NOISE Spring Learning Festival 2014

Our Spring Learning Festival Co-hostsHenry Appiah & Talisha Ramsaroop

Welcome

Dr. Alice Pitt Dr. Barbara Heron Vice-Provost Academic Director, School of Social Work York University York University

Opening Address

Anthony PerruzzaCouncillor, Ward 8/ York West, Supporter of

Community Development and Education

W.T.F (We’re The Future) POD

Akber Karimzad Disha Chatterjee Tasheka Mitchell Mona Mahant Mithula Gruban Anoshe Kugan Thamelini Sivarajah Princess Francesco Hend IjamMariam Butros Luxsi Kirupanayagam

Brendan Arnott

Brief Description of Your Project:

* We initially wanted to talk about sexual assault but as a group we decided against it because it didn’t reflect our interests and we wanted to focus on something we were more passionate about

* We researched about shelters & community organizations around Jane & Finch - from arts centres to drop-in shelters to hospitals and daycare centres

* We decided to provide care packages for vulnerable people / those in need – homeless folks or those leaving situations of violence

* We wanted to provide supplies that we take for granted but that some people might not have access to (especially in emergency situations)

* We asked shelters in Jane & Finch about their needs

* Basic needs supplies (shampoo, toothpaste, soap, loofahs, deodorant, razors, toothbrushes, hair ties, combs, feminine products, floss-picks)

* We decided on basic needs supplies (shampoo, toothpaste, soap, loofahs, deodorant, razors, toothbrushes, hair ties, combs, feminine products, floss-picks)

* Each pod member was given a task, and we assembled them in Ziplock bags

* We attached a list of free and cheap community food bank resources in the Jane / Finch area

What Issues from Toronto Vital Signs Did Your Project Address:

* Health & Wellness* Getting Around* Gap between Rich & Poor* Safety

Why was your project important?

* It helped us provide resources and give back to the community

* We learned about social action, philanthropy, and the different ways to help out in communities

* It connected us to our community and gave us a different perspective

What did you Accomplish?

* We were able to provide over 50 care packages to Society for the Living

What Did Your Pod Learn about Social Justice & Change?

* Anyone can make a change in their community* A little change can make a big difference* Group work and decision making is difficult* It’s hard to combine everyone’s ideas into one project that will satisfy everyone, but it’s worth it in the end* The way we can make change starts from our own ideas and lived experiences* Be the change you want to see in your community* Social work, social justice and social change can be many different things* You can incorporate social change into your life no matter who you are, where you are, what you’re doing, etc.

Address to NOISE Fellows

Mayoral Candidate, City of Toronto’s First Child & Youth Advocate, MP Trinity- Spadina

We’re Pod 5-ALIVE!

Frederick, Aysha. Farah, Carlitha,Mackenzie, Alexandra,Andy, Jimmy, Gaganjit, Meagan, Chamodi, Thaarani

Our Social Action Project:5 ALIVE@FREEDOM FRIDAYZ

We collaborated with Black Creek Community Health Centre to promote healthy eating and well-being.

* Having fun with healthy foods*Spreading awareness around health and well being*Food trivia, family games, food sampling!

The Toronto Vital Sign we Selected:

Health and Wellness

What Was Your Project Important?Healthy eating contributes towards psychological well being and good physical health

What did you Accomplish? Created awareness around the value of healthy eating, created opportunities for having fun with healthy foods, successfully collaborated with community partners!

Through our social action project we learned:

*Social Change IS possible

*Social justice is everyone’s right and brings peace and harmony to the community

*Social change happens with effective team work

Keynote Address

Chelsea Jane EdwardsAboriginal Youth Ambassador of Canada, Activist,

Co-Founder of Shannen’s Dream

Pod L.O.U.D. (Creating Opportunities & Uniting Dreams)AlexDeopaulAliaMelanieMohamedMishaalMelishaSevTaivaTemi

Spring Food Drive 2014

1.

Brief Description of Spring Food Drive Project

Supporting North York Harvest Food Bank by organizing a spring food drive with the collaboration of the Student Success Centre @ York University.

Food Drive at Emery Collegiate Institute

Volunteering for the Second Harvest Food Bank.

