Thorncliffe, Flemingdon Park rally to save health ambassadors as provincial funding dries up

A pregnant Attia Mahmood said it didn't take long to learn something was wrong with her health after she arrived in Thorncliffe Park from Pakistan two years ago.

During her first Canadian doctor's visit, she said she was told she was at high risk for developing diabetes, and that she needed medications and a new diet. Without OHIP, she says she had to rely on her father to help pay out of pocket.

The next year, during her next pregnancy, she says a Community Health Ambassador slipped a flyer under her door, directing her to the South Asian diabetes program at the Flemingdon Health Centre.

"I called them and these folks speak my own language (Urdu). It's more comfortable for me to talk to them," she said.

"They are providing free services, they are helping the community very well. They are telling us how much we have to eat, what to eat, whole guidance."

Mahmood says the program has been a game-changer for understanding her own health. But now, it's at risk. Government funding is drying up, spelling an end to the pandemic-era program. 

The Community Health Ambassadors program started in Toronto neighbourhoods the Ontario government deemed high priority, because they were dealing with high levels of COVID-19 and lower vaccination rates. These neighbourhoods are predominately lower income and immigrant communities. 

Jen Quinlan, CEO of Flemingdon Health Centre, says the ambassadors played a key role in reducing COVID-19 rates in Thorncliffe and Flemingdon Park by helping people get vaccinated and combating misinformation.

With initial funding due to run out March 31, Quinlan says she's among multiple east end health professionals and organizations concerned for the program's future.

She says the ambassadors have only become more vital to the neighbourhood's health.

"To have this funding end at this time is really going to be disastrous for the population health of our neighbourhoods," Quinlan said.

"Our neighbourhood is grappling with what that means. At this point, we know that there's such a need in the community that the health system is really under strain."

Health ambassadors are people who live in the communities they work in, said Quinlan. They connect with local residents by going door-to-door, attending events and reaching out on WhatsApp or through handing out flyers.

Eshrat Meshkat and Hafsa Fatima are two of the community's ambassadors.