Central Neighbourhood House (CNH) is a

settlement house The settlement movement was a reformist social movement that began in the 1880s and peaked around the 1920s in United Kingdom and the United States. Its goal was to bring the rich and the poor of society together in both physical proximity and s ...

Toronto, Ontario Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the ancho ...

, Canada. Founded in 1911 by social reformers J.J. Kelso and Elizabeth Neufeld, it is Toronto's second oldest settlement house. It is currently located in the

Regent Park Regent Park is a neighbourhood located in downtown Toronto, Ontario built in the late 1940s as a public housing project managed by Toronto Community Housing. It sits on what used to be a significant part of the Cabbagetown neighbourhood and ...

area of Toronto at 349 Ontario Street. CNH was originally established at 84 Gerrard Street West as a settlement house for new immigrants to " The Ward", a slum area between College Street, Queen Street,

Yonge Street Yonge Street (; pronounced "young") is a major arterial route in the Canadian province of Ontario connecting the shores of Lake Ontario in Toronto to Lake Simcoe, a gateway to the Upper Great Lakes. Once the southernmost leg of provincial H ...

, and

University Avenue A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United States, th ...

which was, until the early decades of the twentieth century, a reception area for newly arrived immigrants. Unlike other charities that offered assistance to immigrants at the time, it was not affiliated with any church and did not seek to convert its clients to

Christianity Christianity is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth. It is the world's largest and most widespread religion with roughly 2.38 billion followers representing one-third of the global pop ...

(or to a particular denomination). It offered a wide range of programs, primarily aimed at immigrant women and children, ranging from boxing to sewing. As The Ward was gradually demolished and redeveloped, CNH moved east, relocating in 1929 to Sherbourne Street where it remained until 1970 when it moved to its current location of 349 Ontario Street. Today, it provides a broad range of services. Central Neighbourhood House now serves a catchment area which includes the neighbourhoods of Regent Park,

Moss Park Moss Park is a residential neighbourhood located in downtown Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The area known as Moss Park is typically considered to be between Jarvis Street and Parliament Street, south of Dundas Street, an area dominated by public hous ...

and St. Jamestown. These neighbourhoods are among the lowest income but also most culturally diverse in Toronto, Canada and North America, and are the first place of residence for thousands of new Canadians each year. In 2014, Central Neighbourhood House amalgamated with Neighbourhood Link Support Services, a multi service agency in Toronto's east end, to form The Neighbourhood Group. The new organization continues all of the work of the two former entities, and continues to be accountable to and representative of the downtown and east end neighbourhoods.

Programs and Services

CNH provides a range of services grouped under Childcare, Children and Youth Services, Women's Program, Family Support, Street Survivors, Supportive Housing, and the Vulnerable Seniors program.Vulnerable Seniors Program
/ref> CNH is supported by the United Way, City of Toronto, Ministry of Health, and numerous foundations and individual donors. CNH is a member of

Toronto Neighbourhood Centres Toronto Neighbourhood Centres ("TNC") is an association of multi-service nonprofit neighbourhood centres located in communities across Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The current association includes 30 member agencies that provide supports to residents ...

, an association of over thirty multi-service, non-profit neighbourhood centres in Toronto.

References

External links below

{{Archival records, title=Central Neighbourhood House fonds, location=, inventory_number=Fonds 1005, description_URL=http://gencat.eloquent-systems.com/torontodetail.html?key=46353, dates=, access_conditions=
CNH website
Organizations based in Toronto