Supa Meikle and Tracy McGrady

Laying the foundation for change

The Malton Community Building Project is helping to restructure the area

By Austin Maxwell

The needs of the people inspired the creation of a community-building project in the northeastern Mississauga neighbourhood of Malton that, for years, had fallen by the wayside. Today, those same people are rebuilding this vibrant community.

A five-year venture — formed after years of research on the priorities of the Black community and an April 2008 forum — the Malton Community Building Project seeks to foster a greater sense of leadership, belonging and empowerment as well as individual and community well-being.

Funded by an Ontario Trillium Foundation grant, several programs were established to achieve these goals. They fall within seven main categories: sports, leadership, family, community, spirituality, education and jobs.

Supa D.A. Meikle, the community development coordinator for the Malton Community Building Project, says the project is now in its second phase: “Many struggles and accomplishments remind us of our strength and endurance,” he says. “We celebrate our rich diversity, seek to inspire our community and its leaders while fostering excellence and achievement. Phase two expands on continuing to build a community and city that symbolizes unity, strength, leadership and change.”

The goals of the second phase are being furthered by programs such as Inspired by SWOLE (an acronym for Self-Respect, Work Hard, Overcome Adversity, Lead by Example, Excellence), the Parenting Young Children course as well as many outreach opportunities such as attending Raptors games or visiting the Ontario Legislative Assembly.

Sable Mark is a Grade 8 student who attended the Inspired by SWOLE program, which works to develop leadership skills via leadership training activities and had its graduation ceremony in early June. The attendee says it helped him to expand his understanding of respect: “The program allowed me to gain the confidence to speak out more.

The people in my program became my second family. I could count on and learn from them. It was really fun and free and I learned to respect people even more than before. I saw that each person has value.”
One of the biggest issues being addressed by the Malton Community Building Project is actually the lack of value for people that is occurring through an upsurge of, mostly, youth crime.

Meikle believes this type of crime is symptomatic of deeper issues. “People often perceive only that the quality of young people’s lives and the opportunities available to them are affected by conditions in their communities,” he says. “These factors, however, also influence how they perceive themselves, their neighborhood and their role in it.”

Meikle and advisory committee member Alexa Nosa Ihama hope the project can help to reverse this. “Helping develop programs that empower underprivileged Black youth, then watching them graduate from these rigorous programs and accept positions to give back to their community creates a sense of fulfillment only to be derived from gratitude and service,” says Ihama, who is also a life coach.

Building on the positive changes that were already successfully implemented within the community, phase two was recently approved to include the South Asian community of Malton. This presents a unique opportunity for addressing common needs and concerns that will unify and create a more harmonious, productive and thriving place to live and raise families.

It’s clear that Malton truly is rebuilding itself — beyond expectations.