Try not to think only about groups or activities that currently serve youth You may be able to find new allies when you look beyond the youth-serving sector. There are community groups that have established relationships with a cross section of the community, including youth. For example when Child Youth Friendly Calgary wanted to engage street-involved young people, they worked with artists, the municipality, local shelters, and drop-in programs. It is important that young people see the importance of the issue and are excited by the opportunities they see. Energy points like these make it easier to create momentum for your initiative. Be creative in identifying momentum around an issue
YouthCore initially developed Victoria’s program through a broad-based asset mapping initiative in the fall of 2006.
Establishing a working group
This initiative showed that although Victoria was rich in resources and supports, there wasn’t a way to support collaboration and partnership-building or to ensure that youth could access resources and supports in an efficient and effective manner.
As your map begins to provide a clearer picture of what is going on, existing opportunities and resources, and gaps in service, you should begin to draw together a core group of people, or steering committee, who will work together in moving the initiative forward.
One of the first tools we created was a web-based portal. » www.youthcore.ca
Look for individuals or organizations that are:
As we built a database of resources, we also started building a database of wishes and dreams and shared visions for the future.
• Speak directly with young people you know or work through local connections, organizations or friends • Contact a community organization in a targeted neighbourhood • Connect with established youth-serving groups or informal youth networks or clubs • Identify individuals, groups, and organizations that have a passion for the issue you have identified
• Eager to engage young people in social change • Committed to working collaboratively • Able to provide the expertise you need. Challenge yourself to think outside of the box – perhaps you need a finance person, a business leader or a local government official to contribute specialized knowledge or skills • Community ‘movers and shakers’ with a positive track record • Affected by the issue • Able to provide a youth voice Your working group or steering committee may come from a single organization or represent a cross-section of the community.
2.0 PREPARING A STRONG FOUNDATION
The first impact areas that YouthCore incorporated into our change initiatives included: • The environment • Young parents • Poverty reduction • Enhanced collaboration and communication among and between youth services and youth service providers
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