October 27, 2015
Toronto Deputy Mayor Vincent Crisanti (Ward 1 Etobicoke North), City of Toronto staff, the North Kipling Youth Council and members of the City's Youth Space Advisory Committee will join local youth organizations on Thursday this week to officially launch an enhanced youth space at North Kipling Community Centre.
The centre's youth space is a place for youth to create, connect, learn and inspire. The model for the enhanced youth spaces, approved by City Council in 2014, focuses on three components: dedicated space for youth, consistent staff and programming tailored to youth interests. Examples of some of the programs offered at North Kipling Community Centre's youth space include Barbering, DIY Nail Art, Dominoes Club and Urban Arts (beatboxing, hip-hop dance and spoken word).
"Providing youth with recreation programs and services close to their homes is an essential part of building healthy communities," said Deputy Mayor Crisanti. "It's amazing for the local youth to have a space like this in their neighbourhood, and I encourage the young people of this community to take advantage of it."
"Youth spaces are effective ways to engage young people in both recreation and their communities," said Councillor James Pasternak (Ward 10 York Centre), Chair of the Community Development and Recreation Committee. "Local youth get a chance to inspire everything from the name of the youth space to the programming offered."
The youth space at North Kipling Community Centre, 2 Rowntree Rd., is the fourth of seven enhanced youth spaces to officially launch this year.
Thursday's event, from 4:30 to 6:30 p.m., with remarks at 5 p.m., will include a ribbon-cutting ceremony, comments from local youth about what the space means to them, and a tour of the youth space.
Youth are a high-priority service focus for the City's Parks, Forestry and Recreation division. In addition to providing youth spaces, Parks, Forestry and Recreation offers registered and drop-in programming for youth at over 130 locations across the city and operates the Youth Outreach Worker Program. Youth outreach workers support youth who face barriers to participation by connecting them with recreation programs, social services and referral agencies that provide housing, employment, health and harm-reduction services.
Toronto is Canada's largest city, the fourth largest in North America, and home to a diverse population of about 2.8 million people. It is a global centre for business, finance, arts and culture and is consistently ranked one of the world's most livable cities. For information on non-emergency City services and programs, Toronto residents, businesses and visitors can visit
http://www.toronto.ca, call 311, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, or follow us @TorontoComms.
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Media contact: Tamara Staranchuk, Strategic Communications, 416-397-4062, 416-999-6367 (cell), This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
