Sarnia-Lambton Rebound is looking for youngsters to help lay the groundwork for a new program about racial diversity.
Focus groups are planned this summer – dates aren’t yet set – for Intersectionality to Inclusivity (i2i), a three-year pilot program expected to launch in October focused on combating racism locally, and helping racialized youth build resiliency, said program coordinator Myckayla Mentus.
Hopes are to get eight-to-24-year-olds who’ve experienced racism in Sarnia-Lambton involved in the focus groups, with hopes to run two each in July and August, she said, noting the drop-in program itself will be about giving racialized youth and allies a safe place to chat and share ideas.
“Learn through whatever medium the youth want to explore,” said Mentus, adding aims are to have different days for 18-24, 13-17, and eight-to-12-year-olds to take part.
“So if they want to focus on music, we’re going to introduce different musical genres and discuss how culturally impactful they can be, and if they want to explore through food, we’ll have maybe a culinary group come in and teach some ethnic food cooking class,” she said.
“I just really want to introduce racial diversity to them in a way that is palatable.”
Mentus, born in Iqaluit, Nunavut and raised in Embrun, Ont. near Ottawa, described herself as bi-racial and said she grew up one of few Black children in school.
“It definitely has an impact on your sense of belonging and connection to a community,” she said.
“Coming to Sarnia is a lot of the same experiences,” she said, describing racial slurs, “hostile interactions” and people staring at her and whispering in the two and a half years she’s been here.
“As an adult I can handle this stuff and I know I have the support and resources; but youth in the community do not have that,” she said about her rationale for starting the i2i program, which she noted includes partnerships with the Sarnia Lambton Alliance Against Hate and the Sarnia-Lambton Local Immigration Partnership.
“And Lambton College have also shown a lot of interest in partnering on this program,” she said.
A $10,000 donation from Royal Canadian Legion Branch 62 and $15,000 from the Catherine Wilson Foundation are a start towards the estimated $160,000 needed for the pilot, she said.
“We definitely have to pull in some funding for the rest of the three years,” she said.
Money goes to things like marketing, guest speakers, program materials, transportation and food costs, she said.
Anyone interested in taking part in the focus groups can contact Mentus at [email protected], or 226-932-0433.