Youth Are The Leaders of Tomorrow |
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In our community and around the world, we are seeing youth engage in social, political, and economic issues, demonstrating their capacity to help make change. Young people are the leaders of tomorrow and play an important role in improving our society and creating change in our community. We're proud to have incredibly active and passionate youth in our community wanting to make a difference in the lives of women and children impacted by domestic violence.
Today we're highlighting a few incredible youth that are creating change in our community.
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Earlier this year, siblings Rohan, Maya and Jayin, heard about a case of domestic violence in the local news. After reading more, and learning that domestic violence had increased by more than 30% since the start of the pandemic, they knew they needed to find a way to help make a change. With the help of their parents, they decided to organize a soup drive and reach out to friends and family to help support the cause. They made four different types of soup; vegetable soup, potato leek soup, tomato soup and carrot soup. Their Soup Drive was an incredible success, raising $950 to support the women and children at Yellow Brick House. |
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They want other youth to know that "It's possible to create change in your community and the first step is educating yourself about the issues. No matter what you decide to do, every little bit helps." |
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Olivia, a student in high school, recently started her small business Liv Lovely. She creates beautiful hand poured candles that come in a variety of scents and sells them on her Instagram. One thing that was really important to her when starting her business, was to find a way to give back to her local community. She’s passionate about empowering women and had heard about Yellow Brick House and the countless women and children that receive support every year, and wanted to find a way to support them. She donates 25% of the proceeds from every sale to support Yellow Brick House. In her first couple of months, Olivia has already seen success and great feedback from her customers. She’s recently partnered with two commercial business that will be carrying her candles in their retail space in the upcoming weeks. |
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Olivia’s message to other youth is “Find a cause you're passionate about, and give back to the community any way you can”
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Nikki, along with friends Maha, Chandler, and Katie run a podcast called “Too Hot for Hockey”. Hockey is a very male dominated industry and they wanted to create a space for everyone to feel included and represented – “a podcast for the girls, the gays and the theys”. They wanted to build a community for people that didn’t fit into the stereotypical box. During playoffs they decided to sell stickers of Brock Boeser (Vancouver Canucks) and William Nylander (Toronto Maple Leafs) to raise money in support of organizations in both Vancouver and Toronto that support women, trans women, and non-gender conforming individuals escaping intimate partner violence. They commissioned artists in the community to create the stickers and sold them on their website with proceeds going to WAVAW Vancouver and Yellow Brick House. In one month as a result of their “Willy Styles” sticker sales, they were able to raise $1,300 to support Yellow Brick House. The team wants to continue this initiative in the future, supporting other Canadian teams and local organizations.
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Nikki’s advice to youth is “No matter how small you think your idea is, it's valuable and it will help somebody. You can get your friends together and organize a bake sale or even purge your closets. A small project can make a big difference”
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In her final year of high-school, Ada-Marie was tasked with creating a community project. She has a love for painting and a passion for raising awareness about domestic abuse. She decide to combine both of these passions to create the 1of 3 Project. The name 1 of 3 , comes from the statistic that 1 of every 3 women worldwide are victims of domestic violence. Ada-Marie’s grandmother is survivor of domestic violence, and though her experience happened over 50 years ago, this issue still greatly affects women today. Ada-Marie knows how crucial it is that individuals have access to resources and services that can offer protection in the case of intimate partner violence. With the help of a few classmates, she created a number of beautiful paintings and sold them, raising $1000 to support the women and children at Yellow Brick House.
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Her advice to youth is “Find things you care about, find people that share similar values - a group of likeminded people can accomplish anything”
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Sisters, Alyson and Caitlyn Shim started Hearts4TheHomeless in May 2021, with the help of some of their friends. They had volunteered in the past with other organizations and it was an eye opening experience for them, realizing just how privileged they were. They knew that they wanted to find a way to make a difference in their local community. They did some research and decided to support three different local organizations; Yellow Brick House, 360 Kids, and Inn from the Cold. For their first fundraiser, they sold Krispy Kreme donuts through an online order form and hand delivered them across the GTA. They raised over $1000 to purchase clothes and personal hygiene items for the women and children at Yellow Brick House. They hope to keep this momentum going for their future fundraisers, and partner with local businesses and sponsors to continue helping their community. |
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They want other youth to know that they can make a difference in their community as well – “It might be a little out of your comfort zone, and scary at first, but whether you volunteer or fundraise, anything helps”
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Crisis & Support Line: 1-800-263-3247 |
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