Visits
Hello everyone,
It has been such a blast visiting all of our TNM groups across the province, and definitely the highlight of the work I get to do as the Network Coordinator!
A couple weeks ago I got to visit our TNM group in Stratford with our partner agency Huron Perth Centre. After a busy day with many calls, I was excited to spend my evening with an amazing TNM group. Less than 5 minutes in, we were already laughing and talking about Astrology and our Hogwarts House… #teamhufflepuff
The youth shared with me all the great work they’ve been doing, and let me tell you they’ve been very busy! From building relationships, planning a You Matter mental health event with Avon Maitland District School Board, hosting a Music and Art for Mental Health virtual showcase, creating resources for youth by youth, to youth rebranding their logo for their TNM group name New Horizons! The youth even have created their own TNM group playlist on Spotify which you can check out here!
It was great to hear how interested the youth were in being a part of Disable the Label 2021 this summer as they weren’t able to attend in the past. I got to share how magical DTL really is, and is a space where youth and adult allies can come together and deeply explore mental health advocacy, and express themselves through art! It’s also a great opportunity to build connections, step outside of our comfort zones and make new friends.
One of the highlights of hearing all the great work these incredible leaders have been doing in their community was hearing how two youth met, and became best friends. It just reminded me once again of how incredibly magical our network truly is!
It is so important in the times we are in now to really focus on building relationships since we’ve gone virtual, and are all missing that in person connection. I really appreciated how the group has focused on building long lasting friendships, and bringing a sense of community and belonging.
Thank you to the youth and adult ally for so many laughs, and I can’t wait to see you soon at DTL 2021!
See you all soon on Zoom,
Fizza Abbas, Network Coordinator
Visits
Hello everyone,
I can’t believe I’m not even halfway through visiting all our TNM groups across the province (autocorrect wrote “across the globe”….maybe one day?)!
Last week I got to visit our TNM group in London with our partner agency Humana Community Services. I was only able to join a portion of their meeting, but I felt like I had known everyone for many years! The youth and adult allies were incredibly welcoming and made me feel so special. It took us no introductions at all to get straight into the entire group talking about how much spice they can handle and absolutely cannot handle….as a master of spices, I suggested everything should be spicy (others may disagree)! One youth was definitely on the same wavelength as me, and shared that they love eating Trinidadian Roti and how they’re going to try and have a Roti Night at a meeting soon and of course would invite me – Am I lucky or what? #rotiadvocacy
After lots of laughs, we got into our check in and I really liked the way they began their check in by sharing one good thing that happened this week and one thing that didn’t go so well but how they reframed it. This allows the group to have tools for self-care and be able to see a different perspective to not so great situations. I really appreciated how both the youth and adult allies were open to having honest, and vulnerable conversations in particular talking about anti-racism and how it is one of their goals to continue having these conversations both in and outside of the network.
Before our virtual group visits, it’s important to me to connect with the adult allies and check in as they are a huge part of the work we do! I came to learn of all the amazing projects the group is working on, especially during Children’s Mental Health Week. The theme of their week is How To Be Your Own Superhero, where they will be having activities daily from yoga, cooking classes, a professional dance routine, movie night to youth sharing their stories, and having an author come and speak at the event!
The energy in the space just made me so happy, and seeing how kind and excited the youth were for one another reminded me of just how incredibly magical our network truly is! It was also great to hear how interested the youth were in being a part of Disable the Label 2021 this summer as they weren’t able to attend last year.
Thank you to the youth and adult allies for such a warm welcome, and I can’t wait to see you soon at DTL 2021!
See you all soon on Zoom,
Fizza Abbas, Network Coordinator
Visits
Hey everyone,
I have been having so much fun visiting our TNM groups all across the province the last few months, and can’t wait to visit more! Meeting so many of you already and seeing the great work you all continue to do in your communities is the best part of the work I get to do.
Last week I got to visit our TNM group at Wellkin Child & Youth Mental Wellness! I had gotten the chance to visit their Youth Hub a couple months ago, and it was just so amazing to see how the group engages youth in their community through so many different activities! To learn more about the hub click here.
From the start of the meeting to the end I was just so impressed. The youth facilitators begin the meeting with a land acknowledgement and recognize that this is just the first step to push for truth and reconciliation. They encouraged everyone at the meeting to continue to learn more, and recognized that it can be hard but that the greatest learning and change happens when we’re outside of our comfort zone. After the land acknowledgement, the youth facilitator also discussed pushing for equity for all. As a leader of colour, I was so proud to see these youth speak so candidly and honestly about the importance of equity for all communities.
After our conversation on equity, we had a check in about what we’re most looking forward to this summer and I got to meet a special feline friend who goes by “Orange Juice” who spent the rest of the meeting with us and now I want to get a cat even more!
I got to hear and see a glimpse of all the projects that this group works on, from creating videos to share with youth in the community about the work they do and hosting multiple virtual events for Children’s Mental Health Week, to building sensory walls in therapists’ rooms, to planning socially distanced walks in the future…. There is so much this group does, that I’m pretty sure I might have missed the numerous other projects they continue to work on!
One thing that stood out to me instantly was how passionate and thoughtful the group was, and how they really value accessibility for all in their community. They really wanted to ensure that everyone in their community could participate in their programming while ensuring that COVID-19 stay at home orders were also being respected.
Visiting these youth and seeing how supportive and encouraging their adult allies was so great, and I can’t wait to see all the great work they continue to do!
Thank you to the youth and adult allies for the warm welcome and for completely immersing me into the magic of your group.
See you all soon on Zoom,
Fizza Abbas, Network Coordinator
Visits
Hello everyone!
