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To highlight the work Creation Grantees are doing in their communities, the Creation Community Grants Team sends out Q&A forms so they can share their experiences creating and carrying out their projects. Today we are featuring responses from Jadyn, Kaitlin, and Chasity of Association of Native Child and Family Services Agencies of Ontario.
Community: Toronto, Ontario
Grant Type: Medium Project Funding
Q: Tell us about your group and project!
A: Made possible by Indigenous Youth Roots, the IYAC has developed the Youth Led, Youth Friendly Document Series project which aims to enhance the resources available for Indigenous youth in care across Ontario. Motivated by our lived experience and passion for creating a brighter future for youth, we are creating youth friendly documents about youth-identified areas for support by throwing away the legal jargon, breaking down processes and utilizing various forms of educational materials and mixed media.
Q: As the youth running the project, what impact do you hope it will have?
A: As the youth leaders of this project, we hope that the impact left by this project encourages community workers, law makers and educators to meet youth where they’re at when sharing crucial information for their success. We hope that this project supports Indigenous youth navigating the Child Wellbeing system with ease and care.
Q: What is something you have learned?
A: During the process of completing this project we have been reaffirmed that the child welfare system is built to work against the youth and families it serves. We learned that a lot of the things that youth can get frustrated or upset by can stem from the youth not knowing the next steps or feeling as though they don’t know who to ask. We learned that this typically results in the worker-youth relationship becoming fractured and we want to ensure the youth have access to these tools and information.
Q: What is your favourite moment from running your project
A: A favourite moment of the project has been seeing the deliverables come to life. We spent months on talking, dissecting data, and discussing the process of it all. Now seeing all of the creativity come out of the feedback from the original consultations has brought so much motivation to ensuring these tools get used across the province and also thinking forward to how we can build upon this work and make it more accessible, create a better youth network, and ultimately empower more and more youth.
