WHO: Nation Cheong, 38, percussionist, photographer, painter, videographer and community engagement and grants director for the Youth Challenge Fund (26 Wellington E., suite 820, www.youthchallengefund.org).

WHAT: 600-square-foot one-­bedroom apartment.

WHERE: Lower Sherbourne & The Esplanade.

HOW LONG: Seven years.

FAVOURITE THING: “One of the things I love about living in this area is Sunday mornings at St. Lawrence Market — work!” he says with a laugh about his encounters with the antique dealers. The work has paid off, with scores like his cushioned bamboo chaise lounge.

THE STORY: “The musical expression of my art has been part of my community work since the day I picked up the drums and started playing,” says Cheong. He started in 1993 with the djembe; his first was from the Ivory Coast and the second from his home country of Guyana. The shakera, a hollowed out calabash gourd with colourful beads, is nestled between them near the entrance.

Cheong is proud of the history these drums carry: their blacksmith-made roots and the West African griots who have used them to tell multigenerational stories. It’s a part what he does too — teaching workshops on the communal aspects of polyrhythm and syncopation.

“It’s changed my life,” he says. “Just to be understanding of how each individual within the ensemble has their role to play and [how] that role requires that you understand where you fit into context with everything else that is happening to you.”

While Cheong lives in a modest community-housing apartment, he’s made the most of the comfortable space. The roughly hewn wooden floors complement the maroon batik-draped daybed and his large yucca plant looks like it might burst out of the window. The bedroom is kept simple, with a white futon, a low-level mahogany table and a ceramic vase of a voluptuous female figure, a gift from theatre director/dramaturge Weyni Mengesha. They’re both collaborating on the Selam Youth Festival, working with nine youths with Ethiopian, Eritrean and Oromo backgrounds.
Cheong also works at the Youth Challenge Fund, the Michael “Pinball” Clemons–chaired organization that pairs government and private sector funding for youth initiatives based in Toronto’s poorly served neighbourhoods. “The real long-lasting change that’s going to happen is when we invest in the leadership of the next generation,” he says.

Cheong is hopeful that he will be able to open a black centre for arts where the same youth that he works for will be able to access culturally specific arts disciplines.

However, the home-renovations textbook on his desk speaks of another project: a 1,200-square-foot home he recently purchased on the Danforth.

“Home ownership is about values that I try to live by every day — to try to be as self-sufficient as one can,” he says. “By owning a home, I’m supporting myself and leaving something behind for my kids.”

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