Support for our community: Roots Community Services

BY TARA MYSHRALL

January usually brings a fresh start and an opportunity for new goals and aspirations.  We all welcome a new beginning after 2020 and all the lessons and struggles that came with it.  I usually start my new year with a list of objectives for the year ahead and this year is no different.  My list usually entails not just how I can create more abundance in life but also how I can contribute to my family, community and world. Many people ask me how I find time to contribute to others and I ask how can I not make time? We all have the same number of hours in the day, the important thing is what we choose to do with our time. This theme ran through my interview with the Roots Community Services program (rootscs). I was honored to meet with Angela J Carter, the Executive Director and Andrea Randall, Vice President.

Angela and Andrea are up to amazing things in our community. We had an open conversation about how difficult 2020 was to our Caribbean and black community.  The Roots Community Services offers a wide variety of services to the public from ages 6 to 95. They have a variety of offerings to ensure that the community has a voice and support for Mental, Spiritual and Physical health. To learn more about their programs, visit www.rootscs.org.

COVID-19 enhanced the feelings of isolation and was difficult for the community’s overall mental and spiritual health but there was also a tidle wave of systemic racism that washed over the community, starting with the killing of George Floyd and the five deaths from police that happened in 2020 locally. “It was a Tsunami that hit us. The Anti-Black Racism Movement and COVID hit our community and the two converged and slammed our community and the mental health suffered.” Angela Stated.  Mental health was a factor in many of the police and community altercations and there is a push for greater communication between the public and the police.

Angela is not just talking about this; she is doing it. She is calling for grief counsellors and funding for any family that has lost a loved one due to police brutality to help these families cope. She is advocating for Police Officers to be accompanied by trained psychologists when attending a mental health call and for increased training for officers in effectively managing mental health calls. There is a desire to rechannel funds for police and not defund. Opening communication with the community, municipality and police will help ensure we all rebuild the trust that officers are there to serve and protect the black and Caribbean community. Angela currently co-chairs the Anti-Black Racism & Systemic Discrimination collective in the Region of Peel and represents RootsCS on a number of committees in Peel, Halton Region and Toronto that are seeking equity and equality for all groups, especially Black communities.

As we discussed breaking down the systemic racism that exists what really resonated for me was when Angela said “breaking down systemic racism for blacks will break down racism for all, the pursuit of equity and equality for any minority increases it for all.”

As we move into 2021, we have to decide how we are going to show up in the world, how we are going to contribute and how we will use our voice for change. Angela and Andrea are doing great work at the RootsCS and they have the same number of hours