Access Alliance Multicultural Health and Community Services

Access Alliance Multicultural Health and Community Services Toronto's community health centre serving new immigrants, refugees and their families. The account is not monitored 7/24. Do not message for appointments.

For service inquiries, pls use the contact forms on our website: https://accessalliance.ca/ Access Alliance's range of programs, services, advocacy and partnerships address medical, social, economic, environmental, settlement and integration issues for immigrants of all ages at all stages of their life. We are a leader in community-based research and advocacy on issues related to the determinants of health and wellbeing and increasing access to services for marginalized groups. We actively seek to break down silos and build linkages with other agencies to increase access to the services needed by immigrants and refugees. Access Alliance also operates a fee-for-service interpretation and translation service employing a network of professionals who provide quality services in more than 200 languages. The Facebook account is not monitored 24/7. For servics please call or use our website contact form. Please do not use Messenger for appointments.

12/16/2025

🌟 We love celebrating with you! 🌟

❄️ Earlier this month, Access Alliance community members, volunteers, and staff gathered in our east and west locations to celebrate the holiday season, together. On Dec. 4 at AccessPoint on Jane, a total of 194 attendees feasted on delicious chicken and vegan meals. Activities included lantern-making, expressive arts activities and our ever-popular family photo booth.

⛄️ On Dec. 9 our AccessPoint on Danforth holiday dinner was a cheerful event, with songs, holiday-themed activities, and a visit from a larger-than-life gingerbread man. Volunteers from BMO stepped in to support with check-ins, raffle tickets, and food service for over 320 attendees.

⭐️ Our hard-working community volunteers supported both events with their usual kindness and creativity, setting up, preparing food, and decorating our spaces beautifully.

❤️ A huge thank you to everyone who helped to make these two events so warm and welcoming. We’re grateful for our many supporters, partners, and sponsors, including EYET, Coach, 8 80 Cities, and Daily Bread Food Bank, and for our community members who are so much fun to celebrate with. Happy holidays to you all!

🎨 The journey continues.We’ve reached the end of this year’s , but healing through the arts is just beginning! Over the...
12/10/2025

🎨 The journey continues.

We’ve reached the end of this year’s , but healing through the arts is just beginning! Over the past two weeks, we’ve explored how creative expression helps newcomer families heal from trauma, build resilience, and foster meaningful connections.

🧡 Introducing the Arts Hub:

We’re excited to share what’s next: Access Alliance Arts for Family Health, a brand-new online resource featuring art-based activities, workshops, and tools to support healing and wellbeing in newcomer communities.

✨ Why it matters:

This hub will be a space for newcomer families, community leaders, and service providers to connect, learn, and integrate the arts into their settlement and healing journeys.

👉🏽 Keep following us into the new year for more info on this great new initiative!

🧡 As we honour , we're reminded of how sustainable art programs benefit individuals and communities impacted by gender-...
12/08/2025

🧡 As we honour , we're reminded of how sustainable art programs benefit individuals and communities impacted by gender-based violence (GBV).

In sharing insights into what's needed to grow and maintain expressive arts programs, Roxanna Vahed points out that:

✨ Creative spaces spark healing.
When personal experiences are held in safe, supported, creative environments, they can become catalysts for healing. For survivors of GBV, creative expression can transform pain into insight and voice.

✨ Being seen matters.
The arts can help survivors of GBV share parts of themselves that are often ignored or misunderstood. Being witnessed in this way restores dignity, agency, and self-worth. This is a vital steps towards healing after violence.

✨ Support ripples outward.
When we offer art-focused support for trauma healing, people go home with fuller hearts and communities grow stronger. For those impacted by GBV, these shifts are life-changing. Creative support strengthens entire family systems and helps build safer, more connected communities.

Follow us this week for more on how we're taking action with art to support newcomer survivors of gender-based violence.

12/04/2025

🌶️ What do garden stewards do when faced with 10 lbs of hot peppers? They make hot pepper relish! 🌶️

Our amazing volunteer garden stewards spent their Saturday picking peppers on our rooftop garden, then canning a simple and delicious relish. The peppers were cultivated by the stewards and shared with our community over the summer, but even as the weather cools, they keep on giving!

