I Agree With Roxanne-Think Positive

When you consider the countless $$$$ poured into problem areas; whether it is Jane/Finch, the Rez, etc., and when all we hear about is the negative it is not surprising "neo-cons" rail about the $$$$ being wasted. Let's hear about the successes. I know this jeopardizes the cottage industries run by social in-activists but that's life.

The importance of positive stories

Thank you so much for writing something about the positive things that go on in Jane/Finch! (“Thinking about tomorrow,” City, Dec. 21.) I grew up there and lived there for 23 years and I can tell you that part of what makes it a “bad area” (although I honestly never felt unsafe living there) is the media's constant efforts to frame it that way. When you only hear bad things about where you live (and your friends' parents, potential employers and teachers only hear those things), it affects how you see your home, and that affects how you see yourself. It's a terrible feeling to be automatically on the defensive any time someone asks you where you live. Taking pride in your home is crucial to developing positive attitudes towards other aspects of your life. I used to live in a building that always had piss in the elevators, garbage on the floors and burns in the carpets because nobody there felt pride in their home. I don't think that the people who did those things would have done them at a condo on the lakeshore. I was ashamed by the mess, but I could understand the logic behind it - “This place is not worthy of being treated with respect, everyone thinks so.” Running stories about the great things in the neighbourhood - the hard work of the dedicated staff at the Jane/Finch centre, the ability of Jane/Finch's citizens to control their own futures, the strength and power of mothers and women and people of colour whose lives are affected by poverty and discrimination to rise above their circumstances and change their lives - are steps toward repairing the damage done to the psyche of that neighbourhood by the media (particularly in the '80s and '90s). I really appreciate you running this story and giving the place that was my home for most of my life some of the respect it deserves. ROXANNE BIELSKIS