Parkdale Organize

Tenants at the West Lodge towers have been consistently organizing together for years. Organizing for power in their lives. Organizing to ensure that they - and their neighbours - have access to fresh food, secure and well-maintained housing and the dignity that we all deserve. One facet of this is a collective project called the West Lodge Tenant-Run Food Bank.

In December 2020, Parkdale tenants occupied a vacant unit at the West Lodge towers to distribute food to their neighbours. Tenants continue to occupy a vacant unit for this end to this day. And throughout this December, three years later, the West Lodge tenant committee is asking for support so they can continue this important project.

The organizing that you see on social media or in the news is the organizing that occurs in moments of crisis: evictions, rent increases or dire disrepair. And these actions are important.

Behind that, often unseen, lies even more critical organizing work. When we sustain building committees outside of moments of crisis, we are part of building the meaningful connections between neighbours that are necessary for effective actions when crisis does come.

But more than that, we fundamentally change the way that we live in our buildings. And we build the collective power to intervene on both the small and large attacks that we, as working class people, face everyday.

Neighbourhood organizing is about so much more than rent increases and disrepair. It's about changing the way we all live together. And supporting the working class initiatives that emerge from that: https://westlodgefoodbank.com

This past week, Parkdale lost a cherished member of our community.

Diane Rajaram was an anchor in our neighbourhood. A mother, PSW, thorn in the side of landlords, and an invaluable support to her neighbours.

Whether at the forefront or in the background, Diane was a vital part of many of the struggles that played out in Parkdale over the decades.

She will be sorely missed and fondly remembered by hundreds of working class people. No small feat. She led a life worthy of our respect, gratitude, and admiration.

Last weekend, Parkdale tenants got together for our annual end of the summer party. The day itself is a real fun time filled with facepaint, bubbles, bouncy castles, school supplies and food donated from all around the neighbourhood. But the best part of the day is that it's an event put on by Parkdale tenants for Parkdale tenants.

Tenant families from 135, 118 and 115 Tyndall; 200, 160, and 109 Jameson; 1430 and 1251 King; 55 Triller and the West Lodge towers came together to plan this event from start to finish -- no big sponsorships, no staff, no funding. Just working class families working together.

Next weekend at 55 Triller! Planned by the Parkdale Parent Committee.

Spread the word to Parkdale tenant families. Haircuts, live music from local artists, food, games and a bouncy castle. And some school supplies for the kids.

See ya there.

A message from the Thorncliffe tenants who have been on rent strike against Starlight for 3 months now. Please join if you are able.

"Tenants of 71, 75, and 79 Thorncliffe Park are holding a rally at Starlight's head office on August 1 to kick off the 4th month of our rent strike.

Come out on August 1 at 12:00pm to support our fight against the above guideline rent increases being sought by Starlight and PSP!"

Our neighbours at 77 Spencer continue to demand that Akelius Canada withdraw the above guideline rent increase at their building. Today fellow Akelius tenants at 109 Indian Road, who also face an AGI at their building, joined them for a loud and disruptive protest at the Akelius head office. Rather than meet tenants' demands, Akelius had Toronto Police remove them from their office.

Email zap today! ⚡️📨 Click on this link to send an email to Kyle and Steve Goldenberg of Myriad to drop the eviction attempt against Andrea Coso Becic and her family. https://tinyurl.com/ydvm8rft

Background:

Myriad is trying to evict family with a baby at 130 Jameson.

Andrea Coso Becic and her partner Caleb have been living at 130 Jameson for four years and more recently grew their family with the addition of their baby daughter Elsie.They moved in as a legal sublet, but now Myriad is trying to evict them. The tenant committee at the building wrote to Myriad recently urging them to drop this eviction attempt, but they have not responded to either the committee, or Coso Becic directly.

In late January, we asked for your help after the same company was trying to evict Janice Walker from her home of 36 years after her mom died. Thanks to the help of her building and public support, Janice will be staying in her home. Tenants at 130 are asking for the same help for Coso Becic and her family.

Email Kyle and Steve Goldenberg from Myriad and tell them that they need to drop this eviction attempt and normalize the tenancy.

Email zap this Monday! Myriad is trying to evict family with a baby from 130 Jameson!

Andrea Coso Becic and her partner Caleb have been living at 130 Jameson for four years and more recently grew their family with the addition of their baby daughter Elsie.They moved in as a legal sublet, but now Myriad is trying to evict them. The tenant committee at the building wrote to Myriad recently urging them to drop this eviction attempt, but they have not responded to either the committee, or Coso Becic directly.

