SURVEYING YOUTH IN REGENT PARK

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Youth Empowering Youth conducts a survey of Regent Park youth on the issues and barriers to youth programming.

Regent Park is a diverse community in Toronto. Revitalization in Regent park is gradually transforming this community towards a brighter future and a better social cohesion, but the challenges continue to exist, particularly for the youth of this community.

With one of the highest populations of young people in the city, almost everyone agrees that youth in Regent Park needs more supportive initiatives and services, so they can succeed in life.

Initiated in 2019, Youth Empowering Youth (YEY), aims to empower and support youth residents, by reducing and eliminating barriers to programming for youth in the community and identifying supports that the youth of Regent Park needs, and can benefit from.

The YEY program is a completely youth led program intended to mobilizes a collective effort by the youth, for the youth.

In December 2020, a survey, funded by United Way, The Daniels Corporation and Toronto Community Housing, was conducted by YEY to determine the following:


  • What are the needs of the youth?

  • What are the type of programming which attracts the youth?

  • What are some of the barriers that youth faces in accessing youth programming?

  • What can the various youth programming provide the community?


According to Isa Ali, the Program Coordinator for YEY, a total of 176 youth participants aged between ages 14 and 26, have completed the on-line surveys in over 3 weeks of extensive outreach from youth workers, youth researchers and partners.

Based on the initial survey findings, more focus groups are being held for a deeper understanding and analysis of the various problems and experiences of the community youth, which will further provide a direction to the programming.

The aim of these focus groups and discussions, is to tackle and eradicate the barriers and problems faced by the youth. A final report will be created by YEY, which will be presented to the community stakeholders and active youth programming agencies in the Regent Park community.

Additionally, the team at YEY is also creating an Asset Map focused on youth programming for better understanding and accessibility.

For any society, the Youth is the foundation for support and strength. When a community empowers its youth, it not only prevents various different risks but also ensures a positive tomorrow and a secure future.

It is hoped that this survey initiative and the outcomes of the findings will prove to be an opportunity to empower and enable the youth in Regent Park.


For more information about the Regent Park youth survey visit https://youtu.be/fEiJbfkwPEw.



Written by
Dawar Naeem

Journalist
FOCUS Media Arts Centre



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