SYNERGY - Joan Canton

Story By: Dr. Anthony Robinson

Many residents of Gainesville appreciate its strong sense of community and the various public resources available to its citizens, though not so many were present for the decades of strife and labor that earned these rights. One of the most significant organizations that brought around this change was The Southwest Advocacy Group (SWAG).

SWAG is a grassroots community-based organization that works to improve the living conditions, health, educational opportunities, and quality of life in west Gainesville. The group was founded by a group of nine women in early 2010 in order to organize a movement that would bring political and societal attention to this underserved neighborhood.

No one person was more significant to the formation and efficacy of SWAG than the late Joan Canton. SYNERGY spoke to Dorothy Benson, one of the original founders of SWAG, about Joan and her legacy.

Joan was born in the West Indies, where she lived in a children’s home before moving to Bronx, New York with her father and sister. Her experience in the children’s home inspired her lifelong-resolve to improve the lives of underprivileged children like herself. “Joan’s work in the community began long before SWAG formed. Over her lifetime, Joan took many young mothers and their children under her wing and helped them connect to housing, education, and better work paths.”

She lived in Gainesville later in her life and raised her five children here. Ever the philanthropist, she didn’t stop with her own children, she adopted and raised a Gainesville child in her home.

Joan knew that more needed to be done to serve other families in need. “The neighborhood Joan called home had been historically overlooked and underserved, and they needed and deserved better supports and resources.”

In order to address this issue, Joan, Dorothy, and seven other concerned citizens founded SWAG in February of 2010. The organization was extremely successful, and in June 2012, they opened the SWAG Family Resource Center.

SWAG serves its community, the southwest area of Gainesville, by connecting individuals and families to services and resources through their advocacy and collaboration with various agencies and community partners. Since its inception, SWAG and its associates have founded the Southwest Health Clinic and the CHILD Center for Early Learning in a twoblock radius around its Resource Center. The county commission has also contributed to the SWAG area by building a park and playground right next door to the center. Over the past decade, SWAG has been working with the community to improve the infrastructure in Gainesville as well as provide opportunity to its residents.

Furthermore, SWAG’s influence has spread to the greater Alachua County area. “Our success at SWAG would eventually provide our board members and supporters a platform to go beyond SW Gainesville by championing the voter-approved Children’s Trust of Alachua County in 2018. The Children’s Trust is an independent entity with guaranteed annual funding to support young children and youth all across Alachua County.” This program has been approved for the next 12 years.

Many that had the privilege to work with her attribute these achievements to Joan’s influence. She had a vision of a community that would work together to provide equitable opportunities for all of its residents. This vision was becoming realized before her untimely passing.

“Joan’s motto was ‘We are not all in the same boat, but we are all in the same storm.’ Anyone who entered the doors of any of our facilities was treated with respect and dignity. Above all, she wanted children to have what they needed to succeed, regardless of their address.”

Those who remember her honor her as a fierce protector of her own community. She was a leader that pulled together a vastly diverse group of people and kept control of her vision. “She set the bar of expectations very high for our group and our community partners.”

Joan passed away this January at 79. She is survived by her five children, 12 grandchildren, and four great-grandchildren. “She is remembered as the visionary who knew what her community needed and would work tirelessly to help us achieve it.”