In late January, we asked for your help after the same company was trying to evict Janice Walker from her home of 36 years after her mom died. Thanks to the help of her building and public support, Janice will be staying in her home. Tenants at 130 are asking for the same help for Coso Becic and her family.

This Monday Apr 3, email Kyle and Steve Goldenberg from Myriad and tell them that they need to drop this eviction attempt and normalize the tenancy. Stay tuned here for details.

Landlords refuse to add children to leases for one simple reason: long-term tenants get in the way of increasing rents. What this means is that many of our families are just one tragedy away from facing the threat of eviction -- just like Janice.

When we've already lost one neighbour, we can't let the landlord take another. The protection of our homes is something that neighbours must fight for together.

Take the time today to support Janice by calling and emailing Myriad execs. Janice will stay in her home and Myriad must back off with their threats!

I support Janice and her neighbours at 130 Jameson.

Myriad needs to:
1. Recognise Janice Walker as the tenant and leaseholder at her current rent,
2. Stop attempts to evict, threaten or intimidate Janice into leaving her home or trying to extort her for higher rents,
3. Refrain from taking similar actions against other tenants at 130 Jameson.
______________________
Steven Goldenberg, President
Phone: 416-667-9930 ext. 227
Email: [email protected]

Neil Goldenberg, V.P.
Phone: 416-667-9930 ext. 229
Email: [email protected]

Kyle Goldenberg, V.P. Finance and Operations
Phone: 416-667-9930 ext. 224

Adrijan Anastov, Senior Property Manager
Phone: 647-200-1294
_______________________

For more details, join the event: Stop Janice's Eviction: Phone Myriad!

Last month, after Janice Walker’s mom died her landlord, Myriad Property Mgmt., told Janice she had 30 days to get out. A rep said it was “company policy.” Then they pressured her for money she doesn’t have. Janice is fighting to stay in her home with the help of her neighbours.

Here is Janice at her apt at 130 Jameson in 1987 after she came to Canada & where she lived with her mom all these years. She’s still grieving & can’t afford a 50% rent hike, nor should she have to pay one just because her mom died. Janice needs peace, Myriad need to back off.

Janice made a plan w/ her neighbours to write to the landlords asking them to recognize her as a tenant. The company responded through their paralegal to tell Janice she could either give them an extra $500+ a month or they would evict her. They gave her two days to decide.

Many families have been at 130 for generations & know Myriad wants them out too. The tenants organized last summer after dozens of units, including Janice’s, got eviction notices for using AC. They are standing with their neighbour to tell their landlord they won’t let her get pushed out.

The building is circulating a petition in support of Janice and they are planning other actions. They are doing this as the landlord launches other attacks on them. Despite her landlord’s deplorable actions against her, Janice is finding her strength and getting strength from the support of her building.

The rent increase has not been approved yet by the landlord and tenant board, but Gibson and other tenants of the six-storey apartment building have taken issue, demanding the property owner, Akelius Canada, Ltd, to withdraw its application.

https://globalnews.ca/news/9438796/rent-increase-tenant-rights-canada/

Last week, our neighbours at 77 Spencer visited the office of Akelius Canada to demand the landlord drop its above guideline rent increase totaling 5.5% in 2023. After weeks of being ignored, tenants had no other option than to press their demand.

As our daily costs continue to rise, working-class people in Parkdale cannot accept a multi-billion dollar company like Akelius trying to pass its expenses off on tenants in the form of large rent increases.

Last chance to donate to the West Lodge Tenant-Run Food Bank and receive this special holiday card! Only available to Parkdale donors!

We will be delivering these cards+envelopes this week to everyone who signed up for a monthly donation (minimum $10 a month) to the food bank.

Cards are delivered with an envelope, you can give away or keep for yourself!

Set up a monthly donation here!
https://donorbox.org/donate-to-the-west-lodge-food-bank

Be sure to leave your address so we can deliver the card this week!

To drop off items, go this Thursday or next.

For monetary donations (one time or monthly), hit up: westlodgefoodbank.com

Throughout December, the West Lodge tenant-run food bank is running a special fundraiser. With every $10 monthly donation, you'll receive a holiday card made by a West Lodge artist.

The West Lodge Food Bank is a project run exclusively by tenants who live at West Lodge. By tenants, for tenants. With no funding and no staff. Every dollar donated goes directly to supporting our neighbours.

The food bank is a key part of the organizing at the West Lodge towers that keeps our neighbours housed.

For more information: www.westlodgefoodbank.com

Able to spend an hour or two passing out flyers to houses in Parkdale or Roncesvalles?

