Starting off with a fun ice breaker - Where in the world are we?
This fun game of seeing pictures of places around the world and guessing where we were had everyone laughing and talking, starting the meeting off in a positive spirit. First on the agenda was the official Spring Clothing Drive What is SafetyNet? Safetynet provides wrap-around services that encourage independence and help to break the cycle of poverty. Do you need assistance? SafetyNet offers a needs assessment- this is where families are invited to sit down with one of the SafetyNet volunteers to develop a plan to best service the entire family. They also will refer families to other community partners who can assist needs. Get in touch https://www.safetynetservices.ca/ Next was Upcoming community events 1. Spring clothing drive for the end of February. 2. Paint night - (March) PEACE - spring theme 4. Community dance 5. March 10th - Grandmothers voice community event Last on the agenda was an open community discussion, where our council members talked about things in their neighbourhoods that perhaps need more accessibility, or areas of concern and issues that may be present. Acceptance, equity, compassion, kindness. Always in the community, volunteering, creating positive change and a sense of belonging. Community engagement. Raising funds, raising awareness, and dedication were also on the list.
7:30pm - let’s talk about it. What would you like to achieve this year 2023 Astounding!!! The goals and resolutions in our crew are just mind blowing. We had objectives like, complete writing a book and publishing, recording an album after creating the last song, travelling, finishing school, getting a drivers licence. Truly inspiring to see our youth and young adults so motivated to achieve. 7:50pm - community discussion. This section is open to talking about things that bother you, inspire you, motivate change. Safety was first on the table. Halton Crime rate has risen and this really bothered our crew, lots of ideas on keeping doors locked. Securing cars at night. Going out in pairs rather than alone. Food insecurity was next on the list In the news, we read that food banks are facing massive increases in demand since the covid-19 pandemic. Many families are struggling. The council discussion was centred around our community garden. Creating an online discussion event around creating vegetable, herb gardens at home? Regrowing vegetables. And Inspiring recipes with chef Logan. Dance Party for 2023 Yes. The crew are ready to get everyone up and moving. Loneliness / suicide Numbers are on the rise and our HYDAC crew are passionate to try and create opportunities to shine the light on creating opportunities to connect and belong. Ideas
Success with these events have been amazing and the crew were thinking of hosting lots of events to bring community together. (Now to find space????) 8:00pm - Meeting closed Today was the last Halton Youth Disability Advisory Council meeting for the year 2022. It was amazing to go through all of the HYDAC accomplishments for the year. Congratulating our council members on their hard work over 2022! - Judith Elaine Winter Coat drive
Start collecting over the holidays and in January let’s collect Jackets, gently worn work clothes, donate to charities and foundations that service our vulnerable sector. February is our council focus on mental health. Our crew discussed - Hosting paint nights this coming year. Aiden who does art and Jeff who focuses on music said that the paint nights are both fun and uplifting. People need this kind of engagement, it’s creative and colourful. Improved people's moods during the year. Our environmental garden (garden club) For earth day April 22 and earth hour which is last Saturday in March. HYDAC council members decided to Plant wild flowers this year - Nourishing the soil for 2024. - Wild flower seeds from Mrs Boers - Oakville Public Library This year our crew is focused on issues of accessibility and inclusion. Our council acts in an advisory capacity to community groups and municipal events where our group reside or participate in. They Ask to be part of the decision making process and offer experience and authority as a council of diverse set of people with different abilities and skills. What a great way to inspire us to be Future ready!!
“We are not defined by our roles in life, rather we are defined by our actions and words.” - Mike Cluett Raising funds for different charities, raising awareness for community, volunteering all takes effort, time, and dedication. But we need to remember, what we invest into community always has a ripple effect, Mike explained. Kindness and equity is the key to unlocking belonging.
- let’s talk about it. What have we accomplished over our summer months? Our HYDAC crew spoke about all their community projects, from art/music event to bring community together, volunteering at different organizations, and helping out in their communities. Lots of Ideas/opportunities for upcoming Winter season! Lastly on our list - community discussion. Last night’s concern was brought to the table by Zoe was the community pools cancelling swimming lessons and pool time because of a shortage of skilled staff and lifeguards. Mr Cluett encouraged Zoe to write a letter to the mayor and councillors addressing her concern, he encouraged her to add why the reasons why swimming is so important during the winter months and how this would affect kids, youth and adults in the community. Jeff spoke about the raising prices of Christmas trees - prices up $5-$10 this holiday season. Homicides, shootings, violence, thus world is very scary and Aiden discussed hosting another paint night for community, this time the focus would be on releasing negative emotions like hatred, anger, frustration, and jealousy, letting go of those pent up emotions would encourage acceptance and peace, Aiden explained. Paint night set on a Saturday to encourage everyone to participate, the whole family unit can throw their emotions onto the canvas!!! This was an open conversation and our HYDAC crew members had a chance to write in if they were unable to join personally. Ask questions. Listen and learn.
It was a vibrant conversation with questions like: “What are your roles and responsibilities as trustee”? “Why do you want to be a school trustee”? “As a disability advisory council. We would like to know how you would fight for our community of families still in school struggling”? Jeffrey says. “My favourite part of the whole conversation was when Ms Jaxx said, every child has a right to an education. That means everyone of us!” Puneet asked Jaxx if it has been a hard journey to get to this point? Today being voting and all.” Aiden: “We need school trustees like Ms Jaxx who will raise their voice for people who are unable or just scared. It was nice to hear how passionate she was about acceptance and inclusion”. Ms Jaxx was really informative. Her questions that she asked us personally, showed us that she valued our opinions.” Logan Thank you Ms Jaxx and good luck today!! Another amazing HYDAC event!
