Across Boundaries; The best kept secret in Toronto

BY SIMONE J. SMITH

Despite traditional westernized counseling that can misdiagnose, or mistreat racialized individuals, and the rising costs of living limiting access to therapy and food, there is an organization aimed at dismantling these financial and cultural barriers. In this year alone, they have served well over 1,518 individuals so far, transforming their lives.

They provide daily, nourishing hot meals that include a light breakfast and a wholesome cooked lunch, and for those who are incapacitated and unable to cook for themselves, they offer hot meal deliveries to ensure food security and promote daily intake of healthy, nutritious meals.

To further support the well-being of their service users, they offer bi-weekly grocery hampers containing fresh fruits, vegetables, and essential staples, encouraging them to maintain a healthy diet. Some individuals pick up these hampers, while others receive doorstep delivery. Since many of their service users have fixed incomes, it is difficult for them to afford adequate food amidst rising prices.

Meet Across Boundaries, a non-profit providing free, holistic, mental health and addictions counseling programs and food services to racialized communities in the GTA. The team, proficient in 17 different languages, consists of racialized community members who are attuned to the current social realities of their clients.

Across Boundaries recognizes that food is a fundamental human need, and they’ve made it their mission to address this need head-on. Their journey began during the critical hours of the pandemic, and they’ve continued their efforts ever since.

As of 2022, Across Boundaries has proudly served over 11,000 hot meals and packaged meal deliveries. Their commitment to addressing this fundamental human right remains unwavering.

Celebrating her remarkable 28-year journey at Across Boundaries, Aseefa Sarang emerges as the guiding force behind an organization dedicated to providing mental health and addictions counseling programs and food services for racialized individuals in the GTA. She has been featured on CBC Radio and in The Toronto Star. Her contributions in the sector even earned her an exclusive invitation to the “Women of Influence” event hosted by the British Consul General.

Aseefa began her journey as an administrator at F.A.M.E, an organization supporting families dealing with mental health and addiction challenges. By 1995, she joined the Ethnoracial Mental Health Coalition and was involved in the discussions to open an organization specific to the needs of racialized communities. When Across Boundaries was founded, Aseefa joined the organization as the Administrative Coordinator. Over the ensuing years, she navigated diverse roles within the organization ultimately becoming Executive Director in 2009.

Using frameworks rooted in Anti-Oppression and Anti-Black Racism, her team at Across Boundaries focuses on ending socioeconomic oppression while recognizing the policies and practices of dominant and hegemonic structures of power embedded in systems of whiteness. The team, proficient in 17 different languages (including Caribbean Dialects), consists of racialized community members who are attuned to the current social realities of their clients.

Presently, Aseefa’s influence extends to supporting various boards, and committees in leadership positions to ensure voices of racialized communities are incorporated.  Aseefa co-chairs the Central Region Ontario Health Team Equity Community of Practice committee. She is a member of the Toronto Region Mental Health and Addictions Advisory Committee, and actively participates in the Ontario Structured Psychotherapy (OSP) Advisory Committee, demonstrating her ongoing commitment to shaping the landscape of mental health care for racialized and Black communities.

I was able to snag a moment of Aseefas time, and during our engagement, she shared with me her memories and greatest joys that have come while working at Across Boundaries

“Back in 1998 there was an organization called Ethnoracial Mental Health Coalition. Research was done showing that when looking for mental health, people of racial background experienced discrimination.”

“For me,” Aseefa continued, “It was about social justice; as a person who moved here when she was eight years old from India, I knew I was experiencing something in my day to day, but I didn’t know how to describe it. It was when I went to South Africa, that I experienced what racism and discrimination really felt like. At our stopover in England, I noticed that we were not being addressed in the same way that White people were, and in South Africa, I remember seeing Whites’ Only, and Coloured Only signs.

It was the social justice aspect of this. What can we do to improve the experience for racialized people? My mom taught me to treat everyone equally; the Muslim religion speaks of this.

Over the years, Across Boundaries has grown from a small team of 4 to 44 dedicated professionals. Just this past year, Across Boundaries served 1,088 service users and provided over 11,000 hot meals and packaged meal deliveries for these service users. This is something that I can say as a team we are very proud of.

Over the years, I always wondered if my co-workers were getting tired. Sometimes you feel like you take one step forward and take 10 steps back. Another one of my colleagues felt like we were seen as an organization that was the dumping ground for other organizations who couldn’t handle their clients. I told her to embrace this; this means that we are getting through to people that other people cannot.

What I have learned over the years is that our clients do internalize these experiences of racism in a way that only they can speak too. We take the time to learn about our clients and build their trust; learn and understand their life narrative. We take a completely holistic approach, and this makes us the best kept secret in Toronto.”