By Brianne Newsome | Development Officer
News surrounding the Black Lives Matter movement has had a significant impact on specific groups of youth living at Covenant House, particularly Black and Indigenous youth, as well as other ethnic or religious minorities.
Staff report that the upset has been profound. Seeing these examples of racism all over the news has acted as a reminder to youth of all their own experiences of institutional racism, combined over a lifetime, that have made them feel like society doesn’t care about them.
Youth from all across Canada that live at Covenant House Vancouver have been reporting stories of negative experiences with people in authority, highlighting that the people who are supposed to take care of them were exactly the people treating them in the most unhealthy ways.
Staff have seen a new level of anger and frustration around news reports, as well as an understanding of the impact of racism on their own health, life, and legal outcomes.
However, staff have also seen and supported a new level of engagement and activism related to this. Staff are reporting back that youth seem much more engaged with the world in general in recent months – tracking local and international news in a way they really didn’t before.
We have watched them become much more engaged partners with us at Covenant House, in taking responsibility for their living space and the communal relationship.
Part of our vision for young people is that through their experience at Covenant House Vancouver they become more engaged and successful citizens – the range of their experiences give them a diverse and important perspective.
Our learning in recent months is that we need to consider providing more programming opportunities to support youth to practice engagement and develop these skills. This could be through training, informing corporate partners or citizens or helping shape things at Covenant House.
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