The Rotary Club of Toronto Funds Project: Humanity

TORONTO - April 19, 2024 - PRLog -- Project: Humanity (PH) is proud to announce that The Rotary Club of Toronto has awarded the PH 1:1 Mentorship Program $12,000. The program is designed to support the mental health of youth living in homeless shelters by providing a free three month mentorship between themselves and a professional artist in their preferred area of study. The Rotary Club of Toronto was one of the first supporters to help PH get this program off the ground in 2020 and is stepping in again at a crucial juncture when Project: Humanity is seeking sustainable supports.

In 2019 the WHO reported that the arts play "a critical role in helping to prevent the onset of mental illness and supporting the treatment or management of mental illness". Research shows that the health risks of loneliness are comparable to obesity or smoking 15 cigarettes a day. This program is designed to give youth tools and resources to end isolation, support mental health, and provide artistic opportunities with 93.33% of participants responding that they feel more connected to other people as a result of their mentorship.

"Looking back I realize how much of a negative mindset I was in, but even though I was, I always looked forward to our sessions because I knew I could be vulnerable with someone and that person wouldn't judge me." - PH 1:1 Youth Mentee

PH 1:1 is customized by the participants, leading to a high rate of engagement and completion. 100% of youth have responded that they feel more confident after their mentorship and 1/3 of all youth to have completed the program have gone directly into further training, internships or jobs in their artistic field as a result of their mentorship.

Despite this program's unprecedented success, with the disappearance of emergency Covid Funding, economic hardships, and cutbacks to government funding bodies finding the money needed to continue this work is a challenge. In 2023/24 PH had to reduce mentoring partnerships from 40 to 28, leaving vulnerable youth sidelined. Thus receiving support such as this is key to  this work continuing in perpetuity.

The PH 1:1 Mentorship Program began during the Covid-19 crisis when Project: Humanity had to pause in person programming, which PH had been delivering to youth-on-the-margins since 2007. To make sure care continued, PH created CAPP (the Covid Artist Partnership Program). The program proved so impactful, that it was renamed the PH 1:1 Mentorship Program and have made it a corner stone of our youth arm.

For full press release with photos see here: https://static1.squarespace.com/static/541b34b9e4b0381477...