New
Delhi to perform in a groundbreaking
benefit concert and
meet the Dalai Lama. “The idea
was for them to make a connection
with other young
people and to help them understand
they have the ability to
effect change,” she says.
Chatterjee is passionate about
finding ways in which she
can help change the way we
view others based on extraneous
factors.
“I want to see healthy communities
where newcomers are
understood, not patronized;
where the efforts of immigrants
are acknowledged. I’d like to see
this history reflected in lessons
at schools so that our young
people feel they are a part of
this country, that they have a
place in Canada.”
– SHAGORIKA EASWAR