The West Lodge Tenant-Run Food Bank needs your support to keep open throughout the holiday season and beyond. While all donations are greatly appreciated, we aren't asking for your money today.

Today, we are asking for a small amount of your time to help us spread the word.

Throughout December, we're running a special fundraising drive and we need help getting the word out. Commit to a monthly donation and you'll receive a specially-made card from a West Lodge artist.

To spread the word about this holiday fundraising drive, we need help distributing our flyers to houses throughout the neighbourhood. Would you be able to spend 1 hour flyering your street or a couple hours to flyer a few streets?

We will contact you to deliver the number of flyers you need.

Please sign up: https://forms.gle/e9tke5CzyksokaW6A

After months of hard work knocking on doors & holding lobby meetings, tenants of 21 Maynard delivered their collective demands, along with dozens of individual maintenance requests, to the president of their building’s property management company.

That same day, the new owners of the building received the demands by registered mail at their homes. The tenants made clear that they hoped to have a cordial relationship with the new ownership, but were prepared to escalate matters if their demands weren’t met.

At the meeting, tenants were told their concerns would be addressed. In the months since, many of them have: new laundry machines, accessible entrances, building-wide pest control, resurfaced parking lot, and more.

There are still some outstanding demands, and the work of fighting landlord negligence is never done, but the tenant committee has seen that by working together & taking direct action, they have the power to take on millionaires – and win.

We are seeking donations of food, and funds as well as winter clothing and holiday decorations.

Donate $ at westlodgefoodbank.com

We will be open several days this month to accept your donations in person starting TODAY!

Please visit us:

Thursday, November 10, 6-7pm
Sunday, November 13, 2-4pm
Thursday, November 17, 6-7pm
Thursday, November 24, 6-7pm
Sunday, November 27, 2-4pm

Bring to 103 West Lodge Ave, apartment 203.

Have questions? Please comment below or msg us.

Breaking our isolation by establishing social relationships in our buildings and neighbourhood is the first step to defeating evictions and displacement.

Yeshi and Tashi live at 100 Jameson with their three year-old son. In the summer, the landlord sent them a threatening letter alleging that the noise made by their son moving around their apartment was "interfering" with other tenants in the building. The tenants wrote back to the landlord and explained that they are the parents of an energetic toddler. The landlord's response to their letter? To issue them an N5 eviction notice.

The young family, feeling threatened and isolated, reached out to Parkdale Organize. After meeting with our neighbours to discuss the situation, they decided to reach out to their neighbours in the building to explain their situation. We joined them in going door to door in the building. Support from neighbours was overwhelming. Neighbours came out from their units and impromptu meetings were held on floors. Everyone agreed that we should collectively defend against any attempt by the landlord to evict Yeshi, Tashi, and their son.

The immediate effect of this organizing work was that Yeshi and Tashi were no longer alone. Telling their story increased their confidence to stand their ground. Their neighbours' support for them dampened their fears. The result is that four months later, the landlord has not taken any further steps to evict the family. Most importantly, tenants at 100 Jameson are now in a stronger position to fight any future attempts to evict any one of their neighbours.

❗️Evan Johnsen and Neil Spiegel are evicting Parkdale organizers❗️

Organizers at 12 Lansdowne are being targeted for eviction in retaliation for their recent, successful campaign against renoviction.

In January 2022, Johnsen and Spiegel issued N13 eviction notices for extensive renovations to our neighbours at 12 Lansdowne. In response, tenants waged a public campaign to stop the evictions and won: in April, Johnsen and Spiegel withdrew the N13 notices. At the same time, the landlords withdrew the N5 and N6 notices they had issued against tenants who hung banners from their balconies in protest of the evictions.

However, in August, the landlords issued a new N5 against tenants in one particular unit at 12 Lansdowne. The N5 alleges that in October 2021 these tenants, who were central to the recent organizing against the renovictions, “substantially interfered” with the landlords. The tenants’ wrongdoing? Refusing to pay for the replacement of their unit door after it was broken in by the fire department when it responded to a suspected fire while the tenants were not at home.

Johnsen and Spiegel have dug up an incident from a full year ago to manufacture an eviction case against Parkdale organizers. The landlords claim that this is now the second N5 notice to be issued to these particular tenants in the past six months, the first N5 being the one which was issued to them about the banner hung from their balcony in March. Despite having formally withdrawn the first N5, the landlords now claim that two N5 notices have been issued, legally enabling them to immediately file for eviction with the Landlord and Tenant Board. A date for the eviction hearing is likely to be set in 2023.

Yesterday, 12 Lansdowne tenants responded to threats made by landlords Evan Johnsen and Neil Spiegel to lock their neighbour T out of his home by 5pm.

