Wednesday, May 24th
6pm-8pm
722 Cormorant St. Suite 300

City of Victoria Youth Council members Shae-Linn Davies, Sara Maya Bhandar, Sammy Ross, and Paige Collins are raising awareness about housing affordability in the city and its impacts on youth. The group is campaigning online and on the streets using guerilla art and #youthhousingyyj.

In May 2017, the group conducted an online survey of youth to better understand current housing issues. The results of this survey are being transformed into public art in downtown Victoria. To get involved in the planning and transformation of this data into street art, attend the public workshop being hosted on May 24th.

Access
Scent-reduced space, elevator on-site, accessible for wheelchairs and powerchairs, bus tickets and vegetarian dinner provided, by youth for youth ages 14-24.

CVYC Mural Project

Start your summer with the CVYC Mural Project. We invite youth ages 14-24 to collaboratively produce a community mural at the Yates St. Community Garden. Participants will be supported by Indigenous Artist in Residence at the City of Victoria, Lindsay Delaronde to develop a vision and execute the mural. The CVYC Mural Project runs every Saturday from May 27th to June 24th.

Participants who complete the mural and attend all five sessions will receive a $100 honorarium upon completion.

Youth with all levels of artistic skill and experience are invited to register by emailing info@cvyc.ca. Space is limited.

Lindsay Delaronde is an Iroquois Mohawk woman born and raised on the Kahnawake reservation outside of Montreal, is also a multi‐disciplinary Visual Arts MFA alumna (2010) and has been a professional practicing artist for the past five years. Her work was in the spotlight with her 2016-17 exhibit In Defiance at UVic’s Legacy Gallery. “I hope to create artworks that reflect the values of this land, which are cultivated and nurtured by the Indigenous peoples of this territory,” said artist Lindsay Delaronde. “I see my role as a way to bring awareness to and acknowledge that reconciliation between Indigenous and non-Indigenous peoples is a process, one in which I can facilitate a collaborative approach to creating strong relationships to produce co-created art projects in Victoria.”

All-Candidates Q&A with Youth

The City of Victoria Youth Council (CVYC) hosted a non-partisan All-Candidates Q&A for youth of all ages on Saturday, April 29th. Key issues such as education, transportation, and health care were discussed. Candidates from Victoria-Beacon Hill, Victoria-Swan Lake, Oak Bay-Gordon Head, and Saanich South joined to help youth gear up for election day – May 9th.

Check out The Martlet’s article on the youth all-candidates event.
Some questions you should be asking before you vote.
All the information you need about voting.

Mid-Year Review

CVYC’s 2016/2017 cohort recently cross the mid-year point in our program. We spent some time reflecting on our experience thus far.

We are proud of accomplishing the following:

Learning about the realities and legacy of colonization
Becoming familiar with our neighbourhoods and connecting with people in our city
Strategically planning a community event
Community mapping and identifying places in Victoria that are not safe for youth
Taking steps to addressing the needs of Victoria’s youth
Spending time doing something we are passionate about by being a part of CVYC

This is some of what we have accomplished thus far:

We met with City Council and Staff to discuss the issues concerning youth in our city
We connected with other community organizations
We spent time to learn about colonization and its impacts
We have worked towards unlearning colonialism
We have planned 3 community projects and have worked effectively in action teams
We have increased our knowledge about social justice issues
We have all learned to work together and create safe space for collaboration

Here are a few things we hope to do as we move forward:

Attend poetry workshops
Host an open mic event for youth
Raise awareness about mental health resources in the Victoria
Identify the housing demands of youth in Victoria
Continue exploring decolonization and reconciliation within our communities
Build social connections with our community and a strong team culture within CVYC
Host one big event planned by the entire CVYC group
Participate in a community garden

Open workshop – March 15th

City of Victoria Meet & Greet

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CVYC met with City Staff and Councilors on November 24th. The Meet & Greet started with a tour of the building. CVYC members got to walk up to the clock tour exactly as the clock struck 5 o’clock to hear the clock bells. Councilors and staff shared their favourite part of representing their communities which includes the ability to be creative and engaging with the emerging and changing needs of community members.

CVYC members shared their thoughts on effective ways for the City to engage youth. Delphina and Zara shared our completed sacred quilt that represented what CVYC members value. Shae-Linn and Kelvin spoke to our community asset map highlighting that public space is experienced differently by different folks based on the intersections of their identity. Rachel broke the ice using her activity on unlearning perfectionism.

The CVYC hopes to continue working closely with City Staff and Council as the new year unfolds and we begin working on our action projects.

Thanks City of Victoria for hosting us!

Community Asset Mapping

CVYC has been working together on a community asset mapping exercise. We have been identifying the following:

Youth friendly zones
No-go/unsafe zones
Youth programs and services
Places we like to hang out

We have also been brainstorming what we want in our city. Some ideas include – rotating open mic nights, affordable housing, more youth programs in our neighbourhoods, another sexual assault center, community garden plots, more accessible transit, and public art.

Conclusions from our community asset map:

Depending on our identity, safe spaces for some people might be no-go zones for others
Programs and services for youth as well as the places we like to hang out are mostly centralized in the Downtown Victoria area
Public parks and beaches are some of the main places we like to hang out and spend our time with friends and family
Transportation is a major accessibility issue for us