Poverty Reduction Lived Experience Advisory Group

Adam Roy Cohoon is a dedicated community advocate and artist residing in the Canary District of Toronto, located just east of the Distillery District. Adam frequently goes by the abbreviation ARC.

Community Involvement & Advocacy

Adam Roy Cohoon has spent years working to address transit access, which Adam identifies as a primary weakness within Toronto. Adam’s commitment to accessibility is reflected in his extensive volunteer leadership roles: 

TTC Riders Accessibility Committee: Adam serves as Co-Chair and has long advocated for the "Fair Pass" initiative to improve transit equity.
Walk Toronto: Adam is an active member of the steering committee for this pedestrian advocacy organization.
Poverty Reduction Strategy: Within this framework, Adam focuses on securing better transportation financing and improving digital and cultural access for people with disabilities. 

Accessibility & The “Spoonie” Experience

As a self-identified “spoonie,” Adam Roy Cohoon manages fluctuating and often limited energy levels. This personal experience drives Adam’s advocacy for equitable virtual access to cultural events. Adam noted that the shift toward virtual programming during the pandemic provided some of the most accessible experiences Adam has had, allowing Adam to participate in the arts from home even when Adam’s energy was low. 

Personal Achievements & Arts

Beyond advocacy, Adam Roy Cohoon is an accomplished artist and athlete who takes great pride in life’s “little adventures”. 

Awards: Adam has earned multiple awards across both sports and the arts.
Film: One of Adam’s proudest moments was having a film featured in a local film festival.

Experience & Passion: With a background in Urban Planning and Urban Agriculture from TMU, Andrea is deeply invested in Toronto’s evolving landscape. She focuses on how city design can become truly inclusive, moving beyond theory to ensure that the systems serving our communities are equitable. Andrea strives to live a life of balance, maintaining the stamina required to challenge the deep-seated inequalities ingrained in our society. 

Fun Fact: On Andrea’s first day of school as a newcomer to Canada, it happened to be Halloween. For a brief, magical moment, she believed that dressing up in costumes was a daily Canadian tradition. 

Bob Murphy is a retired Outreach Worker with a strong commitment to community advocacy and accessibility. He currently serves as a member/ of the City of Toronto’s Transportation and Accessibility Committee, where he contributes to improving inclusive transit and infrastructure. 

Bob is also a former Chair of ACORN in York South–Weston, where he played a key role in grassroots organizing and advancing the needs of low- and moderate-income residents. As a member of the Brain Injury Society of Toronto (BIST), he supports awareness and community engagement around brain injury issues. 

In addition, Bob serves on the Patient and Family Advisory Committee (PFAC) at West Park Healthcare Centre, helping to ensure that patient voices and experiences inform healthcare planning and delivery. Bob also serves as a committee member for the Acquired Brain Injury (ABI) conference planning committee.  

Colin H Johnson identifies as a Black, gay man who has been living with HIV since 1984 and as a person who uses drugs. A public speaker, writer, researcher and advocate on HIV/AIDS and harm reduction with a focus on African, Caribbean and Black (ACB) and Two-Spirit, lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, intersex and queer (2SLGBTIQ) communities. He co-chairs the Toronto Harm Reduction Alliance (THRA) and represents THRA in municipal, provincial, federal and United Nations forums to advance evidence-based drug policy and reduce stigma. He routinely advises governments and contributes to research as Knowledge User, mentoring peers and service providers.

He has volunteered, been a service user, and employee of numerous AIDS Service Organizations (ASO) and was Interim Executive Director for a short period of time. He sat on the Boards of BlackCAP (Black Coalition for AIDS Prevention), PASAN (Prisoner AIDS Support Network) and the Ontario AIDS Network (OAN) Boards of Directors. Colin is a member of the Steering Committee for the Canadian Coalition to Reform HIV Criminalization (CCRHC) In addition, he holds a Certificate in the AODA (Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities) Toronto Metropolitan University 2018. For relaxation he enjoys football (soccer) and Formula 1 racing. 

I’m a white queer trans masculine nonbinary person with multiple disabilities. 

The kind of activism I do is related to anti-violence, abolition and system change, specifically anti-trafficking and sex worker justice. 

The housing crisis is one issue I’m passionate about addressing and the need for more options of Safe and deeply affordable accessible housing specifically for multi marginalized communities like disabled 2SLGBTQIA+ people who are on ODSP, OW and living with homelessness.  

 I would like to expand connections with other people and organizations for housing resources and welcome conversations of community trust building. 

I know how a lot of these systems work having been on ODSP for 20 years and also being street involved and homeless as a youth.  

