The Community Connections Café is a welcoming space where people with memory loss or Dementia, and their care partners, can come to connect with others and support their brain health while socializing. This is an opportunity to enjoy simple refreshments and make new friends in a Dementia Friendly Community Space.

The Community Connections Cafe focuses on social wellness for people with memory loss or Dementia, and their care partners. The program is informal with the intended atmosphere of a local coffee shop where participants can chat over a beverage, do something creative, or play a game.

 

Every 3rd Wednesday of the month from 2:30pm to 4:30pm In-person at our AST Head Office
Location: 20 Eglinton Ave West, 16th Floor, Toronto
(Northwest corner of Yonge and Eglinton, across the street from Yonge and Eglinton subway station. Our office tower is to the left of Metro Grocery)

 

Registration is required for this program and closes at midnight (12am) the day prior to the event.
Please specify the number of guests attending when you register. You may register up to 3 persons per group.

The Community Connections Café is a welcoming space where people with memory loss or Dementia, and their care partners, can come to connect with others and support their brain health while socializing. This is an opportunity to enjoy simple refreshments and make new friends in a Dementia Friendly Community Space.

The Community Connections Cafe focuses on social wellness for people with memory loss or Dementia, and their care partners. The program is informal with the intended atmosphere of a local coffee shop where participants can chat over a beverage, do something creative, or play a game.

 

Every 2nd Wednesday of the month from 12:30pm to 2:30pm In-person at our AST Mid Scarborough Hub.
Address: 2658 Eglinton Avenue East, Scarborough, ON, M1K2S3

 

Registration is required for this program and closes at midnight (12am) the day prior to the event.
Please specify the number of guests attending when you register. You may register up to 3 persons per group.

Join the circle and feel the rhythm in this 4-week hand drumming series designed for people living with dementia and their care partners, led by renowned music Therapist, Thyra Andrews.

No prior experience is necessary—just a willingness to have fun and express yourself!

About Your facilitator:
Thyra Andrews is the Founder and President of New Song Music Therapy, an Ontario based practice presently serving long term care facilities with a specialized team of Music Therapists. New Song Music Therapy has succeeded for years in enhancing senior living with tailored high quality Music Therapy programs distinctly designed to overcome barriers, engage and uplift residents and reduce isolation.

For more information, please contact Tracey Adams-Thibaudeau by email or phone 647-456-6168

Art therapy is a mental health profession that combines the process of creative art expression with models of counselling and psychotherapy to enhance emotional, physical, and mental health. Kathleen Downie has facilitated many engaging art programs for the Alzheimer’s Society of Toronto clients over the years and is now an art therapy student attending the Vancouver Art therapy Institute (VATI) distance program. As part of her training, Kathleen will be offering free one-on-one art therapy sessions for People Living with Dementia and their Care Partners. These individual sessions will provide opportunities for participants to explore and express feelings and ideas using a range of satisfying art materials to paint, create collage, and sculptural work.

Times available:
11:00-12:00
1:00-2:00 or
2:30- 3:30

For more information about this program please contact Tracey Adams-Thibaudeau or by phone at 647 456 6168

Click the time below to register for that program timeslot. Please only select ONE time slot. Spots are very limited.

Textile Explorations is a relaxed in-person textile art creation series, designed for individuals living with dementia and their partners in care. Lux Gow-Habrich will lead this program where we will play with exciting textures and colours and explore techniques like weaving, felting, textile collage, embroidery, surface design and bask in the meditative qualities of fibre and fabric arts. No prior experience is necessary—just a willingness to play and express yourself!

Lux Gow-Habrich is an award-winning interdisciplinary visual artist with a love of tactile craft mediums like ceramics and textiles that blur the lines between art and life. Lux has led arts programming with the Alzheimer’s Society of Nova Scotia for the last 7 years, and has 15 years practicing and facilitating creative arts with persons with various access and sensory needs – committed to the profound, life-changing power of the arts to transform our interior and exterior worlds.

