Black Youth mentorship program launches in Ontario
As a part of the Ontario Black Youth Action Plan, the Province of Ontario is launching a new mentorship program for Black youth: Together We Can.
According to the province, Black youth are twice as likely to be unemployed compared to the provincial average. In Toronto specifically, Black youth are also twice as likely to drop out of high school compared to White students, and they make up 41 per cent of those in care at the Children’s Aid Society.
The new program intends to address these issues by partnering with community organizations to create mentorship programs to assist with skill development and support Black youth as they pursue school and the work world. “Together We Can is a great example of an on-the-ground solution to help improve the futures of Black children, youth and their families,” says Ontario Minister of Children and Youth Services (MCYS) Michael Coteau.
Mentoring Black youth in Ontario
Through this $9 million initiative, the government will work with up to 25 different organizations to design programs that address local needs. Activities can include tutoring, skill development work, confidence building exercises and job skills training.
Currently, the government is beginning to develop mentorship programs with four different organizations — including Big Brothers Big Sisters of Peel and the NIA Centre for the Arts—and they have opened applications for 21 more organizations to get involved.
Dwayne Dixon is the executive director for NIA, one of the organizations taking on the new Together We Can Program. As a former Black youth who struggled to find employment in his field, he can relate to the obstacles today’s young Black people face, and he looks forward to the positive changes he expects this new program will bring.
“With the support of MCYS via the Ontario Black Youth Action Plan, I’m confident experiences like mine will be the exception and not the rule,” says Dixon.
