Tropicana Community Services

At Tropicana we offer culturally aware and supportive programs to those in need, including but not limited to counselling, settlement services, childcare, education, personal development, and employment services, with a predominant focus on the Caribbean, Black and African communities of Toronto. Tropicana Community Services was founded in 1980 as a non-profit community organization in Scarborough, Ontario by Jamaican-born Robert Brown and cofounder Derrick McLennon. Their goal was to serve disadvantaged youth and their families, particularly those from a Caribbean, Black, and African heritage. Each year Tropicana’s staff, with the assistance of its dedicated volunteers, is able to help thousands of people in need.

The first service offered by the organization was counselling aimed at teenaged dropouts. Over the past 40 years, additional programs and services have been added to the organization, both through internal development and external partnerships. Current programs include but are not limited to counselling, settlement services, tutoring, youth leadership programs, aggression management, March break and summer camps, day care, employment counselling, and youth drop-in activities.

In 1984 the organization became the first Caribbean, Black, and African community organization to become a United Way member agency.