Slovenski Dom - Toronto - Slovenian Home Association

I am not entirely convinced that an open community centre/hall for Slovenians will work without a basic paradigm shift amongst individuals living in Toronto/Canada of Slovenian heritage towards a solidarity of Slovenian culture and heritage interests.  People are simply busy, with too many distractions in our day-to-day lives to carve out additional time and resources to be applied to yet another organization vying for our attention.

Personal observations of the Slovenian communities in and around the GTA, extending into the Peninsula is that it is highly fragmented. Lots of little organizations, each trying to attract their own piece of what is a very small pie.  There is little solidatiry in the distributed and fragmented Slovenian communities.  This is of course, not entirely different than back in Slovenia itself, where this "tribal" mentality still exists!  However, the biggest difference between there and here, is that there, they are in fact a country of Slovenians, even if there are some fragmentations as it is the primary culture in place.  But here, fragmentation means, less social and political where-with-all to accomplish anything of any significance which would be noticed by all who are of Slovenian descent.  There is definitely a high degree of inertia whereby people are too busy, weekends occupied by the cottage, week days by work, family, projects, other interests, and the list goes on and on.

With reference to our American compatriots, there does seem to be more solidarity there, but I am not in a position to really comment on it.  Maybe it's just sheer numbers where there are more individuals of Slovenian decent in those particular areas like Cleveland, OH, thus, having more resources to become more noticeable.

Regardless, without significant solidarity within the distributed and fragmented Slovenian communities in the GTA and surrounding areas, a physical building may become a financial drain, and will morph into something other than a Slovenian centre in order to manage expenses, so it will need to be rented out to other organizations, schools, activities in order to generate the necessary revenue. This will "dilute" the building and once again, marginalize the Slovenian communities.

If the distributed and fragmented community decide to form a single, solidarity Slovenian Cultural organization for the purpose of the preservation, promotion, education and development of Slovenian culture and heritage in Canada, here are some things which may happen:

1. Be able to produce a top quality quarterly/semi-annual/annual publication, of interesting articles, people, events on quality gloss paper accompanied with professional photographs creating a publication which would be desireable by all individuals of Slovenian heritage.
2. Have enough bodies to form strong and dedicated committees and action groups to encourage and establish interesting and desireable Slovenian cultural events, such as high-end concerts, plays, formal-dinners (black tie) with interesting special guests and speakers (head table bait), kids days, charity-oriented events all of which get noticed by the press, etc.
3. Establish a strong executive who's mission is that of the viability organization, rather than personal gain.  Yeah, Slovenian's are stubborn and fiercely territorial, but egos and agendas must be put aside, and must be re-oriented towards securing the organization and community as a whole!
4. Being able to influence local Canadian politics to benefit the Slovenian communities, or in the least, have enough political force to be recognized as a unique cultural entity which may develop opportunities for funding from our government for large projects.
5. Secure the future of Slovenian culture, so that it doesn't become diluted with each generation, and that each individual of Slovenian decent WOULD want to be part of this organization because it is "cool" and perhaps even promotes feelings like it "enhances" their social status within the Canadian community!
6. Pool financial resources, thus allowing this organization to donate sizeable donations to Canadian charitable organizations, such as Sick Kids or others, and in return, be "noticed" in the press or political circles as a force to be reckoned with...and get invited to the very cool dinners! I'm sure there are a good number of Slovenians who are/may be bordering on philanthropy, and therefore, here are some opportunities to enhance the visibility of the Slovenian community in Canada.
7. Establish a symbol which unites all Slovenians distributed in this great land.  I'm talking about some symbol which will uniquely identify the Slovenian culture from the rest of the "noise", a symbol that individuals of Slovenian heritage can identify with, and be proud to display on their baseball caps or vehicles.  Given the history, it could be an eagle (Carniolian), or panther (Styrian) or the bell hat (Slovenska Marka).  It doesn't really matter, as what really matters, is that there is a symbol that everyone is willing to stand behind.

Bottom line, it takes people, time, resources and commitment. The challenge with respect to our younger generation is to enhance the "coolness factor" of such a community so that they will engage themselves with it and preserve it for generations in the future.  For many others, there is "what's in it for me" which needs to be addressed, and perhaps some of the activities above may provide the value they are seeking.

I like the idea of an open community centre / hall for all Slovenians to hang out, watch Slovenian sports, news, listen to music, promote culture...etc, etc....  Fifty years ago Slovenians in Toronto had a similar idea and the result was Slovenski Dom on Pape Ave.  It served Slovenians well for many years until the school next door was sold and it was replaced by a subdivision.  This resulted in the loss of the parking lot attached to the school.  The lesson that we need to learn from this experience is that, among other things, plenty of free parking is an essential part of a community centre.  The second challenge is the ongoing maintenance, utilities, taxes, insurance and other expenses of such a community centre.  Slovenski Dom on Pape has successfuly solved this second challenge by renting to the Greek Senior Citizens Club and retaining space for its meetings and a small office.  But it cannot solve the parking lot challenge.   This makes the idea of a consortium of Slovenian organizations/individuals sharing in a Slovenian community centre / hall very attractive, not only for Slovenski Dom members but for all Slovenians who would like to have a place where they can meet and discuss the events of the day, watch sports, engage in cultural and sports activities and invite their friends. I believe that Slovenians in Toronto deserve such a place.  How do we start?  What steps should we take? Who are the people that would make it happen?