We hope you are keeping as well as can be as we approach these last days of October.
Despite a year marked with challenges, including the on-going potential of staff strikes at schools and an emerging pandemic, New Leaf saw some big accomplishments over the last year. From September 2019 to August 2020, we ran 29 frontline programs at 19 sites, reaching approximately 900 youth and close to 100 youth caregivers (youth-serving staff and parents). We also:
- forged new partnerships with organizations like Manifesto, LayUp Basketball, RexPride, Rexdale Community Health Centre, and more,
- held virtual workshops with 180 TDSB Child & Youth Workers and Social Workers,
- and reached upwards of 90 youth-service staff in another workshop with our fellow MLSE LaunchPad partners.
New Leaf also carried out an important survey that reached approximately 100 young people in the Toronto area asking how COVID was having an impact on their mental, emotional and physical health and what resources felt would be most beneficial for them.
- 80% of youth surveyed felt COVID-19 has negatively impacted their mental health
- 70% of youth surveyed said their stress levels are high or very high
- Youth identified their top stressors as isolation (65%), sleep issues (58%), and finances (59%)
As young people, youth workers, educators, and parents face the additional stresses that come along with the pandemic, including isolation, financial pressures, and health concerns, our work is more important than ever.
Our Focus for the Year Ahead
The inability to hold in-person programming for the foreseeable future has required New Leaf to entirely rethink how we engage and support the communities we work within.
In the coming months, we are excited to focus on:
- Developing a mindful classroom package for schools (more on this later this fall!)
- Hosting online trainings and workshops for educators, youth workers, and parents
- Implementing workshops and training opportunities for youth
- Reimplementing frontline youth programs virtually in youth justice settings
- Continuing to build our library of online and digital resources that can be utilized by young people, parents/families, youth workers, and educators
- Carrying out further in-depth consultations with youth, programming partners, and the communities we serve to better understand what supports they need in these unprecedented times
Call to Action
Similar to many small businesses and organizations, New Leaf is facing a loss of at least ⅓ of our regular funding this year. This means that we are working with fewer staff, and are not able to carry out everything we’d like to accomplish.
We understand that many of you are also facing financial and other personal hardships during this time. However, if you are in a position to support, please consider making a donation of any size here.
You can also support by liking, sharing and commenting on our social media posts, attending the events we’re hosting this year and, generally, helping us spread the word about our work!