Project: Humanity Inc

Location: Toronto,
Ontario

Project: Humanity (PH) uses high caliber artistic programming as a critical tool to break the cycles of poverty, isolation and trauma for youth on the margins in the GTA. Our work not only improves our participants’ beliefs about their capabilities and circumstances, but offers concrete pathways to brighter futures. Partnering directly with the youth shelter system, PH has been making a positive community impact for over 15 years.

Founded by a group of young artists and activists who looked at their community and saw that it needed support, Project: Humanity has always been about responding to the direct call of people in need. Early iterations of the organization had people working in youth prisons, raising money for disaster relief, running clothing and food drives, and doing whatever they could to lessen the gaps in our society. After several years of this, they were approached by Youth Without Shelter to run a weekly drama program. Like previous initiatives, they didn’t know what this would lead to but eagerly jumped into the work, excited to use their artistic skills to offer the arts to those who previously could not access it.

That was nearly 2 decades ago. We now understand, after supporting thousands of youth across the GTA, that Project: Humanity is not just an organization that offers arts access to groups that do not have it, but a group that – by offering arts access builds community and gives some of the most isolated and vulnerable young people in our city a chance to change how they see themselves. That chance, in turn, changes how the world sees them and creates an opportunity to break a chain of isolation, trauma, and poverty. 

According to data from our shelter partners, up to 85% of homeless youth in Toronto have struggled with their mental health. We also see that 63% have experienced childhood trauma and abuse. The Adverse Childhood Experiences Study (or ACE Study) shows that those with a history of trauma are twice as likely to have serious mental health problems compared to those with no trauma history. The ACE Study shows that trauma can change the neuroplasticity of the brain in a way that can cause long term harm, exponentially increasing the likelihood of addiction and suicidality. Within Toronto’s homeless youth population 42% report at least one suicide attempt. Furthermore, many homeless youth in Toronto fall into marginalized identity groups with data showing that 24-30% identify as 2SLGBTQIA+, 78% identify as racialized, 14% identify as a refugee, and 12-31% identify as Indigenous. Marginalization can not only further isolation, but reaffirms narratives for these young people that they are not wanted by society. As a result, steps such as finishing highschool, getting higher education or finding fulfilling work can feel unreachable. When things feel unreachable, we stop trying to reach them. Starr Commonwealth – a leader in the field of childhood trauma – shares that two ways to combat trauma’s long term effects are through connection with a trusted adult and access to artistic expression, and in 2019 the WHO reported that the arts play “a critical role in helping to prevent the onset of mental illness and supporting the treatment or management of mental illness”. This research is the premise for Project: Humanity’s work. By offering positive, consistent relationships with adults and safe opportunities for artistic expression, we help change the futures of youth on the margins.

Our data shows that our work is as impactful as research suggests it should be, including key indicators that our youth are prepared to take next steps into their futures. 100% of youth interviewed felt more connected to others as a result of our drama workshops, 100% of youth in our mentorship program had a connection with and trust of their mentor, over 90% of youth in our mentorship program reported an increase in positive mental health and wellness (including multiple youth who entered the program reporting a state of depression and finished reporting a positive and hopeful mindset) and 100% of youth across both programs had an increase of confidence in their abilities. Our shelter partners consistently report that the youth who engage with us often reject other opportunities at the shelter. This is because our unique approach meets our youth where they are at, but also requires intense organizational effort.

Our guiding principle “never about us without us”  informs how we develop programs and initiatives. We work one on one and directly in shelter spaces. We aim, not just to integrate our youth more fully into standard society, but to move the centre of society, so that these youth are fully seen and valued for their own incredible voices, stories, and persons. We believe that belonging comes from seeing yourself in society, not changing to conform to it. All of this work is to build connections in the community’s our youth inhabit. Those  communities may be cultural, geographical, arts based, identity based, or the community of the shelter space itself. We work to show our youth that there is a place for them in the world for them to be their full true selves. We believe that all of society benefits when those who have been traditionally pushed to the margins are given the encouragement to live out loud in the centre.

 

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