YK youth organizations collaborate to improve collective impact

Yellowknife community organizations that support youth have been meeting monthly to collaborate on how to better support the people they serve.

“We were finding that there was a lot of siloing instead of people working together,” said Christina Moore, an Indigenous youth worker at the Tree of Peace Friendship Centre, who runs the regular Hazhǫ Ełexè Łets’eèzhe program.

The name “translates to ‘we learn and grow together,'” she said, “so really removing those silos and working together to connect and create community and collective impact.”

This month, participating organizations met at Yellowknife’s multiplex where the meeting was hosted by the Northwest Territories Equitable Sports Access organization.

In January, they will meet at Makerspace YK to tour the workspace, work on a collaborative project, and brainstorm future gathering ideas.

Previous hosts have included the likes of Home Base YK, the Northern Mosaic Network and the Foster Family Coalition of the NWT.

Moore explained the network is made up of non-governmental organizations, businesses, individuals and volunteers that are interested in supporting, empowering and engaging youth.

“There’s that quote, ‘it takes a village,’ and it really isn’t just an individual effort. It’s all of us bringing our strengths and gifts to build community,” she said.

Korry Garvey attended the most recent Hazhǫ Ełexè Łets’eèzhe gathering on behalf of the new Northwest Territories Equitable Sports Access organization, which supports youth access to sport through things like mentorship or financial sponsorship.

She said when the groups met on December 12, they focused on the intersection between youth and recreation opportunities.

“I have worked with youth in the past, and a lot of youth I have worked with love playing sports and love doing recreational activities, and weren’t getting consistent opportunities to do that,” Garvey said. “We wanted to provide more consistency around that.”

Garvey added that sports and recreation give people an opportunity to socialize and learn soft skills like team development, showing up on time and regulating emotions when things aren’t going to plan.

“All of those things are just really important in life and make your life better,” Garvey said.

Michelle Krutko, an educator who attended the meeting, wants to help set up more youth programming opportunities.

She’s been involved with Hazhǫ Ełexè Łets’eèzhe since last year, and says she has seen it grow to include more and more community partners.

She says it’s important that youth have a safe space for sports, art and traditional skills.

By connecting with each other, Krutko said, organizations can more easily identify who does what and how they can help each other in their collective goals to create community for youth.

Jasmine Nasogaluak contributed reporting.