Durham Region

An Interview with Stella Danos-Papaconstantinou

An Interview with Stella Danos-Papaconstantinou

Stella Danos-Papaconstantinou has more than 25 years of leadership experience in the human services sector. As Commissioner of Durham Region’s Social Services Department, Stella oversees programs and services across six divisions that include; early learning and childcare, social assistance, emergency social services, housing and homelessness, individual & family counselling along with four Long-term care homes.

Stella is currently the Vice-President of OMSSA and she is also Chair of the Housing and Homelessness Network.

Stella holds a strong vision for helping individuals and families in the community through integrated service delivery of innovative modernized approaches. This interview explores her priorities in human services delivery for Durham Region, her passion and value for keeping Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) at the core of her work, and her overall experience and contributions to the human services sector.

Pickering Shares Casino Revenue with Durham Region to Address Shared Goals

Pickering Shares Casino Revenue with Durham Region to Address Shared Goals

The City of Pickering is the host community (those with gaming facilities located in their communities) for their new casino and is a municipality located within the Region of Durham. As the upper-tier municipal government, Durham is responsible for providing social housing, transit, policing, and other services to residents across the Region. Pickering is the first and only host community in Ontario to voluntarily share its revenues with another municipality and/or regional government. Together, the City and Region hope this revenue will help to meaningfully address their shared goals including more affordable housing and enhanced social services in the community.

This Is Not OK

This Is Not OK

Homelessness can be a result of a complex mix of social services, health, and economic difficulties. The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic changed how we work, our way of education and how we interact with others. Due to reduced in-person social services, widespread isolation, and inflationary housing and food costs, homelessness is gaining recognition as a serious problem. With agencies and drop-in centres now open people can have access to in-person support yet the number of people wandering our streets continues to shock and disappoint the public.