Hi readers! I hope you’re all doing well and enjoying whatever July has brought you. It’s been an interesting week thus far for me; one of the highlights came on Tuesday when I was given the opportunity to visit the Youth Opportunities Unlimited YOU Made It! café and get a tour of operations.
Don’t worry, I took some photos to share!
When I arrived at the cafe, I was greeted by staff and youth and one of the Work-Study students (Fiona) who I’ve been working alongside since early June. It was my first time meeting with them in person! Post-pandemic, it always feels very special to meet people in person for the first time. This time was no exception.
The café itself is beautiful. The building is old in a classic way where both the inside, and parts of the inside, still feel like London from the 1950s. There is a lot of history in the area of downtown where the cafe is located, and it certainly shines through here! I think it’s always a beautiful thing when home and business owner embrace the old parts of a historic building and allow its natural character to shine through; maybe it’s just me, but it feels more cozy that way and more representative of the community.
My staff supervisor was busy helping out with a couple who were newly engaged and trying out some menu items for their wedding (how exciting!?). So, Fiona and I grabbed some drinks from the café and waited for a few minutes while we got to catch up in person for the first time.
The tour started off with us being guided into the kitchen and meeting some of the staff and youth. I heard stories about how some of the youth and staff found themselves at Youth Opportunities Unlimited which left me feeling inspired and also vindicated in my choice to take a leap of faith and apply to this internship. Really, Youth Opportunities Unlimited does incredible things for our London community that are not limited to the Fiti collaboration. I felt very grateful to meet these people and hear their stories – I think that experience will stick with me for a long time.
We then made our way to the rooftop, which is a beautiful open space with patio seating and an herb garden! (I am a big gardening fan, so of course, I was intrigued). The team at Youth Opportunities Unlimited came up with this idea because maintaining an herb garden is a cost effective way for people to learn how to be self-sufficient with food security and also incorporate micronutrients into their diet that don’t cost a fortune at the grocery store. What a great idea, right?
They also had a garden bed with The Three Sisters. The Three Sisters are a type of polycropping, where multiple plants are grown together to harvest at once. Indigenous Peoples of North America knew that growing maize (corn), a squash, and climbing beans together ensured for a viable harvest as all three plants worked together to thrive. It’s a very different type of agricultural system than contemporary North American monoculture, but it’s fascinating to learn how plants just “know” how to keep each other safe and successful in growth. I loved seeing it incorporated into both the garden system and education at Youth Opportunities Unlimited!
Fiona and I were shown the different levels of the building where the café exists. This included a youth court room which allows youth to receive justice services without having to be sent alone to a courthouse; a place for dental and medical services; rooms for housing; job training, etc. There was so much all in one place, and it’s all intended to help with youth stability and success in the community. The building and everything it offers are really something to marvel at.
After our tour, Fiona and I sat down with some of the staff team members to do some real work. We discussed how to facilitate some of the goals I had set out, and I feel like we are really making progress on what we planned back in May!
At the end of the day, I made sure to buy myself a jar of Mushed by YOU jam (strawberry rhubarb, of course), and I headed home to try it. (P.S. it’s delicious).
That’s all the updates I have for now, I’m excited to keep the ball rolling on some of the goals we set and are working on at the moment. I’m looking forward to sharing with you how (hopefully!!!) these goals come to life.
Bye for now 🙂
Allison Pert - Western Heads East 