In our increasingly precarious world, trust is at a premium. Community resilience is only as strong as its engaged social capital. CREW’s work fuels the super-power of informed social networks where trust already exists, and facilitates a shared understanding of how climate change will affect individuals, families and communities. That’s followed by making purposeful connections with neighbours, finding new friends, and looking out for each other when things go wrong. Once these relationships are in place, trained volunteers can reach beyond their own social circles and invite others to join them.
CREW was formed shortly after the 2013 ice storm that hit Southern Ontario hard. This was an opportunity to share what we knew about climate projections along with the research that shows the priceless value of informed and caring social networks. Our current work is anchored in the extremely dense and very diverse neighbourhood of St. James Town in downtown Toronto, where over 100 languages are spoken. This is where we incubate the projects and programs that are almost always co-designed with our strong core group of award-winning resident volunteers. We’re sure that what works in St. James Town is useful for low-income neighbourhoods everywhere.
CREW’s work focuses on climate adaptations that include emergency preparedness (kits, plans and wellness checks); equitable access to healthy green spaces; heat wave preparedness; understanding how climate affects our mental health; and strategies that contribute to food security.
Our trained pool of volunteers has attracted a range of academic teams, medical practitioners, different levels of government, and NGO’s such as the Red Cross. They want to learn about making community connections directly from residents. We’re very proud of these relationships; they are changing the ways in which people who shape policy that affects communities are asking questions, collecting data, and telling stories.
We will remain a grassroots, volunteer driven organization, but interest in our work has increased exponentially in the past 18 months and we need to hire two more people. Our theory of change encourages environmental or social-justice focused leaders to integrate climate preparedness and adaptation into their primary work. These are the leaders, groups and organizations that already have the fundamental trust of their social networks. A climate-ready approach has the potential to broaden their networks and strengthen their own work. CREW has the tools and strategies to support them.
In early 2026, CREW was honoured to be one of two travelling partners on David Suzuki’s Stronger Together Tour in Southern Ontario. Because climate change impacts are accelerating and increasingly severe, David now works to promote that super-power of local social networks. It’s as simple as neighbours helping neighbours, but the challenge is in doing the work ahead of time. CREW ran an abbreviated version of its ResilientVille Canada simulation role playing game as the penultimate event of each tour stop. ResilientVilleroots David and CREW’s call for climate preparedness firmly in community. As David says, we are stronger when we work together. We want everyone to be climate ready.
If you would like to donate please reach out to advisedfunds@makeway.org.