‘New plan leaves ninety-five percent of eligible Toronto residents out of recreation subsidy program Concerned community organizations and residents submit alternative report to City Councillors Toronto - June 28th - Tomorrow, Parks, Forestry and Recreation (PFR) will be proposing anew plan for their subsidy program, the Welcome Policy, to the Community Development and Recreation Committee According to City Council, the Welcome Policy is meant to provide Toronto residents year-round access to quality recreation programs, regardless of their ability to pay. All Toronto residents whose income falls below the Low-Income Cut-Off (LICO) qualify for the Welcome Policy. According to City of Toronto data, 604,048 people have incomes that fall below LICO. Under the new proposal, PFR hopes to reach 28,753 individuals with the Welcome Policy, or five percent of eligible residents * Community organizations and residents are concemed about the lack of meaningful consultation and research into access into community programs and spaces, and are submitting an altemative report, Quiet cuts: economic access to community recreation in Toronto to the Community Development and Recreation Committee. “This proposal leaves 95 percent of eligible residents out of the subsidy program,” says Amy Katz of Unison Health and Community Services, “This is not a plan for access." *PFR has not done aneeds assessment, they have not undertaken meaningful consultations, they have not shared relevant data with City Council or the public," says Jennifer Arango of the Toronto City Women's Alliance. "How will PFR create culturally sensitive, gender appropriate and accessible programs without real input from the communities they are serving?™ “Why is the Welcome Policy being discussed in isolation?™ asks Karen Sun of the Chinese Canadian National Council, Toronto Chapter. "City Council can't evaluate the Welcome Policy report without knowing what's happening to the Priority Centres, to user fees, to drop-in programs, They can't evaluate the report without seeing the five-year service plan." “Not only does this plan reach only 5 percent of eligible residents, it also limits the program options of the few people who do get in," says Russ Ford of LAMP Community Health Centre. "We want to know what PFR's vision in for giving everyone access to community recreation and spaces. We want to see a plan." 30Although 107,868 people were accepted into the Welcome Policy program in 2011, only 23,527 can access programs. The new proposal hopes to bring this number to 28,753, or 5 percent of eligible Toronto residents. PFR's June 15th report proposes a shift from a ‘course-based' to a ‘dollar-based! allocation, In the past, Welcome Policy users could choose from a range of programs per season. Under PFR's proposal, they would be offered an annual dollar allocation - $455.00 for children and youth and $212.00 for adults. This allocation constitutes a substantial cut in terms of what Welcome Policy users are currently able to access To read the PFR Welcome Policy report, please visit http://app toronto. ca/tmmis/viewAgendaltemHistory do?item=2011 CD54 For a copy of Quiet cuts: economic access to community recreation in Toronto, please email communityrecreationforall @gmail.com To interview Amy Katz from Unison Health and Community Services, please call 647.272.3194 or email amy katz@unisonhes org To interview Jennifer Arango from Toronto Women's City Alliance, please call 647.235.8575 or email info@twea.ca To interview Karen Sun from the Chinese Canadian National Council, Toronto Chapter, please 416.596.0833 extension 3 or email karen@cenctoronto.ca To interview Russ Ford from LAMP Community Health Centre, please call 416.252.6471