The landlords told T that they would change the locks because T’s former roommate, the original leaseholder, had moved out. Members of the 12 Lansdowne building committee stood with T at his unit door to block the eviction and the landlords backed down.

This is just one example of how the daily organizing of working-class people, taken up in between higher profile campaigns, strengthens us in Parkdale.

An important message from the tenants running the West Lodge Food Bank. Please share widely:

We volunteer at The West Lodge Tenant-Run Food Bank and we are trying to fundraise to keep our food distro going! We run every weekend, alternating weekends between fresh food and clothing/home goods.

We could use some help to keep running!

Read more at https://westlodgefoodbank.com/

Donate through paypal or etransfer to:
[email protected]
make password "westlodge"

To kick off the first week of school, our 2nd annual back-to-school party hosted close to 400 neighbours, both young and old, on the lawn of 55 Triller. Over 250 back-to-school packs and over 50 haircuts were given out to get our kids ready for the first day back. Parents and kids ate food, played games, listened to music, met new friends and enjoyed the bouncy castle. All organized by your neighbours in the Parkdale Parent Committee and Parkdale Organize.

People from across the neighbourhood donated time and materials to turn what for many families can be a stressful, expensive and private experience - getting their kids ready to go back to school- into a supportive and enjoyable one. As the first week comes to a close, we know this isn't the end of the problems that students and parents face at school. In fact, the start of a new school year is just the beginning. And all challenges that working class people face are better faced together.

Join the Parkdale Parent Committee October meeting.
All Parkdale tenant families welcome.

Contact us for more information:
[email protected]
647-874-8793

The fun starts at 55 Triller at 4pm.

The sun is out and it's time to get our kids ready for school tomorrow. Free haircuts, backpacks, lunch bags, and school supplies from Parkdale tenant families, to Parkdale tenant families.

Come meet your neighbours.

Tuesday, 4-7pm.
Outside 55 Triller.
Spread the word.

All our school supplies come from neighbourhood donations. We couldn't do it without you. See you Tuesday at 55 Triller!

magkita tayo doon

Ott találkozunk!

It's officially September and that means our back to school party is coming soon. Spread the word to your friends and neighbours.

Who: Parkdale tenant families!
Where: 55 Triller Ave
When: Tuesday September 6, 4-7 pm

6 sitambar ko shaam 4-7 baje se 55 trilar ke lon mein hamaare skool ke peechhe ke utsav mein shaamil hon.

bachchon ke lie ni: shulk:
- baik-too-skool heyar kat
- khel
- khaana
- skool ka saamaan

isake alaava, yadi aap pados ke bachchon ke saath kisee ko jaanate hain, to bejhijhak unhen aamantrit karen. yah ek majedaar samay hona chaahie.

The Parkdale Back-to-school Party is coming soon. Save the date: Tuesday September 6 from 4-7.

Able to flyer your building? Msg us.

We're looking for Parkdale performers interested in playing at our back to school event. Know someone who may be available? Please share!

Interested in meeting other Parkdale parents and planning a fun back-to-school event? Last year, hundreds of families enjoyed music, food, games, free hair cuts and school supplies at our back-to-school party.

This year, we need your help. If you're able to come to a meeting, help with fundraising or just spread the word among parents, let us know.

Cindy Therrien, a tenant at 130 Jameson Ave is using her A/C unit and is refusing to pay extra for its use.

“Yesterday, it was 31.9 C and then I turned the air on and then it started to gradually come down and stayed about 27 C, which, to me, is still too hot.”

https://toronto.citynews.ca/2022/08/08/air-conditioners-use-toronto-rentals-heat/amp/

Thankfully, I knew about a community group of volunteers called Parkdale Organize. There was talk of coordinating a response to what was happening.

As a refugee, I’d spent a lifetime searching for a sense of belonging, of feeling secure. The proposed rent increases had me worried I’d be forced from my home again. Our victory proved I was part of a community – that my neighbours had my back and I had theirs. That was special.

What we achieved is proof that fighting back – and winning – is possible. Numbers matter; if you come together, stay together, you’ll achieve success. That’s precisely what we did.

https://amp.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2022/jul/01/experience-i-led-a-renters-rebellion-and-won

Emina Gamulin, of Parkdale Organize, who is also a long-time renter in Parkdale, said the best thing tenants can do is to take a “collective, direct” approach when faced with pressure from their landlord.

https://www.cp24.com/mobile/news/west-toronto-tenants-receive-eviction-notices-in-dispute-over-ac-units-1.5967923