From September 28th through the 30th, Foundations for Youth Success members gathered in Toronto to learn about the work being done in Canada around youth homelessness. This convening included presentations from different members of the A Way Home project, a site visit to Eva's Pheonix, and an exchange with funders from Canada.
Notes, presentations and reflections can be found below.
Want a great overview of the convening? Read Katie Hong's blog post: Redefining “Community-wide” Responses to Youth Homelessness.
Monday, September 28, 2015
A Way Home: Working Together to End Youth Homelessness in Canada
The convening started with a presentation by Melanie Redman and Stephen Gaetz detailing the A Way Home project, a national coalition dedicated to preventing, reducing and ending youth homelessness in Canada.
Suggested Pre-Read: A Way Home Vision Paper
For more information, Melanie can be reached at [email protected] and Stephen can be reached at [email protected].
Tuesday, September 29, 2015
Eva's Phoenix Site Visit
Eva’s Phoenix provides housing for 50 youth, aged 16 to 24 years, for up to a full year. Using an integrated, holistic approach, they provide youth with the skills they need to find and maintain housing and employment so they can be self-sufficient when they leave. FYS members toured the youth housing and employment spaces and heard from a youth with lived experience who had participated in Eva's programs.
Suggested pre-read: Eva's Overview
Funders Learning Exchange: US and Canada
Funders from Canada joined our group for the afternoon to share best practices and hear two presentations. Paul Klein and his partners, The Home Depot Canada Foundation and Workopolis, shared the latest from their HireUp project. Ryan Conway of Innoweave also joined and shared his experience with Youth Collective Impact in Canada.
Hireup Presentation, Innoweave Presentation
Suggested pre-reads: HireUp Employer Overview, The Home Depot Foundation White Paper
For more information, Paul Klein can be reached at [email protected] and Ryan Conway can be reached at [email protected].
After the session we traveled to the Catherine Donnelly Foundation to enjoy a reception hosted by the Donnelly Foundation and the Trilium Foundation.
Wednesday, September 30, 2015
Briefing on National Youth Homelessness Conversation (U.S.)
Aimee Hendrigan updated the group on the conversations that have been happening around creating a nation youth homelessness coalition in the United States.
Youth Homelessness Coalition Update: Presentation
Youth Homelessness Community Planning
Guest speakers Mary-Jane McKitterick of Eva's Initiatives, Bhavana Varma of United Way of Kingston, Frontenac, Lennox & Addington, and Katherine McParland of Interior Community Services joined the group to share their experience developing and implementing community plans as part of the Mobilizing Local Capacity to End Youth Homelessness Programs in Kingston, ON and Kamloops, BC.
Supporting Community and Provincial Planning Presentation
Community Planning in Kingston, ON Presentation, Systems of Care Future State, Theory of Change Flow Chart
Community Planning in Kamloops, BC Presentation
For more information feel free to contact speakers directly:
Mary-Jane McKitterick, [email protected]
Bhavana Varma, [email protected]
Katherine McParland, [email protected]
FYS Peer Exchange and Debrief
Members shared current struggles and made suggestions for moving forward. The group also reflected on the week and discussed next steps.
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