The 519

The 519's board of management includes the local ward 13 councillor (Kristen Wong-Tam) and 11 citizens. Citizen members of the board are elected by members of the 519 who are residents of the catchment area. The board of management is subsequently appointed by the Toronto and East York Community Council, a delegated body of Toronto City Council.

The board operates from a modified policy governance model which ensures delegation of day-to-day leadership of the organization to the executive director, Maura Lawless. The board is currently led by chair Margo Foster, who currently manages academic programs at Seneca College.

The 519 is a member of the Association of Community Centres (AOCCs), which comprises 10 volunteer board-run multi-purpose facilities providing a broad range of community, recreation and social service programs to residents in the local community. Other AOCC community centres include Swansea Town Hall, Ralph Thornton Community Centre and Waterfront Neighbourhood Centre (formerly known as Harbourfront Neighbourhood Centre).

The AOCC model is a hybrid between a city agency and an independent, not-for-profit, community-based organization. The core administration activities are funded by the city and treated like a city agency (building maintenance and upkeep, utilities, etc.). Community programming is funded through fund-raising (corporate and individual donations, grants, etc.) and is led by the community-based Board of Management. The 519 is a member agency of the United Way of Greater Toronto and the Toronto Neighbourhood Centres and has received funding from various governments, corporations and foundations including the Community One Foundation and Government of Ontario.

Details of the relationship between the City of Toronto and AOCCs are outlined in a relationship framework approved by Toronto City Council in 2006.[6]

The 519 offers a wide range of staff-led initiatives that serve a diverse community of members,[7] including:

• Newcomer and Refugee Settlement Services
• Sport and Recreation Initiatives
• Community Drop-In Programs (Meal Trans, Sunday Drop-In)
• Community Support Services (Counselling, Anti-Violence)
• Trans Community Services (Trans Youth Mentorship Program, Trans Sex Worker Empowerment Project, Spark: Trans Youth Sports)
• Older LGBT Services (Senior Pride Network)
• Family and Children Services
• Queer Parenting Programs
• Social Enterprise Restaurant (FABARNAK)
• Research, Education and Training

The 519 provides free meeting space and support for community member volunteers and community organizations to develop their own programs.[8] In 2013, the 519 housed over 80 community led programs (in areas of community services, education, recreation, and self-help), and welcomed 250 regular user groups (in areas of community fundraising, recreation, professional associations and unions, social activists, social service organizations and tenants’ organizations). The 519 estimates in its 2012 annual report that approximately 35,000 individuals visited the centre over 200,000 times.

The 519 also actively supports a number of community-led partnerships such as the AIDS Candelight Vigil, the AIDS Memorial, and volunteer-led legal and tax clinics.

In November 2013, the 519 submitted a report to Toronto City Council seeking authorization to develop a sport and recreation centre in the West Don Lands neighbourhood of Toronto.[9] The new centre would provide space and services to the local neighbourhood while also providing a home for lesbian, gay, bi, trans (LGBT) sport leagues and recreational organizations in the city. It is believed that this would be the first LGBT athletic centre in the world. The proposal's early supporters include city councillor Pam McConnell, former Olympian and Hart House warden Bruce Kidd, and the Gay and Lesbian International Sport Association.[10]

The report was adopted unanimously by the Community Development and Recreation Committee[9] and was adopted on December 18, 2013, by Toronto City Council in a vote of 28-2 with Councillor James Pasternak and Mayor Rob Ford voting against the proposal.[11] With this approval, staff of the City of Toronto and the 519 are now authorized to negotiate on a site for the new centre and to build a formal business case for approval by council at a later date.

The Village Study was a one-year urban and social planning exercise for the Church and Wellesley community that was funded by TD Bank Group and led by the 519 with the support of the Planning Partnership. Questions posed by the study included "What is the role of an ‘LGBTQ village’ in a modern, progressive city?" and "What must be done to support the Church-Wellesley Village to solidify its role as a major cultural community hub in the Toronto context now and into the future?"[12] The final report of the Village Study is expected in early 2014 as the community prepares for World Pride.

The 519 is the trustee of the PrideHouseTO initiative, a collaborative project of more than 15 community organizations working together to make the 2015 Pan American Games the most LGBT-inclusive multi-sport event in history. The PrideHouseTO leadership team includes organizations such as Toronto Metropolitan University, Egale Canada, the Gay and Lesbian International Sport Association and the Toronto chapter of PFLAG. As trustee, the 519 provides administrative and project management support to the volunteer-led initiative.[13] PrideHouseTO is modeled after the Pride House movement which was founded in 2010 during the 2010 Winter Olympics.