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Learning ‘How to Walk’

NEIGHBOURHOOD: REGENT PARK
THEME: SUPPORTING EACH OTHER
Talking about housing, racism, discrimination, single motherhood

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Deany Peters in her office in the Regent Park Community Health Centre where she has worked for 27 years. She is widely recognised as Regent Park’s first Community Development worker.

“I had the opportunity to move out of here, and I moved across the street. So I laugh, because people say that residents didn’t want to invest in this neighborhood. But I did and I’ve never looked back.”

Deany reflects on how she grew to love her diverse neighbours and her apartment building in Regent Park–revealing that there was something beneficial about people on low-incomes all living together in one community. She says: ‘This community has many histories, and what most people don’t know, is that this community is not about the places. It’s about the people. The people make the community in Regent Park.’ Deany also talks about the unique support she received from her community of neighbours and the community health centre, which used to be located in the base of her apartment building. She says people in the community taught her “how to walk” and survive on a low-income, overcoming many of life’s multiple barriers as a sole support mom.

Deany Peters reflects on how she grew to love her diverse neighbours and her apartment building in Regent Park