This February, Youth Without Shelter (YWS) is hosting its 12th annual youth-helping-youth initiative, Time4Change.

Youth Without Shelter (YWS) is the singular emergency residence and referral agency in Etobicoke that has been serving and supporting homeless youth ages 16 to 24 for the past three decades, while Time4Change is a year-round program run by YWS and its partners. The goal of this initiative is to educate Toronto students about youth homelessness and art activism.

With approximately 40,000 Canadian youth currently experiencing homelessness, young people are often the forgotten demographic when talking about Canada’s homelessness crisis. In fact, youth between the ages of 13 and 24 make up an astounding 20 per cent of Canada’s homeless population. They also face barriers to income support, education, paid employment, and rental accommodation due to their age, making it extremely challenging for them to find safe and affordable housing.

This February, Youth Without Shelter (YWS) is hosting its 12th annual youth-helping-youth initiative, Time4Change, which is a month-long fundraising and art activism campaign created to raise awareness and funds for the 2,000 or so youth who experience homelessness in Toronto on any given night.

This year, Time4Change has set out to raise $110,000 to support homeless youth in the GTA. If this goal is met, a total of $1,000,000 will have been raised through Time4Change over 12 years!

Now, from February 1 to February 28, supporters are being encouraged to donate online through the peer-to-peer fundraising page on Canada Helps and visit the Time4Change site to enjoy the Art Activism Showcase and Gallery. It features artwork and art activism performances from youth, school groups, and independent artists within the community that help to shed light on the realities of youth homelessness.

If you’re looking to help or join, here’s how you can participate in the virtual event.

Donate: From February 1 to February 28, supporters can donate to the cause online or by texting CHANGE to 45678 to make a $10 donation.

Peer-to-Peer Fundraising: This year for Time4Change, we will be creating a Peer to Peer fundraising page on Canada Helps to allow our supporters to join the cause as a group, corporate team, or as an individual. Supporters will have the ability to create their very own fundraising landing page to begin their fundraising initiatives- each fundraising page is customizable, easily shareable, and the funds raised will link automatically to the main T4C Canada Helps page.

T4C Art Showcase and Gallery: To end the fundraising campaign for T4C, YWS will be featuring artwork and art activism performances from youth, school groups, and independent artists within the community who are dedicated to the cause. As a result, a virtual T4C Showcase will premiere on the YWS YouTube page on Feb. 24th at 7 p.m., and a virtual T4C Art Gallery will be accessible to the public between Feb. 24-28th.

Published by HOLR Magazine.