Mindfulness Everyday Community Projects
Supporting Community Leaders and Staff, Children, Youth, and Parents
Lives Rewritten in Mind, Body and Spirit
We want to share with you a story that brought us hope for the years to come. It was the Lives Rewritten Project. Six diverse organizations successfully partnered to bring hope to a group of 44 new Canadian children from around the GTA. This collaboration brought mindfulness-based virtual learning to at-risk children ages 9–13 in the areas of gardening, science, technology, environmentalism, math and circus tricks! This all happened in the midst of a pandemic. Kids learned new skills, made new friends and expanded their horizons.
Lives Rewritten was a unique collaboration that included 2 lead agencies and 5 remarkable, highly knowledgeable and experienced partners to create a program that made a difference in the lives of New Canadian children, aged 9-13, in mind, body, and spirit. The children selected were accompanied through the programs by a mentor who is Arabic-speaking, to help support them as well as communicate with their families.
This innovative, interactive and fun program for new Canadian children 9-13 was designed to equip, inspire and empower them as they integrate into Canadian society. In weekly virtual sessions, children actively learned more about gardening, food literacy, mindfulness, STEM and social circus. The program ran on select weekday afternoons after school and on Saturdays, from October 2020 to March 2021. The program was designed to teach life skills in a safe/fun/collaborative environment as they cycle through 3 innovative workshops.
Green Thumbs taught the children about nature/their environment, gardening, food literacy, and healthy eating.
Square Circle developed communication, interpersonal, artistic, and physical skills.
Visions of Science supported academic progress in core subjects of science/technology/engineering/math.
Mindfulness Everyday provided mindfulness training for staff & volunteers that will have fundamental ripple effects to help the children meet the challenges of their daily lives.
Lead Agencies
MUSLIM CHILDREN’S AID & SUPPORT SERVICES (MCASS)
https://www.muslimchildrensaid.com/
Lead Organization: Committed to being an overarching child protection and support agency for Muslim individuals and families in the Greater Toronto Area (GTA) by empowering Muslim communities to improve their familial, social and cultural well-being. Contact: Karen Scott, Executive Director
Regent Park Community Ministry
A project of the United Church that is actively exploring ways that the church can be present in the newly burgeoning neighbourhoods west of the Don River. Contact: Kevin Moore, Team Leader
Partner Organizations
Mindfulness Everyday http://www.mindfulnesseveryday.org/
Committed to improving the health and wellbeing of community members and the networks that support children and youth, by providing tailored mindfulness programs for educators, administrators, parents, and families. Contacts: Heidi Bornstein and Stephn Chadwick, Founders
Green Thumbs https://greenthumbsto.org/
Empowering urban children, youth, adults and families to grow and prepare fresh garden foods, learn about nature and the environment, and foster a positive educational experience. Contact: Sunday Harrision, Executive Director
Square Circle https://www.squarecirclehq.ca/
Delivering a new way of engaging, educating and empowering youth; to strengthen local communities; foster more confident/resilient/courageous young leaders through the use of Social Circus and creative arts. Contact: Clarence Ford, Founder
Visions of Science https://www.vosnl.org/
(VoSNL) is a charitable organization committed to advancing the educational achievements and positive development of youth from low-income and marginalized communities through meaningful engagement in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) fields and research. Contact: Camilo Garay Director, Partnerships and Collaborations
The Saben Group http://saben.ca/
The Saben Group focuses on focus areas: program design; monitoring and evaluation; strategy development; leadership development; and marketing. Contact: Clayton Rowe, Evaluation Consultant
Rasha Mansoor, MSc (Global Health)
Supporting researchers, educators and clinicians, funding agencies and global development initiatives to commit university research and education to the service of people’s health worldwide for the mutual benefit of science, health, clinical practice and human development. Contact: Rasha Mansour: MSc (Global Health) McMaster University; responsible for program design.