By Chelsey Devito
BirchCliff Bluffs United Church has received funding to create a new LGBTQ safe space for seniors citizens after there proved to be a growing need in the community.
The group will be called “Dorothy’s Place” and will closely resemble Toby’s Place, an LGBTQ safe space for Scarborough youth that the church established almost a year ago.
Rev. Christine Smaller, the church’s minister, described the need for Dorothy’s Place: “Seniors in nursing homes are finding that they have to re-closet themselves, and that is just devastating.”
According to Smaller, LGBTQ seniors have often asked if they could come to Toby’s Place, however could not be accommodated because it is specifically a youth-based group.
Like Toby’s Place, Dorothy’s Place will incorporate a weekly social lunch and additionally provide social programming to nursing homes. Volunteers are also planning to go out in the community and serve any other seniors that may be isolated.
Rev. Christine Smaller
“It’s really about serving the seniors. We were sad when we learned about this need, but we have just been so thrilled to start a new ministry for them,” Rev. Smaller said.
Rev. Smaller became involved in creating Toby’s Place when a younger member of her congregation revealed that there were no safe spaces for LGBTQ people to go to in Scarborough.
“I talked to Planned Parenthood, and they had just done a comprehensive study of all of Scarborough, and they confirmed that there was nothing available,” Rev. Smaller said.
The church then decided to serve the community by opening Toby’s Place in 2017.
The group is named after Toby Dancer, a trans activist who died 2004 at age 51. In 2012, Ontario passed “Toby’s Law”, named after Dancer, to amend the Human Rights Code to ban discrimination based on gender identity and expression.
The group meets on Mondays from 3pm-5:30pm at the BirchCliff Bluffs United Church for youth to have homework help, play games, and have group discussions. The group works on a drop-in basis, and often reaches about 20 youth visitors.
The church plans on creating separate programming for youth from ages 11 to 15, and ages 15 to 23.
After about a year of operation, Rev. Smaller couldn’t be more pleased with the outcome.
“I want to give credit to the immediate neighbourhood, we haven’t had a single negative concern raised,” Rev. Smaller said.
Toby’s Place is funded by grants, donations and fundraisers. The group recently held their annual comedy night fundraiser at the church in May.
BirchCliff Bluffs United Church continues to serve the community as an affirmed church and is well-known for its food bank, that serves 300 families per week, representing 1,200 people including many children.
