iMove
Transcript
- Narrator:
iMove is a peer mentoring program primarily targeting youth at the Nova Scotia Youth Facility who are at-risk of or involved in gang activity. The program helps youth build self-awareness through personal storytelling, performance art, music, filmmaking and social media activities.
- Yvonne Atwell:
Executive Director, Community Justice Society - Halifax Region: iMove provides opportunity for young people to be heard and give voice to their expression. Through media, through radio, television, though other forms of expression like writing, and creative drawings and that sort of thing.
And these could be youth, some of them could be at risk. Some of them are in conflict with the law, and some of them are youth trying to find a way to be heard.
The first phase of the program, it was just a short pilot to sort of jump start the program. The collective made a video with young people's voice in the video that really showed the potential for the work. So they learned the skills of sound and how to use a camera, those young people they began to work closer with Sobaz Benjamin to become mentors.
- Sobaz Benjamin:
iMove Youth Worker, Community Justice Society - Halifax Region: Our aim is to run two twelve-week programs out of the Nova Scotia youth facility.
The youth who are in conflict with the law, they are sort of disengaged from a lot of mainstream or conventional avenues of expression so school is problematic. A lot of doors have been either closed or been slammed shut on them.
How do we get them to engage with us? Part of that approach is the peer mentorship piece. Bringing in people who look like them, come from the same communities that they come from, face similar challenges who are saying you know, "I did it, you can do it also."
The young offenders we work with, once they get out of youth facilities, or correctional facilities, they get an opportunity to work with us and we have a number of interesting community based projects. We do video based, theatre based that they'll get an opportunity to sort of reintegrate back into a healthy community.
We use popular culture to engage young people. Hip hop music is very popular. Film, radio you know those cool things. There is a cool factor to the tools of engagement that iMove uses. It enables us kind of to pursue what goals they may have. Goals such as completing an English class or completing education in other regards as well.
- Yvonne Atwell:
Executive Director, Community Justice Society - Halifax Region: To deliver the program the major issue was around confidentiality. Like how do we keep the confidentiality of these young people so that we are respecting their rights in the institution?
- Sobaz Benjamin:
iMove Youth Worker, Community Justice Society - Halifax Region: I think one of the challenges we are currently facing is getting resources in order whether it be money or equipment or people to be able to allow our youth and adult mentors to do the very valuable work that they do. So they can continue to do what they have been doing for a while for free.
- Youth:
Can you guys hear me? You're live.
- Yvonne Atwell:
Executive Director, Community Justice Society - Halifax Region: The iMove collective allows young people to take the skills that they're learning and to be able to transfer those skills into other areas that they may be interested in. They empower the leadership inside of the young persons though voice to be able to do that.
- On-screen Text:
The iMove Seeking the Way pilot project received funding through the Youth Justice Fund Guns, Gangs and Drugs Component.
©Her Majesty the Queen in right of Canada, represented by Justice Canada, 2011.
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