 I’m most proud of my creativity and community organizing. I’m an engaged and dedicated activist for many communities.

I am a dedicated Social Service Worker with over 8 years of experience as a Case Worker with the City of Toronto, supporting marginalized individuals who face systemic barriers brelated to poverty, mental health, housing insecurity, and social inequity. My career is grounded in trauma-informed, client-centered care, with a strong commitment to advocacy, empowerment, and equitable access to essential resources.

Throughout my role, I have worked extensively with individuals and families experiencing complex needs. I provide direct support to clients living with mental health challenges, and ensure they are connected to vital services such as legal aid, community healing and wellness programs, financial supports, and mental health resources. My approach is holistic and rooted in the belief that sustainable change requires wraparound care. In addition to case management, I support families in finding affordable housing, assist parents in accessing daycare and childcare subsidies, and advocate for children and adults with disabilities, including individuals on the autism spectrum, to receive inclusive and accessible support.

I also facilitate access to food security programs, educational workshops, and community-based mental health initiatives that promote long-term wellbeing. My work is driven by anti-oppressive and anti-racist values, with a deep commitment to breaking down systemic barriers and creating opportunities for individuals to thrive.

Whether navigating crisis situations or building long-term support plans, I remain committed to fostering dignity, independence, and resilience in every person I serve.

My name is Felicia Adegboruwa (she/her), and I am a passionate community advocate dedicated to supporting vulnerable individuals and creating meaningful change within my community and the city of Toronto GTA. I work in the legal field and hold a Paralegal certification, along with certifications in Mental Health First Aid, Emotional First Aid, and Health and Safety. I will also be returning to school part-time to pursue Social Work studies. 

I have served on the Community Healing Program (CHP) Youth Advisory Panel, participated in Engage 416 Team meetings through 31 Division on youth engagement and crime prevention, and serve as a community member with Toronto Community Housing, where I advocate for residents regarding repairs and neighbourhood improvements. Through my advocacy, I successfully helped secure a new playground and repairs to the local basketball court for youth in my community. 

As a mother of four with lived experience in poverty, housing, domestic violence, and mental health, I am deeply committed to advocacy and support for those who are vulnerable. My sister’s diagnosis with schizophrenia inspired me to further educate myself so I could become a stronger advocate for those facing mental health challenges. 

I hope to contribute to LEAG through my lived experience, research, ideas, and passion for advocacy while networking with others who share the same vision of ending poverty, homelessness, and mental health stigma. 

Husna Sweet migrated to Canada in July 2013 as a skilled worker, bringing over ten years of professional experience in Human Resources and Administration. She holds two master’s degrees in Management and Business Administration. Husna currently works as a Project Support Worker at SAWRO (South Asian Women’s Rights Organization), a community-based organization, and is an active advocate for women, newcomers, and precariously employed workers in the Oakridge, Taylor-Massey, and East Danforth neighbourhoods. She brings both extensive professional expertise and lived experience to her role.

Husna is deeply engaged in SAWRO’s advocacy initiatives and community consultations, where she supports the documentation and amplification of systemic barriers faced by women and families. Her work highlights the ways in which employment precarity, limited access to income supports, and the lack of affordable childcare intersect to exacerbate poverty and social exclusion. She is particularly committed to addressing how outdated policies and systems fail to reflect the lived realities of marginalized communities today. Grounded in compassion, evidence, and community voice, Husna believes that meaningful poverty reduction requires inclusive and responsive systems that are designed with and for the people they are intended to serve. 

Jason Miles is a resident of the Parkdale neighbourhood and a lived-experience expert. He experienced homelessness for six years.  After finding stable housing he has since found opportunities to speak, educate, and advocate on behalf of others, drawing from his experiences with homelessness, mental health challenges, addiction, incarceration, and numerous incidents of trauma and violence. 

The darkest periods of his past now give him the strength to help others face their everyday challenges. His lived experiences, combined with his deep knowledge of navigating complex systems and supports, have become an asset he incorporates into his work in a meaningful way. 

Jason is a well-known figure in the Parkdale community speaking at community events, meetings and meeting with members of the public, policy makers and decision makers often.  His advocacy work over the past year, numerous meetings with politicians, interviews and work with the press has helped result in the successful funding of Dunn House Phase 2.  When it opens 54 more people will be moving off the streets, out of hospitals and shelters and into permanent supportive housing.  

Jason also sits on the planning committee for the DunNation community celebration.  Which is an annual neighbourhood celebration that is free to attend and provides over 200 people with food, music and entertainment and celebrates the community of Parkdale. 

