National Program

From November 17-21st UNITY will be in Fort Chipewyan to launch the first of 4 visits over the next year. This program will focus on arts development but also on leadership and role modeling skills. Britta B, switch B and testament will venture to Northern Alberta to bring Unity's amazing message to the youth in Fort Chipewyan.

From November 22- December 4, 2014 UNITY will be in Halifax for their annual tour and Hub re-launch. Tafiya, Erin, Whitney and Branden join testament as they visit 5 high schools all across Nova Scotia. This year is extra exciting as one of the schools is near the Bay of Fundy an area which UNITY has never visited. Sure to be high energy and amazing stay tuned for pictures and updates.

UNITY First UNITY Day Program Launch

It will commence Anti-Bullying Week November 17-21. With six UNITY assemblies in five days, students will engage in an empowering series of activities and workshops. The local tour will take Unity to Harvey and Don Mills Collegiate(s), Newtonbrook and James Cardinal McGuigan.

UNITY's Volunteer Program - Get Involved!

UNITY's volunteer program continues to grow, as more and more youth become involved in their community. Not only are they discovering positive outlets for their stress, but they are also developing the skills they need to make meaningful contributions to causes they care about. Our volunteer program provides a variety of training sessions throughout the year, including training for our UNITY Shop and providing administrative support to our staff. These are all invaluable experiences for our youth, who benefit from these opportunities to refine their professionalism within a work environment.

UNITY Volunteer Training Sessions in November:

• Sunday November 16th, 2014 - 2pm-4pm

If you are a youth, or know a youth, who would be interested in these opportunities, feel free to visit our online application here: http://www.unitycharity.com/volunteer-orientation-application

You may also email us at [email protected] for more information.

UNITY's Annual VIP Event 

On October 16th UNITY held a VIP event at the Canada Life building to raise funds for UNITY's after school program expansion. Thank you to Great-West Life, London Life and Canada Life for sponsoring the evening. A big thanks to our guest speakers; Nick Pszeniczny, Executive Vice-President, Individual Distribution Marketing, Great-West Life / London Life / Canada Life, Andrea Cohen Barrack, President of the Ontario Trillium Foundation, Peter Paulseth, Principal at Lester B. Pearson Collegiate and our amazing UNITY artists; Britta B, Scott Jackson and Tafiya. We are so excited to say that so far we have raised enough from this event to fully fund two after school programs in high priority communities in the GTA. Thank you to everyone who supported this exciting event, the results will transpire into crucial programming in our communities.

Cultural Hotspot Event - A great success!

The first ever Cultural Hotspot in the South Scarborough has come to an end. From May to October UNITY was involved in hosting a series of professional development workshops for emerging youth artists as well as hosting open dance practices. Together with the Manifesto team, UNITY also hosted the final event: NEXT LEVEL at the Warden Woods Community Centre. The day was packed with events ranging from workshops and In Conversations, Network/ Speed Dating with established artists, All Styles dance battle, performances from RISE, Classical Roots, and Tanika Charles. Don't miss next years Cultural Hotspot!

A fresh approach to the pop-up shop, Lifestyle Market is a dynamic space for brands to interact directly with consumers. Presenting a carefully curated selection of international brands alongside local favourites, Toronto Lifestyle Market was a week-long event that connected with the people behind the products.  Each evening, the market hosted a unique event showcasing local talent from October 8th-12th at the Gladstone Hotel. UNITY was a proud beneficiary of this year's Lifestyle Market. Thank you Lifestyle Market!

Richter Supports UNITY's After School Programs:

Each year, Richter's Toronto offices select a charity that they will support throughout the entire year with a variety of fundraising initiatives. This year UNITY was selected as their charity of choice and we are so proud to be their new beneficiary. On October 23rd, Richter held a poker tournament to raise funds for UNITY's after school programs. The tournament was held at the Rosehill Venue Lounge, bringing together Richter partners and clients to support the UNITY cause. The funds raised from this evening will make a huge difference towards UNITY's after school programs and we wanted to extend a huge thank you to Richter for choosing to support UNITY all year in their fundraising efforts.

Power Unit Supports UNITY's After School Program through Night It Up!
Night It Up! is an outdoor night market styled in the vein of night markets from Taiwan and Hong Kong and many others from across Asia. The festival features over 100 food and merchandise vendors selling street cuisine and trinkets similar to what you would find at an authentic night market in Asia. UNITY was honoured to be selected amongst a vigorous charity selection process to be the beneficiary for the festival this past summer. The funds raised from this festival not only gave UNITY incredible profile tens of thousands of attendees but also raised enough to support a full year after school program ! Thank you so much Power Unit for your support for UNITY and our cause. Your volunteer efforts are outstanding!

Ada W. Slaight Fund at the Toronto Foundation

The Ada W. Slaight Fund is supporting the UNITY Crew After School Program in 1 school this year in a priority community in the GTA. Thanks to their support we are able to provide programming from September 2014 to June 2015 for over 20 young people. This program supports youth to build the confidence and skills for success. By the end of the program the young people will present a show with messages of their community to their peers as well as to the younger generation. The outcome is having young people who are more resilient, can manage their stress more effectively and can achieve their goals. We are so happy to have the Ada W. Slaight Fund at the Toronto Foundation as a continued supporter of UNITY's core programming. It truly allows us to deepen the work we do in the communities we reach out to. Thank you Ada W. Slaight Fund!

UNITY was selected to be featured on the Mental Health Innovation Network (MHIN) 

New Festival Video Is released!

UNITY Festival 2014 attracted over 30,000 attendees over 4 days. This video shows the journey of two young participants in the festival Jane and Shamar. UNITY uses art to empower youth with the confidence and skills for success. This year we featured headliners including Biz Markie, DJ Kool, Maestro Fresh Wes, Airplane Boys, Rudy Francisco, Amanda Seales, Moy, Ball-Zee and many others. 

UNITY Festival 2014 - Celebrating the voices of youth

New Staff Update:

At UNITY we take great joy in having the amazing opportunity to work with young people hoping to get involved and learn about the youth outreach and social work field.

We are very pleased and excited to announce our two placement students Catherine Turcotte and Veron Debique, who will be working closely with us over the next few months. Catherine is enrolled at York University in the Community Art practice practicum. She is very active in the Toronto dance community and is an up and coming program facilitator. Veron is currently in his third year at Seneca College for their Social Service Worker program. He has a background in visual art, emceeing and is a beat producer. We are very eager to see these two grow and develop in their respective professional endeavours.