Relationships are everything: The underpinnings of grassroots community action in the COVID-19 pandemic in Toronto

Most government emergency/pandemic response plans feature top-down decision making and communication strategies and a focus on ‘hard’ (physical) infrastructure. There is nothing about the importance of the ideas and communications originating from communities, the social infrastructure that supports their impact locally and their contribution to the central administration. In this study, we found that the ‘soft’ (social) infrastructure within communities and between communities and formal institutions is key to an inclusive and more equitable response to large-scale crises like the COVID-19 pandemic. Grassroots leaders in six Toronto neighbourhoods were interviewed between the first and second waves of the COVID-19 pandemic in Toronto about what helped or hindered community action. Three themes emerged: (1) Grassroots leaders and community organizations were able to act as key connection points in a two-way flow of information and resources with residents and service providers; (2) Grassroots leaders and groups were challenged to engage in this work in a sustained capacity without adequate resourcing; and (3) there was a disconnect between community-centred grassroots approaches and the City's emergency response. We conclude that there needs to be pre-disaster investment in community level planning and preparation that fosters two-way connections between all municipal emergency/disaster and pandemic preparedness plans and community-centred organizations and grassroots leaders working in marginalized communities.