The hot pepper relish will be shared with our community dining program to be eaten over the winter months, and each garden steward got a jar to take home.

Thank you to our hardworking garden stewards! Even as the snow starts to fall, these peppers will continue to grow and give warmth to community meals.

Learn more about our Green Access program and our rooftop garden here: https://accessalliance.ca/programs-services/green-access-program/

🧡 As we honour , we're reminded of how expressive arts can spark transformation from the individual level all the way t...
12/04/2025

🧡 As we honour , we're reminded of how expressive arts can spark transformation from the individual level all the way to policy and systems change.

Andrea Charise shares her thoughts on the need to build and maintain sustainable arts practices:

✨ Sustainability builds legacy.
Sustainability in arts-based healing isn’t only about program continuation, it’s about legacy. It means ensuring that expressive arts, storytelling, and community-led creative practices remain visible, accessible, and valued throughout the year.

✨ Digital tools extend impact.
Sustainability also includes exploring opportunities for digital archiving, so the work can be preserved, shared, and learned from across communities and generations.

✨ Artists are essential.
As expressive arts continue to integrate into health care and community support systems, one principle must be upheld: artists are vital members of these teams, contributing expertise, creativity, and healing to survivor-centered practices.

Follow us for more expert ideas on how and why expressive arts programming can support better health care for newcomer survivors of gender-based violence.

“I want to say thanks once again for selecting us for [a] holiday hamper, it was so nice of Access Alliance, and those w...
12/02/2025

“I want to say thanks once again for selecting us for [a] holiday hamper, it was so nice of Access Alliance, and those who did so much for us.”—Holiday Hamper recipient

Today is . If you can, please donate to our Holiday Hamper program. Your gift will help create a memorable holiday for our low-income and newcomer neighbours.

❄💙🎁Holiday Hamper is a remarkable community effort, made possible thanks to the dedicated support of volunteers, staff, local sponsors, and donors just like you. Hampers are filled with tasty treats, gifts for kids, clothing and household necessities, gifts which make the season brighter for the program's many recipients.

Your donation—big or small—will make a huge difference. Click here to donate today: https://donate.accessalliance.ca/

💙

🧡 As we observe , we’re reminded of how art transcends boundaries and connects us all.Arshia Ali encourages us to consi...
12/02/2025

🧡 As we observe , we’re reminded of how art transcends boundaries and connects us all.

Arshia Ali encourages us to consider the power of art to bring us closer, sharing:

✨ Art connects us.
Art is so powerful. It transcends boundaries and serves as a bridge for human connection, beyond language and the silos that divide us. For newcomer families impacted by gender-based violence, creative expression opens pathways to understanding, empathy, and shared healing.

✨ Expression builds bridges.
Through movement, visual art, music, and storytelling, survivors and communities can communicate experiences that words alone cannot capture. These shared moments foster trust, belonging, and connection across cultural and generational divides.

✨ Creativity transforms communities.
When we support arts-based initiatives, we strengthen not just individuals, but entire families and communities. Creative practices help rebuild resilience, restore dignity, and create spaces where everyone can be seen, heard, and valued.

🧡 Follow us for more on how arts-based actions can help newcomer survivors of gender-based violence connect, rebuild, and heal.

🧡 As we mark , we reminded of how powerful expressive arts can be in supporting newcomers and survivors of gender-based...
11/27/2025

🧡 As we mark , we reminded of how powerful expressive arts can be in supporting newcomers and survivors of gender-based violence (GBV).

Maggie To shares the following about art's healing properties:

✨Trauma lives in the body, not just the mind. For many survivors of gender-based violence, especially newcomers navigating resettlement stress, language barriers, and cultural stigma, speaking about their experiences can feel overwhelming. Healing arts offer another pathway: movement, visual creation, rhythm, and sound. A safe space to feel, release, and process at one’s own pace.

✨ Everyone is creative. Creativity brings joy, self-expression, imagination, and community connection, all essential elements of healing after experiences of violence and displacement. For newcomer families, creative engagement can restore a sense of belonging and rebuild trust in themselves and in others.

