The Youth Community Animators (YCA) program began in January 2021 as a part of Roots 2 Leadership. Roots 2 Leadership is a wider North York Community House (NYCH) program that aims to foster civic literacy, leadership development, and collective action among youth.
The purpose of the YCA program is to promote youth-led and adult supported initiatives that provide youth with the opportunity to take the lead on planning, facilitation, reflection, and evaluation of events hosted on Discord. Discord is a popular text and video chat website. The YCAs additionally post on Discord to promote a sense of belonging and to encourage youth to participate in events and activities.
The YCAs decided that they wanted to plan six online events focusing on education, life skills, mental health, wellbeing, conversations, nutrition, environment, and community building. These topics were identified as important themes in young people’s lives, specifically during Covid-19. Each event focuses on one to two topics. The events include ice breakers, games, kahoots, educational activities, and more!
Rebecca Weisz and Ruth Huynh are 4th year students studying Child and Youth Care at Ryerson University. As student interns at NYCH, they facilitate the YCA program, and mentor a team of Youth Community Animators. Joy Smith-Brown is the Youth Leadership and Engagement Worker at North York Community House on the Community Development Team. She coordinates the YCA program, and supervises Rebecca and Ruth. Together, they form the 2020-2021 Roots 2 Leadership Program Team.
Eight youth signed up to be a YCA, with each bringing their own unique skills and experience.
Elena Parambath
Elena thrives in leadership roles. She is highly organized and goal-oriented. Elena is involved in the athletic council at her school, has volunteered at the RBC Run for Kids Marathon, and has directed a short film with friends. In her YCA role, she hopes to accomplish something new and help others.
Ramjot Mundh
Ramjot likes getting involved in her community to bring people together and create change. She is incredibly responsible, respectful, and friendly. Ramjot has experience volunteering in her school parent council, curriculum nights, and assisting with parent-teacher interviews. In her YCA role, she hopes to give back to her community and meet new people.
Viviana Wu
Viviana enjoys helping others, especially during this pandemic. She is highly compassionate and committed to her work. Viviana has worked at a summer camp leading recreational activities and is a part of her school student council and music program. In her YCA role, she hopes to learn new things and improve her facilitation skills.
Zoe Graneta
Zoe enjoys community engagement and using social media platforms to bring people together. She is very outgoing and has strong communication skills. Zoe volunteers as an assistant teacher at Willowdale Church as well as STEMinist, a program that teaches girls about opportunities in STEM. In her YCA role, she hopes to make a positive impact and make new friends.
Jason Kuo
Jason strives to make a positive impact on his community through the YCA role at NYCH. He has had experience in a number of leadership roles as camp assistant where he was able to grow in his planning, teamwork, and leadership skills and he is also an Executive Member of the Programming Club at his school. Jason is comfortable with social media and knows how to utilize online platforms to connect with his friends and peers.
Lisa Nguyen
Lisa has a very outgoing and bright personality, making it easy for new members to feel welcome and comfortable. Although she has never volunteered before, Lisa wants to create fun and engaging events and activities for other youth as well as grow in knowledge for herself about what it means to lead programs and to animate. Through the YCA role Lisa wants to be able to grow as a person and help others.
Amanda Berlove
Amanda enjoys creative collaboration, creative design, and community involvement and she has experience being in positions that fosters these skills. Amanda is an effective communicator and is able to express her ideas and questions within team meetings. Through the YCA role, Amanda hopes to give back to her community as well as grow in her own skills and meet new people.
Saige Pitawanakwat
Saige has a range of skills from communication to knowledge based skills. She has volunteered at a restaurant aimed to feed the less fortunate where she was able to grow in her social, organizational, and cleaning skills. She is empathetic about the needs of others and is a team player. Through the YCA role, Saige hopes to grow as a leader and help others.