Pod Loud Video

What Issues from Toronto Vital Signs Did Your Project Address?

PovertyHealth & Wellness

Why Was Your Project Important?Engaged our community in meeting the food needs of the Jane & Finch

community by organizing a food drive.

What did you Accomplish? Collected 1400 pounds

of food for North York Harvest Food BankCollaborated with multiple partners.

What Did Your Pod Learn about Social Justice & Change?

*Social Justice & Change is empowering for everyone who is involved.

*It builds stronger connection to a community.

*Creates a sense of belonging.

Vitality“Live, Grow, Develop”

Jimmy, Cameron, Alex, Sidra, Martha, Kira, Jeff, Rae Ann, Nicole

Our Social Action Project…Labels:

Challenging stigma in the Jane/Finch community

Project Description

• Create dialogue in Jane/Finch and surrounding community

• Addressed “Least Livable Neighbourhood” report and counter article by

Success Beyond Limits

• Spoke with community members about labeling

• Challenging negative labels and stigma

• “Single story” of Jane/Finch

• Community members write down their labels “forced” upon

them as well as who they really are

• “Don’t judge a book by its cover”

• Safety• Work• Gap Between Rich and Poor• Leadership, • Civic Engagement and Belonging

• “Unofficial Vital Sign” Stigma

– Affects all Vital Signs– Quality of life of all Torontonians

Vital Signs Addressed:

SAP Importance

• Created awareness of disconnects between stigma and

‘reality’

• Contributed to recreating/reframing images of community

• Allowed community to address stigma Respond to “Least Livable Neighbourhood” Report

• Gave community and youth a platform to multiply

understandings of Jane/Finch

• Challenged perceptions of Jane/Finch

SAP Accomplishments

What We Learned About Social Justice & Change…

• It is a hard thing to do

• It’s rewarding

Giving back to community

• Fun, creative and enjoyable

• It is possible!!!

Social Media For Change! Katarina

MattSinaiEmily

CandiceSanjalNimrut

HiraAvneetBukie

SM4C

Social Media for Change focused on the expectations placed on youth in Jane and

Finch and how they impacted them. We conducted a number of surveys, interviews,

letters and research on this matter.We conducted reached with people, we spread awareness, we conducted civic engagement,

we made change!

The Vital Signs we addressed: Leadership (Civic Engagement and Belonging )

& Learning

Why was our project important?1) It brought awareness to how low expectations could

become a barrier for youth & how high expectations can be a source of encouragement for youth.

2) Created dialogue around the links between low expectations and barriers to success in post- secondary educations

What did we accomplish?We created awareness- reached over 1000 people, were ‘liked’ on Facebook by over 250 and ‘shared’multiple times. We created, contributed to and shifted the dialogue1

What did we learn about social justice and social change? *Social justice involves creating opportunities for innovative student engagement*Social forces, such as low expectations, impact youth- addressing these is important to creating change*community members can work with people in power to create change (advocacy and activism)*social justice and social change can take many forms

S.E.E.DSeeking Empowerment, Education, & Development for Change

Afrah AlcramEmel Yildiz

Jadeen FinniganKourtney Clarke

Liah DinsmoreMarwa Alakozay

Michelle ConstantineRamsha Asif

Sarah SerajehaliThomas Berry

Jane & Finch Community Meet ‘N’ Greet

Hosted at Driftwood Community Centre

We created this event to provide the residents of the Jane and Finch community with a fun and informative event that allows the population to socialize/mingle, enjoy the food, and find out more about resources they may or may not realize they have in their community.

At our event we gained valuable information about Employment Rights and more from the Worker’s Action Centre as well as Employment Counselling and more from Jewish Vocational Services.

Some of the Vital Signs S.E.E.D addressed: Work, Leadership, Civic Engagement & Belonging.

Our project is important because …*we were able to facilitate an opportunity where speakers offered a wealth of knowledge on workplace rights and free employment services available in the community. Workers can be easily be exploited when they do no know their rights. *Youth unemployment is on the rise and particularly youth from Jane and Finch experience barriers to employment opportunities because they are discriminated against on the basis of their race, ethnicity and geographic location.

