Champions of Lotherton Pathway: Lisa Baker

I am Lisa Baker, a longtime resident of the Lotherton community, I am a mother of four incredible children, I have three daughters and one son. I grew up in St. Lucia with my grandmother, but I eventually moved to Trinidad to live with my mother.

In 1994, I migrated to Canada. Initially, I lived in the downtown area very briefly. Being the friendly and social person I am, I made friends immediately. I was also connected with others from different parts of the city. In 2004, I moved to Lotherton. When I first moved in, there seemed to be some negative stereotypes of the community but it has since evolved and changed for the better.

I got involved in Action for Neighborhood Change with North York Community House in 2005. I can not believe it has been that long. I remember attending my first meeting during the winter. One of the first events I helped plan was the community festival. I started attending a lot of meetings, both community and city meetings, and during the early days, I felt like a small fish in a big pond.

I became very involved, some of the things I have been involved in are church basketball tournaments, setting up knitting classes with Vivienne and Amina. Also, we supported seniors from the early garden days, and eventually I extended my participation to Lawrence Heights and Neptune through the Lawrence Heights Inter Organizational Network (LHION).

I am motivated by my family, honestly, my children are my driving force. I am always someone who challenges myself, and I am really interested in growing as a person.

One of the challenges to giving your time to the growth of your community is getting other residents to come out and engage. I find asking people to come out and get involved can feel like a tug of war. Sometimes, it can be difficult to get residents to listen to each other, as we all have different life experiences. I have also learned that residents get disappointed by agencies, because agencies do not collaborate and sometimes agencies do not help residents get jobs. One of my concerns is that I would like agencies to hire residents or support residents to find employment. A lack of transparency can often break trust with residents.

I would like to see more of a collaboration between the condo board and the residents. We have been doing a lot of good work and we need our own community space. There are a lot of strong leaders who continue to give their time, energy and presence to their community. I think we all should be celebrated. I think it’s important to do something to show residents that are being appreciated for their tireless work.

My vision for myself is to grow as a person. I like to think outside the box. When I have an idea, I like to work towards it. Honestly, I give myself goals, everyday, I challenge myself how I can grow.

And you don’t know what the universe has planned for your life and depending on the opportunity that comes your way, you accept it, take it, go with it and if you get a call from your community – do it!