Photo Credit: Paula Snook (Alzheimer’s Society Nova Scotia, program participant), 2023 textile collage on fabric, 10” x 10”.

Join the Golden Threads Choir for an enriching in-person singing series, designed for individuals living with dementia and their care partners. Led by acclaimed musician Robin Dann, this program explores the joy of making music together, fostering connection and creativity.

During our workshops, you’ll experience:

• Vocal warm-ups
• Harmonizing
• Exploring vocal ranges
• The energizing experience of singing as one collective voice

No prior singing or choral experience is necessary—just a willingness to express yourself!

About Your Choir Leader:
Robin Dann is a critically acclaimed singer and the leader of the band Bernice, recognized internationally and nominated twice for Canada’s prestigious Polaris Prize. With over 15 years in Toronto’s vibrant music scene, Robin brings passion and expertise to our choir.

For more information, please contact:
Tracey Adams-Thibaudeau by email or phone: 647-456-6168

6-Week Series on Tuesdays from November 11th – December 16th from 1:00 -3:00 PM at Scarborough Hub

Join our Creative Conversations, a warm and inviting social program that combines the benefits of cognitive activity, engaging conversation and easy creative exploration. This program is facilitated by Robin Gertin (a Certified Expressive Arts Therapist) who has extensive experience working with seniors and those living with dementia.

This program includes:

• 45 minutes of skillfully supported conversation and cognitive exercises around themes of everyday living, designed to engage people of all abilities, fostering connection and community.
• A break to have a snack and socialize
• 30 minutes of accessible art-based activity that does not require any prior experience, where the fun and relaxing process is valued over final products.

This series is appropriate for learners at all levels and provides opportunities for each participant to learn at their own pace and in their own style.

Monday, June 16th from 2:00 – 3:00 P.M on Zoom 

Join us for another insightful Explore Art with Jano, a virtual art appreciation program. This session we will focus on nature, specifically trees. Sturdy and protective, trees provide us with shelter, oxygen and they have also served as inspiration for the visual and literary arts.

Join us with your curiosity and come ready to share thoughts and ideas. We will look at tall and trim, stout and leafy trees depicted in distinct styles throughout recent history.

Jano Cortijo is an arts educator whose work finds him engaging audiences of various ages, abilities, and backgrounds in museums, classrooms, community centers, and online. Straying far from the canon to elevate artists and works that have been excluded or erased from mainstream conversations, Cortijo encourages critical discussion while connecting the participants’ individual histories and stories with the art and art makers.

Image caption:
Oscar Bluemner, House and Tree, 1917
Oil on composition board, 15 x 20 inches

Join us for an in-person 6-part walking series and enjoy activating your body in the beauty of nature. Get your steps in and then enjoy a chat with a drink in the cafe – on us!

This series is appropriate for people living with dementia and their care partners who love walking! We will start with a warm up and then walk for 45 minutes, so please come prepared with comfortable supportive shoes and a bottle of water.

Thursdays, May 8th to June 12th 2025  from 1:30 PM – 3:00 PM (6-weeks series)

Making Strides – Spring in the West End will be held at High Park.
We will meet at the High Park North Gates located at High Park Ave & Bloor St W.

For more information about this program, please contact Kristin Bartlett or phone 416-389-6099

Join us for an in-person 4-part walking series and enjoy activating your body in the beauty of nature. Get your steps in and then enjoy a chat with a drink in the cafe – on us!

This series is appropriate for people living with dementia and their care partners who love walking! We will start with a warm up and then walk for 45 minutes, so please come prepared with comfortable supportive shoes and a bottle of water.

Bi-weekly Fridays, May 9th to June 13th 2025  from 1:30 PM – 3:00 PM (6-weeks series)

Making Strides – Spring in the East End will be held at Evergreen Brick Works.
Evergreen Brick Works, 550 Bayview Ave, Toronto.

For more information about this program, please contact Tracey Adams-Thibaudeau or phone 647-456-6168