Regent Park group launches crisis care fund for youth and workers who support them

A group of youths in Regent Park is working to tackle barriers that young people face in accessing support programs in the Toronto neighbourhood, and has launched a crisis care fund to help them.

Youth Empower Youth (YEY) formed just before the start of the pandemic to try to identify gaps that prevented youth from tapping into available programs, as well as what resources they wanted to see more of.

"We realized that there are a lot of community programs and services that exist but aren't very well known by the residents, especially the youth and the community," said Fatheha Rahim, a youth lead with YEY.

"And so we wanted to figure out why that was the case."

Since its formation, the group has launched initiatives like a women's self-defence class, art programs and a pilot project to create safe spaces for young people.

As the Regent Park revitalization continues and the neighbourhood undergoes massive physical changes, the group says its work to ensure youth are engaged, and able to easily tap into resources they need, is of increasing importance. YEY was born out of the Regent Park Social Development Plan whose stakeholders receive funding from the City of Toronto. YEY got its money from one of the working groups under the social development plan, The Regent Park Safety Network.

To find out what youth wanted more of, the group conducted surveys and focus groups in collaboration with George Brown College.

"So from the 350 youth that participated, we were able to create ... a one pager of the research findings. And from that we're able to see what youth really wanted," said Raisa Chowdhury, also a youth lead with YEY.

One of the issues identified by the group was a lack of funding for youth workers trying to help young people in crisis.

"Expenses are coming out of their own pockets. And because of that, there are a lot of things that the youth need … but they can't necessarily get it," said Rahim.

YEY created an online portal where youth workers and community leaders can apply for a one-time $500 grant to help a young person manage their crisis. It's a process that doesn't identify the youth and the funding can be used for food, transportation or temporary safe accommodation, among other things.

Rahim uses a youth experiencing a mental health crisis as an example.

"A youth worker could simply tap into the fund and take them out for dinner and kind of chat with them and ... just be there for them, so that they could have someone to talk to," she said

The group says there's been high engagement in their initiatives — from the crisis care fund to its interactive map that serves as a resource guide for youth.