Spring 2020 Participants

Project title: Engaging im/migrant women youth in community-based health research

Im/migrant women face critical barriers to sexual and reproductive health (SRH) services in Canada, and a large proportion of newcomers are youth aged 15-24. Despite this, im/migrant women youth (IWY) are underrepresented in health services research, and we know little about their engagement with SRH services over arrival and settlement.

Through CERi funding, doctoral researcher Stefanie Machado will help establish a new IWY Advisory Board of multilingual, multicultural, and experiential IWY, which would build research literacy and capacity among this population and ensure that young newcomers' voices directly contribute to the research and its policy and programmatic recommendations.

The Carnegie Dance Troupe is a program of the Karen Jamieson Dance Society that has, over a period of 14 years, forged strong collaborative relationships with multicultural and intergenerational residents of the unique and historic neighbourhood of the Downtown Eastside.  It is a program of dance education, creation and performance centred on revealing the power of dance as an art form with the potential to transform, engage and heal the dancing body.   Since the fall 2019, the Troupe has been led by Foolish Operations' artistic director Julie Lebel, employing a team approach that includes dance artists Caroline Liffmann and artist/scholar P. Megan Andrews. 

Project title: Getting Around to Feed Ourselves Well: Exploring the Intersection of Access to Transit and Food Security in Vancouver

This project is nestled under the BC Poverty Reduction Coalition’s Community Action Network and associated community-based #AllOnBoard campaign which advocates for accessible and safe transportation options and access for low-income and marginalized communities. It was sourced within community where we identified the need to gather quality qualitative data on the relationship between access to transportation and food security in Vancouver, and beyond.

In collaboration with SFU's Dr. Tammara Soma and graduate student Daniel Rajasooriar, the project will undertake a mapping of food service locations, income source of those visiting them, primary forms of transportation and challenges in accessing those, and short and long-term implications of these challenges (e.g. do they visit less often than they need? what do they sacrifice in order to get there?) at charitable food service hubs through-out Vancouver and Metro Vancouver.

It will entail ‘citizen-researchers’ carrying out Participatory Action Research methods such as photo voice to ensure unique engagement and data collection from their direct perspective is included. In recognition that poverty is racialized and gendered, demographics will also be collected to provide a full picture of the how the issue impacts different marginalized low-income groups.

Dr. Travis Salway and Master of Public Health students James Young and Natasha Vitkin are working with Community-Based Research Centre to understand how MindMap can integrate with existing programs at CBRC and can be implemented more effectively to help LGBTQ2 people access mental health services.

The goal is for MindMap to help “connect the dots” for LGBTQ2 people who are suffering and looking for a low-cost, low-barrier provider who understands their lives and challenges in finding appropriate resources and for it to be a reliable and learning-oriented database that can build and grow.

This project is addressing health, prosperity, and economic growth in remote First Nations communities in BC. The N-EAT model is a comprehensive program staffed by a team with a diverse set of expertise, supported by the Pacific Water Research Centre at the Faculty of Environment. The team engages with remote communities to provide tools, planning, resources, and supports through mentorship and coaching to enhance the communities’ self-reliance on sustainable, nutritious and organic foods while ensuring sustainable access to water and energy. We are consultative, inclusive, and sustainable, offering holistic measures, knowledge, planning, and resources.

The N-EAT project partners with Embark Sustainability – a student-led group at Simon Fraser University. This partnership between PWRC and Embark Sustainability will allow engagement of SFU students in development of guidance documents and logistical support for the project

Solid State is building a network of worker cooperatives with youth from newcomer families in Surrey. With the support of mentors, advisers and community partners, youth gain training and educational skills towards long-term economic self-reliance. Solid State addresses the endemic lack of opportunity and mobility for marginalized and migrant youth by founding and building workers’ co-ops while also creating a different set of stories about newcomer youth and community safety.

The CERi-funded portion of the project supports the research and documentation of how and why youth are interested in Solid State, what attracts them to it, and how to make co-operatives responsive specifically to the needs and interests of newcomer youth in Surrey.

Project title: Understanding the Health, Transportation, and Equity Implications of Congestion Pricing

Road pricing is a key policy option that TransLink that is exploring to manage congestion across the region. The CERi-funded aspect of this project aims to understand how congestion pricing may affect health and transportation equity in the Metro Vancouver region from the viewpoint of youth. The youth perspective is often overlooked in research and decision making, even though key policy decisions will have the most significant impacts on younger generations.

Through a series of workshops and online consultations, this project builds on the efforts that have already been started by TransLink and youth engagement organization City Hive to ensure that the youth voice is incorporated into long term decision making.