I know you’re probably wondering… hey where did Fizza go? Is she still visiting groups virtually? the answer is YES!
Last week I got to visit our TNM group at Strides Toronto and let me start off by saying that this has been one of the most anticipated virtual group visits thus far, as we had scheduled this back in early January!
I can’t even put into words how truly amazing these youth and adult allies are! They do such great work in their community, and are always looking for ways to uplift the message and mission of The New Mentality.
I got the privilege to attend their Virtual Talent Not Required Show, which is a staple of The New Mentality and our annual Disable the Label (DTL) retreat! I got to meet the youth just before the event, and it was so much fun just laughing and gave me complete DTL vibes that we all love and enjoy so much.
What I noticed instantly was how supportive the youth were of one another. Youth who have been a part of TNM for many years were encouraging and uplifting youth who have recently joined as they emceed their first event!
As the event began, we heard poetry, singing, saw beautiful artwork, a dance performance, watched beautiful instruments be played, and even witnessed one youth complete a Zelda game in under 5 minutes… I don’t think this was truly a Talent Not Required Show because everyone was SO incredibly talented! We even played such fun games during intermission and youth won prizes throughout the event.
It was so heartwarming to see how supportive everyone was of another, from the messages continuously coming through the chat box, zoom reactions filling the screens with hearts, to all the claps and snaps – it was the best way to spend my Thursday evening!
Thank you to all the youth and adult allies at Strides Toronto for all the uncontrollable laughs! I am so proud of all of you, as you continue to change the world and inspire all those around you and can’t wait to be cheering you all on as you do.
See you all soon on Zoom,
Fizza Abbas, Network Coordinator
Visits
Hi everyone,
I’ve had a blast these last couple months getting to meet such amazing youth and adult allies across the province! Last week, I had the chance to visit another awesome TNM group with our partner agency Open Doors for Lanark Children & Youth. I’ve been eager to visit this group ever since they became a part of our network late last year!
This group has been doing such a wonderful job building relationships with one another, and I could really tell how the adult allies have created an environment that encourages youth to be bold, and brave. It is so important in the times we are in now to really focus on building relationships since we’ve gone virtual, we’re all missing that in person connection. We spent the meeting connecting with one another, and I came to know that a youth in the group has been on TV multiple times, and will be starring in a film soon….. I was SO starstruck being in the presence of a celebrity.
We spent the meeting having conversations on recruitment strategies, school mental health, and so much more! We also spoke about the work we’re doing at The New Mentality surrounding anti-racism and mental health. Something that really stood out the most to me was when a youth in the group shared about the reality of speaking on topics such as politics, race, and religion were something that folks would never discuss in the past because they were considered taboo in society. More recently, we’ve been able to give these topics more attention, encourage them to be discussed, and have had healthy conversations surrounding them.
Having these conversations can be uncomfortable for many, but this group has created an environment where everyone is cared for, where they are encouraged to learn and unlearn together. I was incredibly impressed and proud to see the group share with me the growth they’ve experienced during the pandemic and have created a virtual space that has felt safe and comfortable for them.
I’m so happy I got the chance to spend time with the group, and am looking forward to visiting them again and continuing our conversations together. I’m also very much looking forward to seeing our celebrity youth on TV soon!
See you all soon on zoom,
Fizza Abbas, Network Coordinator
Visits
Hello everyone,
I’ve really been having so much fun visiting all our groups across the province virtually, and sharing with all of you my experience! I’ve heard from many youth and adult allies that they have been inspired by the awesome projects our groups are working on.
Last week I had the chance to visit another incredible TNM group in Brantford with our partner agency Woodview Mental Health & Autism Services! Before the pandemic, I was eager to meet this group in person and was so happy to have the chance to visit their group virtually. It was also their first time meeting one of their new adult allies who was joining the group!
We began the meeting with a great check in question, check in questions are a great facilitation technique as they help to ground us and see how folks are doing and adjusting the way we facilitate accordingly. The question asked was “what is your brag/drag?” My brag was definitely getting to meet the group, as I had been eagerly waiting all week! From the check ins, I learned that I definitely need to start watching WandaVision, and that there are so many new Pokémon that I had no idea about…..I wish I had the chance to quickly go grab my Pokémon card collection from 17 years ago….
After checking in, we heard updates from the adult allies and it was so nice to see that the group encourages and promotes events happening in other New Mentality groups. In the updates they shared that our New Mentality group with The Maltby Centre in Kingston will be hosting a Men’s Mental Health event! I really appreciated this, as it furthered showcased how amazing and supportive our network is of one another.
After the updates, I came to know of the many projects our group is working on, from creating social media content, to hosting a talent not required show for Children’s Mental Health Week, working on a podcast, creating a brochure for adult allies to know how to best support youth and so much more, that I don’t even think I can capture in one blog!
The group spent time discussing each of their projects, but their main focus was on reviewing a draft version of their brochure. I really appreciated how youth were supporting one another through the conversations on how to better present the brochure. I was incredibly impressed by the youth who created the brochure using Canva, and I’m starting to notice a pattern of all the awesome Canva and PowerPoint stars we have in our network. Definitely giving up the Canva Crown to all the amazing youth in our network.
After working for a bit, we spent the end of the meeting playing a game of Psych! If you haven’t heard of this game you have to play it, it’s so funny and the responses that the youth came up with during the game were so creative and hilarious!
I’m so happy I got the chance to meet these brilliant changemakers that make up our network, and can’t wait to visit them again… and hopefully try out our lip syncing Brady Bunch style Zoom show!
See you all soon on zoom,
Fizza Abbas, Network Coordinator
