Youth in Power

http://www.torontohousing.ca/youth/youth_profile/youth_power

The Youth in Power (YiP) initiative consists of a core group of five youth leaders who work with young people living in Toronto Community Housing communities across the 13 priority neighbourhoods to empower them to advocate for themselves. 

YiP meets with emerging youth groups, working with them to build organizational capacity and teaching them the skills they need to effectively run community programming, such as outreach, event planning, applying for funding and finding a suitable trustee. As they do this work, youth leaders not only build capacity of their peers to benefit the community, they also build their own leadership capacity to act as mentors and facilitators.

YiP has supported over 50 young people to date and is linked to various YCF-funded initiatives, providing support as well as participating in leadership programming. They are currently supporting a group of young men in the Neptune community of Lawrence Heights to start a hip-hop based literacy program for their peers. It is also a partner in the SLAM Youth Hub legacy initiative, working alongside youth from YCF-funded initiative Gashanti Unity and the Bay Mills Youth Council to lead the development of the initiative.