Transformative Change in Action

The Business Intelligence Reporting Tool (BIRT) -- developed by Community Health Centres and the Association of Ontario Health Centres to help inform quality improvement while measuring impacts of programs and services on people AOHC members serve -- has been internationally recognized by Healthcare Informatics, a leading publication in the Health IT sector based in the United States.

Kofi Frempong is a Community Health Worker at Black Creek Community Health Centre (CHC) in Toronto’s Jane and Finch neighbourhood. Frempong creates programs, like Freedom Fridayz and Dads Doing Hair, that aim to break down barriers for people who face anti-Black racism.

A few weeks ahead of Christmas in 2010, a group of women gathered for the first time, to share tea, knitting and sewing tips, and a bit of conversation. Six years later, the group is still going strong, welcoming women from the community to a safe space for creating beautiful things and making lasting friendships.

Decades of colonialism and oppression have taken a terrible toll on the health and wellbeing of Indigenous people. Many struggle with depression and anxiety or suffer from chronic disease; in some communities, Type 2 diabetes has reached epidemic proportions.