Al Mahdi Islamic Community
Centre
Housing for an ageing population
Jaffari Village adds 134 life lease residences for seniors in Vaughan, connected underground to the Jaffari Community Centre, so older residents can age near family, faith and services.
How community centres strengthen the cities around them
A new centre is not only a place of worship. It is seniors housing in a region short on it, a gym that hosts a local league, a hall that becomes a cooling centre or a vaccination clinic, and a volunteer base that shows up when neighbours need help. This page tracks that impact project by project, using the same measures for every centre so results can be compared and reported.
Impact in Canada
Canada is where Safinah Directory began. Canadian Shia communities, many of whom arrived in the 1970s, have spent five decades building institutions that now serve far beyond their own members.
Public space for everyone
The Jaffari Village plan includes walking trails and a new playing field for the wider Vaughan community, designed around the East Don River Valley lands.
Planning in the open
The Jaffari Village design went through five major revisions and dozens of working group meetings with the City of Vaughan and residents before approval. That record of public consultation is the model this directory’s surveys build on.
A multi-purpose centre for Durham Region
Al-Mahdi Islamic Community Centre runs education and religious programs for every age, youth and family initiatives, and shared spaces for gathering and learning. Its new building adds a gymnasium, classrooms and a children’s room.
Impact worldwide
Al Abbas Islamic Centre, Birmingham
Founded by families who first met in each other’s homes in 1968, the centre has stood on Clifton Road in Balsall Heath since 1980. Its phased rebuild is funded largely by its own community, working toward a £5m funding gap. The centre runs madrassah classes, career seminars, sports and neighbourhood clean-ups.
Method
How we measure impact
Every project page reports against the same indicators. Figures come from the organisations themselves or from Safinah survey data, and each figure shows its source and date.
| Indicator | What it counts | Source |
|---|---|---|
| People served | Unique people using the centre’s programs per year | Centre records |
| Programs offered | Recurring programs: education, youth, seniors, sports, social services | Centre records |
| Public benefit spaces | Facilities open to non-members: fields, trails, halls, clinics | Project plans |
| Housing units | Residential units delivered, with seniors and affordable units noted | Project plans |
| Volunteer hours | Hours given by volunteers per year | Centre records |
| Community voices | Survey responses received for each project | Safinah survey |
| Changes informed by feedback | Project decisions the organisation reports were shaped by survey input | Organisation follow-up |
Know a project that belongs here?
Listing gives your project a public page, an optional feedback survey with results delivered to you, and a place in this impact reporting.
Submit a projectWhat we’ll ask for
- Organisation name and registration number
- Project location and stage
- What you’re building and who it serves
- Two or three images or plans
- A contact person