✨ In arts-based spaces, participants aren’t “patients” or “clients” they become creators, storytellers, and meaning-makers of their own journeys. For survivors of GBV, this shift matters: art doesn’t just heal — it empowers. It reconnects. It humanizes. It helps individuals reclaim voice, agency, and possibility.

Follow us for more on the power of art in supporting survivors of GBV.

"[I have] to watch every penny,” shared one recipient, “I am so happy and excited to once again be part of the Holiday H...
11/26/2025

"[I have] to watch every penny,” shared one recipient, “I am so happy and excited to once again be part of the Holiday Hamper [program] because it has truly been a great help to me.”

A hamper of tasty treats, small gifts and household necessities can add a little bit of magic to the holiday season for low-income and newcomer families in our local communities. Your support means we can extend the reach of the Access Alliance Holiday Hamper program, making more magic for more families. Making more holidays a little bit brighter.

Want to bring some magic to your neighbours this holiday season? Donate now to our Holiday Hamper program: https://donate.accessalliance.ca/

🧡 For this year’s Of Activism, we're highlighting healing arts for newcomer family wellbeing. Creative expression is a...
11/25/2025

🧡 For this year’s Of Activism, we're highlighting healing arts for newcomer family wellbeing. Creative expression is a powerful tool for trauma recovery, resilience, and healing, especially for newcomer families impacted by gender-based violence (GBV) and resettlement.

In talking about how art frees us to rethink perspectives and possibilities, Izumi Sakamoto shares:

✨ Arts-based approaches help survivors and newcomer families challenge harmful stereotypes, and the silencing effects of GBV. By creating space for storytelling and expression, these approaches also raise awareness about the systemic barriers many continue to face.

✨ Creative practices allow us to rethink what safety, healing, and justice can look like for those affected by GBV. The arts invite us to step beyond our assumptions to see the experiences of survivors and newcomers through a more compassionate, trauma-informed lens.

✨ Engaging in the arts frees us from rigid ways of understanding violence and community support. It opens pathways to more expansive, survivor-centered, and justice-oriented approaches that help newcomer families rebuild their lives.

Follow us for the next 16 days to learn more about harnessing the power of art for newcomer family wellbeing.

In winter, while plant growth above ground slows or stops, below the ground roots continue to grow, expand, and strength...
11/20/2025

In winter, while plant growth above ground slows or stops, below the ground roots continue to grow, expand, and strengthen their systems. This anchors the plant, and prepares it for the next season.

This winter, Green Access is offering hands-on workshops so you can grow new skills and strengths that will benefit you in the warmer months. Discover winter recipes, waste reduction crafts and indoor gardening, and connect with nature in a new way!

Register here: https://forms.gle/1b23zFHmG5GC1Bh18

“It gives us so much happiness during this season and [is] very helpful for us.”—Access Alliance Holiday Hamper recipien...
11/18/2025

“It gives us so much happiness during this season and [is] very helpful for us.”
—Access Alliance Holiday Hamper recipient

Newcomers arrive in Toronto for so many reasons. They come for family, for work, for safety from danger or persecution. Many newcomers struggle to find their footing when they arrive, navigating new spaces, new systems, and new barriers.

Our Holiday Hamper program offers a bit of comfort amid the challenges of adapting to a new home. One past recipient kindly thanked the Holiday Hamper program for "making our first Christmas in Canada... memorable and happy".

Hampers include food, clothing, and toys for kids. They're a bright spark of connection for families in our community who may feel isolated and anxious during the holiday season.

It's thanks to the generosity of corporate donors like Nationwide Appraisal Services, and , as well as community donations (from people like you!) that we're able to bring some magic to local families through the Holiday Hamper program.

Want to make a difference this December? You can donate now at: https://donate.accessalliance.ca/, or contact Keisha at ChildAndFamily@AccessAlliance.ca for more info.

Address

340 College Street, Suite 500; 3079 Danforth Ave; 761 Jane Street, 2nd Floor
Toronto, ON
M5T3A9

Opening Hours

Monday 9am - 8pm
Tuesday 9am - 8pm
Wednesday 1pm - 5pm
Thursday 9am - 8pm
Friday 9am - 5pm
Saturday 10am - 5pm

Telephone

+14163248677

Website

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