Virgin Mobile's RE*Generation Movement Supports Youth Homelessness
My article, as found on Youthink.ca
Image credit: Ksenia Orehova | Bedouin Soundclash take a photo with Broadway Youth Resource Centre alumnus Maddy (middle) and Centre Manager Robert Wilmot (right)
Virgin Mobile's RE*Generation Movement Supports Youth Homelessness
by Lisa Odland - Seycove Secondary, North Vancouver BC Dec 19, 2011
In Canada, there is currently 65,000 youth without a place to call home. With youth homelessness being such a big issue in our country, Virgin Mobile and its non-profit foundation, Virgin Unite, founded the RE*Generation movement back in 2008 to fight this growing problem.
The RE*Generation Movement has been hugely successful having raised over $800,000 to date, and to continue their great work, Virgin and Juno award-winning Canadian Ska/reggae band Bedouin Soundclash teamed up earlier in December for a benefit concert in support of the Broadway Youth Resource Centre (BYRC), one of Vigin Unite's partners.
Despite their busy schedule, the Bedouin boys - Jay Malinowski, Eon Sinclair and Sekou Lumumba - spent their afternoon at the centre to learn more about the impact their efforts would make, as well as the great work the BYRC does for youth.
The band was given a tour of the facility from the rooms where youth under the age of 25 can come to wash their clothes, to art studios where distraught teens can come express themselves. Bedouin Soundclash saw it all and were genuinely interested ine learning about the centre that they were helping to support. "We like to try to make sure that we get involved with things that are taking the right precautions, to ensure the money gets to the right places," explain Sinclair when asked why they chose to get involved with this particular initiative.
Futhermore, Malinowski feels that getting involved in the RE*Generation Movement really helps to put things in perspective for them. “Doing this kind of thing reminds you, or brings you back down to the things that are important in life. You know, you can get so tied up worrying about other things.” At the end of the day, lending a hand and helping others is always a win-win, and after speaking with Maddy, an alumnus and youth leadership graduate of the BYRC, it was obvious how much it meant to have Bedouin support a place that means so much to her. “Someone up there in society really truly does care about us. And they do want to see us be better, and they do want to wish us well,” comments Maddy.
Now an intern at BYRC Maddy is a beautiful example of a success story from the Broadway Youth Resource Centre. “When I was younger I was just this crazy 16-year-old that didn’t care about nobody,” she describes. “I didn’t go back to my foster place most of the time.” After eight years of help from the centre, Maddy is soon embarking on a new journey. “Now they’re [the BYRC is] going to pay for me to go to BCIT to do half business, half secretarial to come back here to benefit them”.
This is the kind of change that the RE*Generation movement pride’s itself in. They “aim to empower a generation to help its own,” which is what Maddy hopes to do. She was overjoyed to speak of not only how the BYRC saved her, but also the people that supported her during the tougher times. “The staff here wear their hearts on their sleeve, and they’re really here for the youth’s best interest. You’ll see all the staff here do overtime. There was one staff that was here until like 9 o’clock at night still doing paperwork to make sure that youth all got what they needed.” Maddy is more than thankful for the support she’s received and is hoping to give back as much as she can.
Image credit: Ksenia Orehova | Bedouin Soundclash take a photo with Broadway Youth Resource Centre alumnus Maddy (middle) and Centre Manager Robert Wilmot (right)
Virgin Mobile's RE*Generation Movement Supports Youth Homelessness
by Lisa Odland - Seycove Secondary, North Vancouver BC Dec 19, 2011
In Canada, there is currently 65,000 youth without a place to call home. With youth homelessness being such a big issue in our country, Virgin Mobile and its non-profit foundation, Virgin Unite, founded the RE*Generation movement back in 2008 to fight this growing problem.
The RE*Generation Movement has been hugely successful having raised over $800,000 to date, and to continue their great work, Virgin and Juno award-winning Canadian Ska/reggae band Bedouin Soundclash teamed up earlier in December for a benefit concert in support of the Broadway Youth Resource Centre (BYRC), one of Vigin Unite's partners.
Despite their busy schedule, the Bedouin boys - Jay Malinowski, Eon Sinclair and Sekou Lumumba - spent their afternoon at the centre to learn more about the impact their efforts would make, as well as the great work the BYRC does for youth.
The band was given a tour of the facility from the rooms where youth under the age of 25 can come to wash their clothes, to art studios where distraught teens can come express themselves. Bedouin Soundclash saw it all and were genuinely interested ine learning about the centre that they were helping to support. "We like to try to make sure that we get involved with things that are taking the right precautions, to ensure the money gets to the right places," explain Sinclair when asked why they chose to get involved with this particular initiative.
Futhermore, Malinowski feels that getting involved in the RE*Generation Movement really helps to put things in perspective for them. “Doing this kind of thing reminds you, or brings you back down to the things that are important in life. You know, you can get so tied up worrying about other things.” At the end of the day, lending a hand and helping others is always a win-win, and after speaking with Maddy, an alumnus and youth leadership graduate of the BYRC, it was obvious how much it meant to have Bedouin support a place that means so much to her. “Someone up there in society really truly does care about us. And they do want to see us be better, and they do want to wish us well,” comments Maddy.
Now an intern at BYRC Maddy is a beautiful example of a success story from the Broadway Youth Resource Centre. “When I was younger I was just this crazy 16-year-old that didn’t care about nobody,” she describes. “I didn’t go back to my foster place most of the time.” After eight years of help from the centre, Maddy is soon embarking on a new journey. “Now they’re [the BYRC is] going to pay for me to go to BCIT to do half business, half secretarial to come back here to benefit them”.
This is the kind of change that the RE*Generation movement pride’s itself in. They “aim to empower a generation to help its own,” which is what Maddy hopes to do. She was overjoyed to speak of not only how the BYRC saved her, but also the people that supported her during the tougher times. “The staff here wear their hearts on their sleeve, and they’re really here for the youth’s best interest. You’ll see all the staff here do overtime. There was one staff that was here until like 9 o’clock at night still doing paperwork to make sure that youth all got what they needed.” Maddy is more than thankful for the support she’s received and is hoping to give back as much as she can.
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