He is a well-known figure in the recovery community, leading recovery groups, working with others and is now more than two consecutive years clean and sober.  Jason has turned his life around, becoming a leader in his community and gaining significant attention along the way. Over the past year, he has been featured several times in the Toronto Star, the Globe and Mail, as well as on CBC News and in The Canadian Press. A documentary film featuring his experiences is currently underway and is expected to be released sometime this year. 

Jhuma Paul is working as a Peer Support Worker, providing day-to-day support and services to community members, particularly racialized and newly immigrated women. She also works as a women leader, supporting women to navigate complex social systems and access essential resources. 

Drawing from both her clinical experience and lived experience, Jhuma has deep insight into the realities of poverty, childcare barriers, housing insecurity, and settlement challenges faced by newcomers. Her work is grounded in compassion, advocacy, and a strong commitment to equity and poverty reduction. As a LEAG member, she is passionate about amplifying community voices and contributing to solutions informed by lived experience. 

Kathleen is a Toronto Community Housing tenant representative, court reporter, and advocate for the Women’s Criminalization Project and disability rights, drawing from lived experiences to champion equity and accessibility. 

Kathleen transforms personal challenges into impactful action through trauma-informed conflict resolution and passion for mental health and social justice, uplifting Toronto’s unseen and strengthening diverse communities. 

Born and raised in Toronto, Kathleen has also worked for IATSE Local 873, the Canadian Media Guild, and VIA Rail Canada. 

Leah Bobet splits her time between community organizing and the arts. As an award-winning novelist, poet, and fiction editor, her novels have won the Sunburst, Copper Cylinder, and Prix Aurora Awards; her poetry has placed in the Muriel’s Journey Poetry Prize and the Rhonda Gail Williford Award for Poetry. She was the Utopia Award-winning poetry editor for Reckoning: creative writing on environmental justice’s 2021 issue and read for Grist’s Imagine 2200 climate fiction contest. 

 As an organizer, she builds and contributes to food sovereignty, poverty reduction, capacity-building, and climate resilience projects around the downtown core. She regularly works to connect community projects to each other and build ways for community groups to share their resources. 

M.R grew up in Flemingdon Park, Toronto, and attended public schools in the neighbourhood and frequently visited the Ontario Science centre. My core belief is that every child should grow up to be happy and healthy. This can be done by providing quality education, healthcare, and social supports to vulnerable communities across Toronto which can help ensure that child well-being is not predetermined by their postal code. I am extremely fortunate to be working with the City of Toronto and hope to address child and family inequity in our communities! 

Natalie Chattargoon better known as ‘Rare’ is a multi talented Toronto born and raised creative, passionate in community building, creative writing and photography. In the start of her career, she became a self taught 5x published photographer with work showcased around the GTA.

Rare faced many challenges through her journey that motivated her to strive for a better life. Her work focuses on spotlighting social issues and expresses it through her many projects.

Rare’s World is a platform to help others look deeper into the mind, body and soul to find their ultimate purpose. 2025 Winning two awards for her leadership and mentorship across the city – She is truly a one of a kind, so divine and a hard to find individual.

I am living in Scarborough Agincourt and I am volunteer with (1) Agincourt Community Services Association (ACSA) and (2) Chinese Canadian National Council Toronto Chapter (CCNCTO). In my community I am  passionate with a positive attitude about  addressing  (1 ) applications for senior housing and government subsidized low-rent housing (2) food safety and  transportation fee reductions for seniors.  Because in my community , most of Chinese senior with low income , lived alone and can’t understand English. They are need overcome loneliness and to be helped to engage into the community and society.   

I am proudly accepted the Ontario’s Leading Women Building Communities Recognition Award in 2017 , for my exceptional community leadership to.  Five years ago I  built the mass group named as “Chinese Community In Scarborough” (CCIS) with new & old Chinese immigrants in Canada. The vision is to enhance the awareness and actions of civic engagement, improve the quality of healthy life of immigrants, and find the sense of belonging and happiness of immigrants. With CCIS I  organized and implemented 2025 Local Leadership Grant, 2024 Neighborhood Climate Action Grant and 2022-2023 TD park people Grant to bring community members to be health living and activity contribution.   

Rachel Waller (she/they) is a human rights advocate based in Parkdale, Toronto. As someone with lived experience of disability, poverty, and systemic discrimination, Rachel’s work focuses on equity, housing access, and the real-world impacts of municipal services.

Rachel has contributed to grassroots responses to food insecurity and initiatives raising awareness of state violence. Drawing on both lived experience and public-sector work, Rachel is particularly interested in how programs delivered through the Poverty Reduction Strategy are experienced in practice, and in addressing gaps between policy intent and service delivery. 

