Annex centre creates accessible community for disabled youth in Toronto

The Green Line team visited the Miles Nadal Jewish Community Centre to learn how its inclusive programs are building an accessible hub for young Torontonians with physical and intellectual disabilities.

By Amanda Seraphina, Aneesa Bhanji and Anita Li of The Green Line

One community centre in the Annex is focused on delivering inclusive programming in the heart of the city.

Esther Arbeid is the director of community programming at the Miles Nadal Jewish Community Centre, which is located at Bloor Street West and Spadina Avenue. She and her team are prioritizing programming for people with physical and intellectual disabilities.

Director of community programming at the Miles Nadal Jewish Community Centre,  Esther Arbeid, stands inside the centre.
Director of community programming at the Miles Nadal Jewish Community Centre, Esther Arbeid, stands inside the centre. (Aneesa Bhanji/The Green Line)

“This is a crossroads of the Annex. It’s a crossroad of the TTC system as well. It’s incredibly central. It’s downtown, but not really downtown. It’s certainly not uptown, but everybody can reach us…I will say that there’s no accessible washroom on this strip of like Bloor Street…I don’t think that the Annex is accessible enough,” said Arbeid.

Driven by community need and a desire to see change, the centre runs dozens of programs out of its accessibility and inclusion department, which launched in 2014.

Disability Visibility Photography program participant Matthew Hoffman (pictured left) learns to take a photo with program instructor Steve Kean (pictured right).
Disability Visibility Photography program participant Matthew Hoffman (pictured left) learns to take a photo with program instructor Steve Kean (pictured right). (Dave Misener/CityNews)

One of them is Disability Visibility Photography, a free eight-week course for 18- to 35-year-olds.

Matthew Hoffman has been a participant for the past seven years. “[It’s] Helped me a lot by accommodating [me]. [I’ve] become more like confident on how I do things here.”

Program instructor Steve Kean has worked with Hoffman for four years.

 Photographs taken by Matthew Hoffman during the program are now on display at the gallery in the Miles Nadal Jewish Community Centre.
Photographs taken by Matthew Hoffman during the program are now on display at the gallery in the Miles Nadal Jewish Community Centre. (Aneesa Bhanji/The Green Line)

“It’s heartwarming as a person with a disability who absolutely loves art and photography to be able to pass on what I’ve learned,” he explains. “To see people as enthusiastic and as passionate as I am is really a lot of fun. Most of the time when I’m working, it’s solitary. I’m an artist; I work alone.”

“To come and do the program, I’m connected to 12, 14, 16 other people who share my passion, and who want to learn and they make it so much fun and so rewarding.”

Gallery opening for photographs taken by participants of the Disability Visibility Photography program at the Miles Nadal Jewish Community Centre.
Gallery opening for photographs taken by participants of the Disability Visibility Photography program at the Miles Nadal Jewish Community Centre. (Aneesa Bhanji/The Green Line)

Arbeid said one major challenge for the department has been decreasing funds over the years. 

But gen Zs and millennials with disabilities still need an accessible community.

“We fill in that gap because that’s like an incredibly important age. It’s a coming-of-age age for anybody of all abilities,” Arbeid explains. “We feel like after the public school system and in between school systems, there’s really not very much in terms of drop-in downtown.

“We fill in that gap. We give those opportunities to make friends, keep friends, and kind of keep that stability and constant…a hub for them going.”

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