UNITY Charity Annual Report September 1St 2014 to August 31St, 2015
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UNITY Charity Annual Report September 1st 2014 to August 31st, 2015 02 UNITY Culture 16 UNITY Programs 24 Performance Highlights 30 Partners & Donors 36 Financial Highlights 38 UNITY Team Model Dear UNITY Family & Supporters, On behalf of the entire UNITY staff, artists and board of directors, I am so excited to share with you all that we have accomplished last year in our goal to empower youth with the skills needed to succeed in today’s world. After 8 years of programming in priority schools and communities across Canada there are lots of stories to share. UNITY alumni are doing incredible things with their skills and passions. That is why this year we are focusing our annual report on UNITY alumni. This report is a glimpse into UNITY’s programs, impact and overall organization from September 1st, 2014 to August 31st, 2015. A lot has changed in the past year with UNITY! Last year we revamped program metrics, process and evaluation to better achieve our mission. We also restructured the UNITY board of directors and board committee structure. Only three to six years from the time these young people first met UNITY program coordinators and artist educators they are already achieving incredible personal heights in their education and career development. Thank you for supporting positive youth mental health! Peace, love and UNITY, Sincerely, Michael Prosserman aka Bboy Piecez UNITY Founder & Executive Director UNITY CULTURE UNITY would not exist without the people that contribute their passion and dedication to the cause. UNITY’s culture is to embrace and highlight the strengths of everyone that is involved. This year UNITY would like to reflect on the past few years and share with you all UNITY’s Alumni. These individuals have contributed their time, passion and dedication to take UNITY to the level it is today. We would like to thank each of them for being part of the UNITY Family! 4 5 UNITY & THE ARTS Express your stress & develop skills for success Values Respect Integrity Passion Community Youth 6 Mission UNITY uses arts to empower youth with the confidence and skills for success Vision UNITY creates more productive citizens, safer schools and healthier communities. 7 UNITY ALUMNI Peter Downes AKA Downrock program participant & dancer “Unity has impacted my life in a very positive way by allowing me to express myself in my craft on a much bigger scale and to improve it as well through many opportunities such as teaching, doing performances, and having space to practice and learn from others. Unity helped me meet a lot of knowledgable people that gave me support and valuable advice that would boost not only my life but things I enjoyed the most. Dance.” Malik Musleh staff Malik is studying at Osgood Hall law school Faculty of Law. “I saw UNITY grow from a small local not-for-profit to a national charity, and I grew with it. Working for Unity changed my life, and I will always be thankful.” Kareen Wong AKA Karebear program participant & Dancer Kareen studied at University of Waterloo Entry to Practice Doctor of Pharmacy and is currently a co-op pharmacy student at Humber River Hospital. “I can never be more grateful for what Unity has done for me. I used to be a very shy kid... until I stumbled into the program. It drew out the outgoing, confident, and passionate side of me that I had never felt before. Being involved for over six years now, it is safe to say that most of my successes involving school, dance and work have branched from what I learned throughout the years with Unity.” Lauren Pink Volunteer Lauren is studying at University of Toronto in Psychology. 8 “UNITY is a cycle of good, fun karma that I am glad to continue to be a part of :D” Weiming Yuan program participant & Dancer Weiming studied at Ryerson and founded a successful clothing and accessory company called “August Brand”. “ UNITY was an essential factor in my personal and professional growth. They showed me how to apply myself to do more and make more out of passions. They were the launchpad to lift me up into achieving more out of my passions.” Jessey Pacho AKA Phade Staff & Graffiti artist “Unity has shown me that when you pursue a goal long enough and want it for the right reasons, sooner or later you’ll attain success, and reach amazing heights. I’ve been able to create for myself, literally with my two hands, a career path from an art form I started in the streets, an art form widely considered to be illegal.” Stanley Wong volunteer “Literally the biggest change of my life, UNITY has introduced me to an awesome commUNITY that I am