Deborah Jules

Christie Ossington Neighbourhood Centre

Nominator Comments:

For close to 20 years, Deb Jules has served as manager of the Christie Ossington Neighbourhood Centre Drop-In and has been responsible for a growth in service that now has over 300 service users a day. Deb works with her staff, volunteers, placement students and program facilitators to continually improve the service user experience and provide 250 hot meals and 30 take home hampers per day for individuals who all live below the poverty line, and continued throughout the COVID lockdown

She believes that each participant at the drop-in deserves a smile, a comfortable & clean facility, a good meal and quick attention and never turns anyone away. She has just seen increased need. And everyday she does everything in her power to meet that need. Whether it is creating a community garden that serves as a source of food security for those in need in the neighbourhood or identifying the nutritional needs of those with addictions and working with the kitchen staff to develop a dietary plan aimed at replacing the minerals needed for people with addiction management challenges, she always goes above and beyond her call of duty in service of others.

Deb has come to work every morning with a smile and a spring in her step, going from table to table, swapping stories making people laugh. The neighbourhood of Ossington and Bloor has benefited from the hard work, determination and commitment of Deb Jules and she was recently honoured for her long service by having a sidewalk tree area named after her by the Bloor Business Improvement Association