What we accomplished…*Raising awareness on employment rights. *Successfully and effectively accomplished the goals we set out at the beginning.

We Learned…*That it takes a community to effect change. *Its hard work. *That there is so much more work that needs to be done and each and everyone of us has a role to play. *Social justice and change does not happen immediately; it’s a working progress. For example, the Workers Action Centre protest for minimum wage increase on the 14th of every month.

David Delisca

Spoken Word Artist, Poet, Comedian, Youth Worker

S.Q.U.A.D. BrionJavonAlyssaChristianKevin

Shaun Tiffany Rabail Lisa Janet Haniah Patricia Chantelle

Spring Fling

Our event was held at Emery Collegiate Institute and incorporated many activities for the students.

Basketball Tournament

Nail Art Snacks & Raffle Sale

Dance Workshop

Raising Funds for Firgrove Community Learning Centre

What Issues from Toronto Vital Signs Did Your Project Address?

• Health & Wellness• Philanthropy

Why was Your Project Important?• Raising money for Firgrove, an organization

that is run by the Firgrove community residents offers programs such as after school children’s activities, food bank and youth employment support.

• Bringing people together in a fun event

What did you Accomplish? • We ran a very successful basketball

tournament and people had fun• We raised money for Firgrove• We worked together and collaborated with

the students and staff at Emery

What Did Your Pod Learn about Social Justice & Change?

People in the J/F community are treated differently than other neighbourhoods just because it is known as a black community, one example is things that happen at York like sexual assaults, they happen sometimes more at other places but you never hear about it because other places are “white communities” and York is in a “black community”.

It is learning more about the diversity our pod and NOISE has and the friendship gained in the making of our event.

Trying to create change is a slow process. Social justice is something we should all fight for as a way to create a more equitable society.

D.R.E.A.M

Design Recreate Empower And MotivateSandra, Maria, Antonio, Camille, Leneque, Alia, Mubashira,

Richard,Randy, Nathan, Gabriela, Kirtan, Terry, Sarah

A SMILE GOES A LONG WAY!

Our project aimed to benefit women and children who lacked services and resources in the Jane/Finch community.

We held two candy sales to raise money. We went shopping to purchase items for our care packages and we put them together.

We also volunteered at the women’s shelter and we did a workshop.

Toronto Vital Signs That Our Project Addressed

is Housing and Poverty.

Our project is important because…We are helping people of our community. We have also become much more aware of the greater social issues within our community.

What we accomplished…We connected with and supported community partners. We created 100 care packages for women and children in shelters!

Through this process we learned that…

*Regardless of the differences among our pod members, we could work together cooperatively to create positive change in the community.

*Through our actions we can work towards achieving social justice and learned that even a smile can go a long way.

NOISE is Grateful for the Financial Support Provided By…

Office of the Vice President Academic and Provost

School of Social Work, York University

Faculty of Graduate Studies, York University

Faculty of Liberal Arts and Professional Studies, York University

Toronto Community Foundations

Special Thank You• Kids Up Front Toronto

• York University - TD CommunityEngagement

• Promoting Education And Community Health(PEACH)

• Alex Lovell, Data Manager atEast Metro Youth Services

• Tanya Shute, Seneca at York• Faculty and Staff of York University’s

School of Social Work• Teaching, Guidance & Administration

Teams at Humber Summit Middle School,C.W. Jefferys Collegiate Institute,

Emery Collegiate Institute

NOISE Youth Fellows, BSW Fellows, BSW Interns, MSW GAs, PhD Students,Seneca Social Service Worker Interns

Global-Local Community Engagement Committee

Especially the families of our NOISE Fellows!

http://noise.info.yorku.ca/

For More Information on NOISEThe New Opportunities for Innovative Student Engagement (NOISE) Project

School of Social WorkFaculty of Liberal Arts and Professional

StudiesS842 - Ross Building, York University

4700 Keele Street, TorontoON M3J 1P3

Follow NOISE:NOISE Website: http://www.noise.info.yorku.ca

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/noiseforsocialchangeTwitter: http://twitter.com/noiseforchange

Tel: 416-736-2100 ext. 66329Cell: 416-668-7946Fax: 416-650-3861Email: [email protected]