Paint night & live music event was virtual and as you guessed it - the night was a huge community success with families at home creating their own artistic masterpieces in their own way. That’s what painting with an artist like Aiden and a musician like Jeff is like. The theme for the evening was all about belonging - and people said it was a colourful/musical evening, with lots of people painting, singing, dancing, just having lots of fun. Art brings people together! Happy late summer from our HYDAC - Halton Youth Advisory Council Yesterday evening at 7:00pm our council met online for their monthly meeting and it was great to see members out connecting. The meeting started with a fun meet and greet where everyone chatted and shared what they have been up-to. Then we played an icebreaker Each person had to answer these questions - favourite super hero, food, what’s your super power?? 7:20pm - The crew discussed ideas/opportunities the crew can create for all youth to participate in the fall! ‘Community for community was the driving theme of the evening and it was wonderful to be inspired by such amazing youth in our community.’ - Judith Elaine Ideas for these community events were plentiful and the ones that the council decided on were:
Yesterday, we had the perfect opportunity, as Ms Emma Lupinacci - teen services librarian for Milton library, joined us as a special guest and also to be a sounding board for a new summer initiative. We love our Milton Public Library- and this year they are offering an inclusive summer STEAM learning program (Science/Technology/Engineering/Arts/Math, Part of the Urban Libraries) Learn more --> Here The program was designed by students to be fully inclusive, it sounds absolutely amazing. HYDAC focuses is that our our council members act in an advisory capacity, and provide advice on issues of concern to youth and young adults in community. HYDAC council members offered feedback on the STEAM lesson plans that were created by the students for participants in Milton. Everyone had the opportunity to add their thoughts, voice their suggestions and ideas. This meeting was 100% successful, with lots of ongoing conversation, and innovative thinking that Ms Emma can utilize. It’s the awareness that this panel of amazing young people can offer different theories and experiences that will benefit everyone in our communities. Another positive that our HYDAC council celebrated was that the Sensory packs that they helped set in place in 2019 would be available to all participants who visit Milton libraries. So please ask for them when you go. HYDAC voices were heard loud and clear, fresh ideas were accepted and appreciated, giving our crew a sense of acceptance and respect. A note from Aiden Lee...Yesterday was the HYDAC Painting, and live music evening. I got tons of pictures that proved that you can 100% inspire others to connect to their inner artist and paint from their heart I loved working with my buddy Jeffrey Ankenmann. He played music while I painted and taught the class and you know … I think that the combo really works, it has people relaxed, happy and open to creating something beautiful. This was a HYDAC event. Halton Youth Disability Advisory Council. Our members wanted to connect community. Inspire people to love, laugh, and create. We realize that these past two years has had a harsh effect of people of all ages and abilities.
Shout out. Nibras Khan, a member of council was the moderator for the evening and he did a great job in the chat, keeping the conversation flowing. Thanks to all the members who came out in support. You rock! Will we do it again 100% yes. People loved it and the evidence is in what they created. HAPPY EARTH MONTH!“Over the past months we as a youth council have been focused on self growth, how to be changemakers in our communities, have open minds for positive Learning, and of course advocating for what we believe in. Our inner strength is reflected in our every day activities, our kindness and our compassion is in how we treat others.” - Aiden Lee Environment is important to our crew - Earth Day is everyday is our motto! Environmental work is our summer goal!! You guys know that - Trees not only cool things down (collectively, they can help decrease our city’s temperature by up to 10 degrees) but they also clean the air and give off more oxygen, among a ton of other benefits. How many trees do you think it takes to produce enough oxygen for one person? The conversation on environment was filled with action and our crews all had lots to add. Nibras brought up the importance of looking alternatives to plastic production, and when we find solutions - the importance of supporting those innovative ideas. We as a community need to be the voice of change. Aiden encouraged everyone to plant your own fruits and veggies which will benefit not only our health, but also we need to remember that such a simple act would reduce the amount of fossil fuel emissions by not having to transport the food to stores. Puneet encouraged everyone to join her in seeding, and joining the community plant exchange coming up. This will help families who cannot afford to buy different plants and also encourage people to try growing their own food. Community garden is open again on May 1st - Ms Judith asked for volunteers to help tend the garden. She hopes to see everyone come out and participate this season. Enjoy the planting, maintaining and harvesting process - Be a part of the solution. NEW member joined the team.
- Gabriel has joined. Many of the crew know Gabriel as an amazing drummer!! And also an excellent photographer. Everyone was so glad to add his voice to the council crew. Community issues and concerns is the final discussion. PROBLEM -Bus scheduled pickups and drop offs. Using public transportation is important especially in our community, especially if we are focusing on environment - but one thing that we seem to hear consistently is that bus schedules are too lengthy. Trying to get to work or around town can be difficult and delayed. Many try the bus routes but what should take (15 minutes) could sometimes take more than one hour and thus forces people to drive, using fuel and not wanting to take the bus and puts seniors in jeopardy of not being connected and being housebound. SOLUTION - crew have voted on writing letters to bring the issue into the light to the Oakville, Milton and Burlington bus transit. PROBLEM - escalating numbers for Suicide and feeling disconnected Our crews discussed the importance of being socially connected. Having positive relationships. We recognize that it’s “considered a fundamental human need,” we has human beings are social creatures and over the past two years our stress levels have elevated. One thing that the crew are worried about is the talk of unhappiness and loneliness. Did you know that there are studies that confirm that connection to others enables us to battle diseases, thrive and survive. People who take part in meaningful, productive and social activities have a strong sense of purpose and can maintain mood swings. SOLUTION - To stay connected and promote health and well-being our crew will be hosting another - community Paint night in may - this is a FREE event for all ages to encourage happiness and belonging. Community engagement. |
HYDACRecaps of our monthly meetings at the OPL. Archives
January 2023
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