glad to have become a part of.” Ray Abergas program participant & Spokenword Poet Ray is working and pursuing entrepreneurial ventures. “In high school, UNITY Charity helped me identify who I was and what kind of person I wanted to be. Now, as an entrepreneur, I highly endorse UNITY charity’s mission statement to help better myself and the people around me. Without UNITY, I don’t think I would be in the position that I’m in right now.” 9 Jane Souralaysack AKA Psyreine program participant & Beatboxer Jane is studying at the University of Toronto for a Bachelors in Arts and Science with a Cognitive Science major, Linguistics major and a French minor. “UNITY taught me to redirect negative energy into my expression in art forms. Beatboxing has really helped me relieve myself from my family issues, school stress, and insecurities. The feeling I get from performing or jamming in cyphers is incredible because of all of the positivity and sense of belonging. I am encouraged to be myself and to show others my story through music.” Marcus Thompson volunteer Marcus is studying at Albert Campbell Collegiate. “Unity has introduced me to a lot of people that share the same interests.” Ghazal Farkhari program participant & Spokenword poet Ghazal is studying at the University of Toronto, and in a co-op psycholinguistics program. “Unity is not just a charity. It is a community of amazing people who do incredible things that change people’s lives. Unity has helped me develop an identity for myself, has helped me sum up to courage to finally be able to call myself a poet. This program helped me enhance skills I never realized I had and has taught me so much including the thirst to always learn more, and explore new things. It’s given me the opportunity to meet amazing people who have become my family and I feel so engraved in a beautiful society full of love, art and beauty. Thank you Unity.” Daryl Robinson AKA Thunderclaw program participant & spokenword poet Thunderclaw plans to go into a Massage Therapy Program. Currently, he teaches Spoken Word Poetry workshops and classes at Westview Highschool cose by Jane and Finch. “Being in UNITY has allowed me to meet amazing artists in Toronto and has allowed me to spend more time with some of the artists I already knew. Being in uniffect was especially helpful to my writing skills as I got to practice often and have amazing cyphers with even more amazing poets, rappers and writers. On top of that I was given first hand experience in running workshops and an 10 opportunity to perform for my school and inspire many young new artist.” Emma Smith volunteer Emma is studying at Ontario College of Art and Design University Program: Drawing and Painting. “UNITY changed the way I saw the world, and the way I saw myself, it gave me a place I wanted to be.” Dequan Clarke program participant & Dancer Dequan is attending Centennial College for the Dance Performance program. “Unity has done so much for me over the years, in giving me a platform to create, explore and grow. Not only as an artist but as a person.” Ryan Buckspan AKA Beatspawn program participant & Beatboxer Ryan graduated from George Brown College for Construction and Renovations and is currently working at Northwest Auto Parts. “Unity has given me and allowed me to make my dreams a reality. I have been given a outlet to not only have a safe space to practice my art, but I also have the chance to show my art to others and to teach them and to perform. I will always be grateful for the good Unity has done for me and helping make my dreams a reality, but also allowing me to help others achieve their own dreams and to help build new ones.” Usman Dauda program participant Usman currently studying at Western university for Engineering. “Unity has impacted my life by showing me the effect of hard work. Spending quality time on a skill or task will mean you improve at it, even if it is a little bit, which is to me all that matters.” Andel James AKA Handlez staff & Dancer Andel is studying at Ryerson University for Criminology. “Unity allowed me the opportunity to connect with the youth and stay relevant in the hip-hop community.” 11 Marcelino DaCosta AKA Frost staff & dancer “Unity charity has given me the means to advance the reach of my community development work and granted me the opportunity to continue building sustainable opportunities for those impacted and inspired by our urban art forms.” Roda Medhat program participant & Videographer/Dancer Roda is at OCADU studying integrated media. He will be studying at FAMU in Prague for 1 semester of cinematography. Currently, he works as UNITY’s videographer and with the city of Markham as program instructor.