ABOUT US

Working towards better community health. CHARITY # 132003781RR0001

About Us

WHO WE ARE

PEACH (Promoting Education and Community Health) is a charitable organization that has served the Jane-Finch community for nearly 35 years. We are dedicated to supporting youth and their families through holistic, wraparound programming that includes youth outreach, a professional music studio, a community kitchen, and a wide range of services tailored to local needs.

Our work is grounded in a deep commitment to helping marginalized and at-risk youth overcome social, mental health, and housing-related challenges. Through culturally responsive and community-rooted approaches, we support young people in reconnecting with education, building life skills, and forging pathways to a brighter future. Our core areas of focus include education, mental and physical health, housing, food security, and the arts.

PEACH also provides a welcoming, inclusive space for low-income adults and seniors in the Jane-Finch community. We offer programs that promote digital literacy, health and wellness, and social connection, ensuring that community members of all ages feel seen, supported, and empowered.

In addition, our facility includes dedicated coworking spaces designed for local entrepreneurs, start-ups, and small grassroots organizations. These spaces offer affordable access to professional amenities, meeting rooms, and collaborative opportunities—helping to build capacity and strengthen the local social infrastructure.

PEACH has extensive experience supporting youth who have come into contact with the justice system. Our programs provide consistent, long-term support that is rarely available elsewhere. Youth workers take a non-judgmental, youth-centered approach, meeting young people where they are and walking alongside them with empathy, respect, and cultural understanding. Many of our staff share lived experiences with the youth we serve and are deeply rooted in the community.

Recognized as a safe and neutral space in Jane-Finch, PEACH offers a haven where youth, adults, and families can find support, guidance, and meaningful opportunities. Our programming is innovative, responsive, and uniquely tailored to address the needs of some of the most underserved individuals in the city.

The PEACH facility spans over 4,200 square feet and features:

Two classrooms
A commercial-grade community kitchen and food storage pantry
A fully equipped, professional recording studio
Two multi-use meeting spaces
Three shared coworking areas
Private “quiet rooms” for reflection and focused work
A garage-style indoor-outdoor interface ideal for hosting community events

This space is designed to foster collaboration, creativity, healing, and empowerment across all generations.

MISSION

Extraordinary learning opportunities and support for youth and their families in Jane-Finch to encourage individual and community empowerment.

VISION

PEACH envisions a healthy, proactive community that is educated, connected and respectful to all.

Read our core values & guiding pillars

our history

BUILDING STRONG AND VIBRANT COMMUNITIES, 1990 – 2025

Youth at PEACH are experiencing compound challenges such as housing instability, academic disruption, or disengagement, contact with the justice system, family breakdown, poverty, homelessness and precarious shelter, trauma and violence, mental health challenges and addiction. PEACH works to enhance equity for the city’s most historically disadvantaged residents, employing social determinants of health approach to tackle marginalization through a comprehensive approach to well-being at the individual, family, and community scales. By emphasizing the principles of emotional intelligence and civic engagement, in addition to intensive individual support, PEACH offers a trauma-informed and asset-based approach, focusing on building capacity for self-determination according to the unique needs, aspirations and challenges of individuals and the community at large.

2025 will mark the 35th Anniversary of the organization.

THE EARLY YEARS: 1990-1998

PEACH was a partner in community development in Jane-Finch, through Black Creek Anti-Drug Focus Community Coalition. The Coalition worked towards enhancing community capacity and safety and addressing alcohol and drug abuse. Activities included a community newspaper in five languages, grassroots training in community issues, Community Health/ ARAPO (Association for the Reduction of Alcohol Promotion in Ontario), Coalition Against Neighbourhoods, and a Community Banking Project.