Action Plan officials hear concerns of black youths
Officials with the Ontario Black Youth Action Plan came to Windsor on Tuesday to get to know the city and the concerns of its black youths.
About two dozen people gathered at the St. Clair Centre for the Arts for a brainstorming session on how to access the $47 million earmarked for black children, youth and families in Windsor, Hamilton, the Greater Toronto Area and Ottawa.
Those four cities are home to 80 per cent of the province’s black youth. The $47 million has been designated to help 10,800 black children over the next four years.
“It’s the first plan that’s been designed specifically for black youth here in Ontario,” said Michael Coteau, minister of children and youth services and minister responsible for anti-racism.
The plan, released in March as part of the province’s three-year anti-racism strategic plan, is aimed at helping eliminate systemic, race-based disparities for black children and youth.
The funding will go to approved programs that fall into one or more of five categories:
Investing in culturally focused parenting and mentorship programs
Supporting young people’s wellness with programming that takes preventive measures
Supporting access to higher education and skills development
Investing in community outreach and promoting anti-violence
Communities working collectively.
“My message to Ontarians as a whole and people in Windsor is that, if we want to build the best province possible, we need to be sure that no one is being left behind,” said Coteau.
“When a person in this province isn’t reaching their full potential, we together as a province can make sure that we move forward together.”
At Tuesday’s meeting, the attendees were broken down into three separate groups to write out collective responses to five questions that the government will use to help craft the program going forward.
Among the questions asked was: “What are the barriers to success that you face?’”
One group wrote: “Isolation from being a minority, students are streamlined to lower expectations, stereotyping ( basketball, rapper).”
Laabo Afolabi, 23, attended the meeting on behalf of Nigerian Canadians for Cultural, Educational and Economic Progress. He said he plans to apply for a grant.
“What we’re looking to do is to provide opportunities for isolated blacks in the community,” said Afolabi. “We wanted to do this through establishing a drop-in centre at a facility we have where youth can go after school and participate in activities. And we also wanted to create a network that would work with different people in the community for the different services that they need.”