A three-day community needs assessment with Family Services of Peel, mapping 31 programs across the Peel District School Board — and identifying the students falling through the cracks.
Project Overview
The Peel District School Board serves one of Ontario's most diverse communities — with a significant population of newcomer families, students with disabilities, and youth from marginalized groups. While PDSB has a range of programs in place, the landscape is fragmented: resources spread across multiple providers, some with fees, many hard to find.
During Alternative Reading Week, I co-led a five-person team on a three-day engagement with Family Services of Peel. Our task: map every available student and community support program, identify gaps in coverage, and produce a structured analysis for FSP's senior staff.
The findings fed directly into FSP's planning for future program development, with particular focus on youth language support, mental health for marginalized groups, and accessibility of program information.
Program Database
Filter by service area to browse what exists — and to see where the coverage thins out.
Showing 31 programs
Distribution
Key Findings
Language support programs exist only for adults. Newcomer youth navigating a new school system have no dedicated language access point.
Few targeted programs for Black students, 2SLGBTQ+ youth, students experiencing homelessness, or students in care.
IEP and assistive technology information is difficult to find. No one-on-one services for parents seeking disability support.
Language courses cost up to $1,500 per credit. Low-income students are systematically excluded from enrichment programs.
Mental health and wellness programs are heavily female-focused. EFRY Hope planned a boys' program but could not secure funding.
Outdated links, fragmented websites, and no centralised resource hub make it hard for families to find what exists.
Students expressed strong desire for AI literacy and financial literacy programs. Current offerings are limited and not universally accessible.
Students in special education can only join standard programs — no dedicated programs tailored to their specific learning goals.
Methodology
Systematic review of all PDSB-linked programs — recording provider, target group, age range, cost, access method, and contact info into a structured database.
Direct input gathered from students on unmet needs — financial literacy, tech literacy, digital safety, and media creation emerged as key themes.
Cross-referenced available programs against demographic need data from PDSB's 2023 Community Engagement Plan to identify structural coverage gaps.
All findings and project management tracked in Notion, with structured markdown outputs shared with FSP senior staff for operational use.