Page 47 - 01-Jan-Feb-2025

Community Builder
Together, Soroka and her father renovat-
ed the space to create a small community
drop-in centre. They bought and installed
walls for the bathroom, put in the plumbing
Kim Dineen Dineen
for toilets, and did whatever was needed
to make the space functional and friendly.
They also spent a lot of time getting to
know their unhoused and impoverished
neighbours to find out what they needed.
“Our first mission was to build community
through relationships,” she says.
Since Soroka was in high school, most
of the heavy lifting of the centre’s opera-
tion — which they ultimately named Jasper
Place Wellness Centre (JPWC) — fell to
her father. However, Taylor could often be
found working at the centre, sometimes
during school hours (to the dismay of her
mother and teachers).
Nearly two decades later, Taylor holds
the title of vice-president of strategy
(though she prefers the label “neighbour-
hood auntie”) and has been instrumental
in the organization’s growth. Today, JPWC
offers a wide range of community services,
including permanent housing (the or-
ganization has 200 housing units across
the city that provide a broad spectrum of
affordability).
For about seven years, the organization
operated a medical clinic out of a trailer on
Stony Plain Road. The clinic was tempo-
rarily closed over the last year because of
complicated funding logistics, but Soroka
explains that a grant from the provincial
government will allow the centre to once
again provide much-needed, expanded
medical care to vulnerable community
Kim
Dineen
members.
It’s been almost 20 years since Soroka
began her community work and her
passion has not waned. She points out that
there are more people than ever who are
either houseless or have “more month than
income” despite the city’s prosperity, and
far too many people are suffering or even
dying because of circumstances beyond
their control.
“At the end of the day, if every
Edmontonian gave a little bit more, that
wouldn’t have to happen,” she says. “And
I’m not talking just financially. I’m talking
mentally, emotionally; if we hold and cre-
ate space for each other, we literally can do
better. So I don’t think I’ll stop until I feel
like I’ve kind of done as much as I can.”
by Caroline Barlott
Kim Dineen was in her mid-20s when she decided
to accompany her friends on a trip to Alberta. Her
friends were moving to the province, and, in 1997, she
decided to tag along.
After a visit to Lake Louise, she decided that, like her
friends, she wanted to make the move to Alberta, too.
One problem — she was on her own. She had no family
here. So, she did what others in her family had done in
their respective communities — she volunteered. She
got involved.
“It’s how I was taught, how I was raised. My mom is still
a volunteer to this day. My grandma volunteered. My aunts
volunteered, my great aunts volunteered. You just give
back to where you come from.”
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