Renata Husbands is a Toronto-based Peer Support Worker, volunteer, and advocate whose work is inspired by lived experience, resilience, and a deep commitment to community. Toronto is her third Canadian province, and having lived in three provinces and at 33 different addresses throughout her life, Renata’s journey has shaped her understanding of stability, belonging and the importance of compassionate support.

Once experiencing homelessness herself, Renata’s life took a transformative turn that led her toward healing, happiness, and self-love. The lessons she gained during that time continue to guide her advocacy today. Renata is living testimony that change is possible, and she is honoured to be in a position where her voice can help push for meaningful change in how homelessness is addressed and how support is offered during such vulnerable and devastating periods.

Renata is a proud volunteer, also a member of a sub-committee at CAMH, and an excited new member of The LEAG. She hopes to—and will work hard to—make her time with The LEAG meaningful and purposeful. She draws inspiration from generations of advocacy within her family, carrying forward a legacy of standing up for community and social justice. Above all, Renata takes great pride in her role as a mother and strives to be a strong, positive role model for her family.

Shannan is a researcher who draws as heavily on her queer and neurodiverse background as she does her Christian and leftist values. Formerly a junior/intern member of the SDC of Waterloo Region’s Disability and Human Rights board, she moved to Toronto during the pandemic to study Urban Planning at TMU. After working in a warming centre, she took a keen interest in shelter client and other unhoused people’s rights. Currently she is involved in the Anglican diocese as a parishioner, volunteer and employee with her heart centered around her home near Sherbourne and Dundas.

After spending several years on Ontario Works and now ODSP, they are committed to improving the appalling conditions of OW alongside advocacy for ODSP recipients. Their goal when coming to the LEAG was to avocate for disenfranchised community members, including bringing voices and perspectives from communities outside of their own lived experience. Their skills lie primarily in qualitative social media research, and their expertise in public health and planning policy.

My name is Suran Selladurai, and I am grateful for the opportunity to share my lived experience shaped by displacement, resilience, and long-term community service in Canada. I immigrated from Sri Lanka nearly four decades ago after narrowly escaping the violence of the civil war. Because my last name identified me as Tamil, my family was directly targeted. My brother was killed, and I survived by leaving my homeland.

Settling in Canada was not easy. I struggled initially to find work and to understand unfamiliar systems, but Toronto’s multicultural environment helped me rebuild my life. These early challenges gave me firsthand insight into the barriers newcomers face —including employment access, cultural adaptation, and systemic inequities — and how inclusive communities can make a critical difference.

Before immigrating, I worked for an international company that sent me to Japan, where I completed language and cultural orientation training and later graduated in Planning and Administration. In Canada, I expressed my gratitude by working with the Provincial Government of Ontario and by committing myself to long-term volunteer service.

I volunteered for several years with the Canada Revenue Agency’s community tax program, completing nearly 500 tax returns during the pandemic, including virtual returns for over 150 individuals I had never met in person. This work deepened my understanding of financial vulnerability, trust, and accessibility, particularly for seniors, newcomers, and low-income residents.

I currently continue my community involvement with the Senior Tenants Advisory Committee (STAC), North York Community Centre, and the Advocacy Centre for the Elderly (ACE). Through these roles, I advocate for seniors’ rights, housing stability, and equitable access to services. I hope to contribute to the Lived Experience Advisory Group by sharing practical insights gained from navigating government systems, supporting vulnerable populations, and bridging cultural and institutional gaps. I bring not only professional and volunteer experience, but also the lived understanding of survival, adaptation, and the importance of dignity in policy and service design.

Uthish Ganesh (he/him) is an award-winning educator, community advocate and is a teacher and the Head of Social Sciences and Humanities at Winston Churchill CI. Since his teens, he has been actively involved in grassroots initiatives supporting youth leadership, mentorship, and anti-violence advocacy across Toronto and now has the privilege of teaching in the community he was raised in. Uthish’s lived experiences in Scarborough have profoundly shaped his commitment to equity, which he explored in depth through his Master of Teaching Research Paper (How Equity Policies are Operationalized in the Toronto District School Board) and has translated into projects that support families across the city.

Uthish has also led school and community-wide mentorship programs and collaborated with the City of Toronto and TDSB to embed equity and anti-oppression frameworks into community-based programming. Uthish is now working on several projects in collaboration with Toronto Police, TTC, Scarborough community programs, and local sports organizations to ensure programs are community-focused, safer, affordable, and provide realistic pathways to break generational barriers. Uthish center’s his work on actively listening to uplift and learning from others, dismantling systemic barriers, creating inclusive spaces, and building safer communities where all are empowered to succeed.  

 Instagram: @UthishGanesh