About TAIBU Community Health Centre

For 15 years, TAIBU Community Health Centre (CHC) has been providing primary healthcare and delivering health promotion and disease prevention programs to Black-identifying clients in the Greater Toronto Area.

The multidisciplinary, not-for-profit, community-led organization works closely with other community-based health and social services providers to promote healthy, vibrant, and sustainable communities.

By providing quality healthcare in a culturally affirming environment, TAIBU aims to improve, promote, and protect the health and well-being of Black populations.

The Challenge: To Develop an Evaluation Framework That Used an Afrocentric Lens

TAIBU’s long-term vision includes becoming a Centre of Excellence for Black health in Canada. To help demonstrate its impact, the organization needed a system to aid with collecting, monitoring, and evaluating data. This evaluation framework had to incorporate Afrocentric principles to stay true to the organization’s mandate and vision.

Besides being able to design and deliver an accessible tool, TAIBU needed an evaluation systems provider who understood Afrocentric principles and learning-focused approaches. 

The chosen vendor had to be able to work with various community and organizational stakeholders. They also needed to be highly flexible when delivering a work plan since engaging TAIBU staff in non-client work can be challenging.

The Solution: An Afrocentric Evaluation Framework

We proposed an Afrocentric Evaluation Framework that integrated culturally-informed evaluation approaches. TAIBU chose our solution for multiple reasons: our experience working alongside other community-based organizations, our expertise in evaluation systems, and our shared values.

Throughout the implementation of the evaluation system, we worked as flexibly as possible. Utilizing the organization’s existing meetings and forums allowed us to streamline the collection of project information with minimal disruption to staff operations.

Besides offering ongoing assistance with the tool, we continue to support and contribute our expertise to other areas of the organization.

The Results: An Intuitive Program Design System That Collects, Monitors, and Evaluates Data

Since its delivery, the Afrocentric Evaluation Framework has guided program design and evaluation at TAIBU. While delivering a quality product, we’ve been noted as being culturally appropriate and flexible.

By incorporating Afrocentric principles, the tool helps demonstrate the organization’s profound impact on the Black community. As a result, the organization benefits from increased opportunities to disseminate best practices and secure more funding.