As part of the Ontario Trillium Foundation (OTF) Grow Grant - the Halton Youth Initiative expanded into the communities of Acton, Aldershot and Milton in 2019. 

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The Aldershot Youth Crew (AYC) was established on April 17, 2019, at the Our Kids Network Community Hub - located in the Holy Rosary Elementary school. The initial team consisted of a dozen youth and community partners from a variety of organizations. 

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This team was full of family members and longtime friends and could be counted on to bring big energy, friendly vibes and developing project ideas that truly met the specific needs of the Aldershot community. During the era before the COVID-19 pandemic, the team successfully completed a number of projects and campaigns that met the goals outlined by our project:

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• Goal 1 - Youth know more about local resources

• Goal 2 - Community knows more about topics that matter to youth

• Goal 3 - Advocating for positive youth hangout space

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We were grateful for the ongoing support from our community partners and adult allies. Organizations that shared power and expanded possibilities with this team included the City of Burlington, Burlington Public Library, YMCA of Hamilton-Brantford-Burlington, Canadian Gap Year Association, HMC Connections, ROCK, Partnering Aldershot Seniors Committee, City Councillor Kelvin Galbraith and the Aldershot BIA. Special shoutout to the Partnering Aldershot Committee (facilitated by the Aldershot BIA) for their ongoing support and capacity building of youth-serving organizations. 

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Examples of Developmental Relationships displayed by youth and adults on this team:

• Expressing Care - Michelle Dittmer, Ted Hodkinson, Deepti Mahajan, and Paul Shelton are four of the outstanding adult allies of this team! From day one they were warm, praised good efforts from the youth and made each member feel valued and heard. 

• Providing Support - This team was known for it’s high percentage of siblings and best friends as teammates. These deep relationships empowered the youth to hold one another accountable, to build relationships while working on our projects and believing in one another - all while having FUN.

• Challenge Growth - The Partnering Aldershot Seniors Committee, led by Connie Price, connected with our team to help them with the setup and tear down of their multi-day seniors' event at the local church on Plains Rd. Connie is a big believer in the potential of young people and expected the best from our team. Happy to say, we did not disappoint! 

• Share Power - Leah Reynolds, HDSB School Trustee included the Aldershot Youth Crew in conversations with the City of Burlington regarding free bus passes for youth. We wrote a formal letter to show our support for this motion. Letter to City of Burlington

• Expanding Possibilities - The Partnering Aldershot Press, led by Karen Phelps, invited the Aldershot Youth Crew to write articles for their quarterly publication. Chase Moulton submitted an article on youth coping in quarantine in April 2020 - among other articles!

 

Team Mates included:

• Maddy Bauer

• Jaime Cools-Lartigue

• Chase Moulton

• Gabriel Moulton

• Elijah Mulder

• Faith Mulder

• Eva Ohata

• Charlie Schulte-Laurat

• Toni Schulte-Laurat

• Isha Tokas

• Ishita Tokas

• Haeley Warren

• Lindsay Warren

• AYC Facilitator: Lily Viggiano

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