Summer is gone and we are beginning to feel the cold winds of the colourful fall season. As we remember summer, we wanted to brighten your day with some warm stories of our 2024 summer here at Adventure 4Change (A4C).
Summer Camps at Adventure4change
Our year-round programming continued with an exciting string of summer camps focused on five weekly themes: Art/Music, STEM, Sports, Africa Camp, and 5 Fun Days. These camps provided invaluable opportunities for children, youth and families, allowing them to engage in fun activities related to artistic expression, STEM, sports, health/wellness, and culture.
These weekly camps featured trips to THE Museum, Laurel Creek Nature Centre, University of Waterloo’s Earth Sciences Museum, Landmark Cinemas, and Waterloo Regional Police Service headquarters.
During the last hour of each camp week, families were invited to participate and cheer for their children during a weekly talent show that showcased their experiences in creative ways. The talent show included indoor presentations like singing, juggling as well as outdoor activities such as soccer, parachuting, hula hooping and much more.
Thirty youths also participated in our Youth Leadership Intensive program this summer that gave them skills and prepared them to be leaders in training at our summer camps. Just like our year-round programming, these camps are designed to help participants recognize and value their intrinsic worth, discover their capacity to improve their own lives, and positively contribute to those around them.
Social Enterprise
Introducing ‘Basadi’, a new project that is brewing at A4C. This was created by adapting the largely drop-in structured Mom’s Sewing Programming into a social enterprise. This project is intended to meet the changing needs of our neighborhood to enable moms generate income and establish a potential fundraising stream for the organization.
By focusing on the perspectives and goals of the moms, the enterprise can remain flexible and responsive so that as other neighbourhood needs emerge we can rise to meet them. The social enterprise follows the ‘Nothing about us, without us’ concept by hiring from the community served. As such, the social enterprise lead and new program facilitator of the ‘level 1 sewing class, are moms in the neighbourhood.
While this is an adaptation of an existing program, it in many ways also constitutes a net-new service that will allow for program resilience and sustainability. It also has the potential to support specific programs at A4C by generating unrestricted funds.
Moms & Family Trip
This summer, mothers from the neighborhoods went on a trip to Valens Lake Conservation Area. This was a time for the moms to take a break from home responsibilities, have fun and rest. The moms had a great time in nature while having fun dancing, swimming and sharing good food with their friends.
Later in the summer, A4C also hosted a family trip to Kiwanis Park for members of the community . Families enjoyed a fun day swimming, sharing a meal, dancing and participating in various lawn games. These trips align with two pillars of the A4C model; to create experiences and provide opportunities for families in neighborhoods.
They also help strengthen connections in the neighbourhoods while creating memories in culturally appropriate ways as identified by the families. We can’t wait for next summer as we are already working with our neighbours to create the next experience!
Watsa Basketball camp
Through the generous donation from one of our partners, four girls and two boys were able to participate in a one-week long basketball camp. As part of growth and learning, this was a time to improve their physical fitness and basketball skills as well as develop important sportsmanship and leadership skills on and off the court.
By the end of the week, first time campers showed remarkable skill progress, while two of our returning participants earned special awards for their outstanding performance. We are always grateful for unique partnerships like this that create experiences, provide opportunities, and enable contribution.
Young Queen’s Trip to Canada’s Wonderland
As part of creative community engagement, the Young Queens Collective (YQC) went on a highly anticipated trip to Canada’s Wonderland. This trip was a reward for the girls achieving multiple goals set at the beginning of the term. These goals included specific attendance requirements, behavioral expectations as well as a standard of being ambassadors of the group. It is important to note that the girls decided on this reward at the beginning of the term last fall and even planned what the day would look like. A total of 40 black and racialized young ladies and 11 volunteers went on this trip. The drive itself became another mentorship opportunity for the girls and the joy created by the thrill of being in such a place was palpable at the end. The YQC team is grateful to be part of creating these kinds of positive memories for the participants. We are ready to set new goals this new school year and continue working with young ladies so they can have strong identities, a safe space and can contribute in meaningful ways to their communities.
Growth – New Staff
As we continue to grow our community engagement through programs and various initiatives, A4C is grateful to welcome Fogo Oriowo to the team as the new Operations Manager. This Wilfrid Laurier University Alumni is a dynamic leader and since she joined the team in mid-September, she has already brought her unique experiences and expertise to our back office operations.
We are thrilled to have her on board and hope A4C contributes meaningfully to her career journey.