West Neighbourhood House (West NH) supports vulnerable populations — children, seniors, newcomers, and low-income families who face disproportionate climate risks, to build resilience and climate hope. Our climate work focuses on adaptation, education, engagement, and advocacy in line with key project objectives:
- Integrate & strengthen climate action across programs and community activities
- Build staff capacity and embedding sustainable practices in daily operations
- Advance research and advocacy for equity-based, community-led climate action
- Model sustainability and climate resilience in the 248 Ossington redevelopment
Our Success
- Engaged 100+ people through creative climate programming
- Staff-led sustainability actions sparked internal momentum
- Green technologies prioritized by the 248 Ossington redevelopment team and stakeholders
- Community-based climate strategy launched
- Operational audits pointing to clear paths for improvement
- Advocacy development grounded in community voices and lived experience
Our Projects
Climate Anxiety & Hope workshops: Children and Youth joined us to explore and map their attitudes and feelings such as fear and helplessness towards climate change. They wrote letters or art imagined as messages sent from their future selves in the year 2050 based on either scenarios: we took action to stop climate change, or we didn’t.
Blueprints of Tomorrow: An intergenerational art workshop in collaboration with Koffler Arts invited us to think about the future by using scrap materials to create ideal housing units. The group shared values of protecting biodiversity, vibrant and colourful models created featured views of nature around, as well as the ability to have plants and pets at home.
Climate Reading Parties: We have launched a monthly reading party series for neighbours to read and engage in storytelling around how they experience climate change and build resilience.
Thermal Comfort Study: A thermal comfort study was implemented at our 248 Ossington Avenue site to understand different temperature needs and ways of adapting to extreme conditions. The results will provide insights into measures that can be implemented in future building design where people with varied thermal comfort needs can co-exist in an energy efficient environment.
Waste Audit at 588 Queen Street West: Waste generated at the Meeting Place drop-in and offices at 588 Queen Street West was assessed to analyze types of waste, volume, and management practices. We are developing actionable recommendations to engage participants to better sort waste and program adaptation that reduce waste.
Study on local tree canopy protection: This ongoing study is intended to assess the level of tree canopy cover available in the neighbourhood, and to review efforts and policies in place to protect them. The study will also review the impact of low tree canopy cover among neighbours exposed to urban heat island effects, including risk of population displacement with urban greening interventions.
If you want to know more, or have an interesting community climate ideas that you want to collaborate on, contact us below:
Janani Venkatesh,
Climate Action Coordinator
Email: jananive@westnh.org
416-357-3189