Documentary_V1 — HeART Lab

Documentary | Youth Advocates | Digital Stories | Ways to Advocate | Contact

Growing up in the Canadian child welfare system, these youth experienced many adversities. But, with the support of programs and community, they built resilience by connecting with their strengths. Now they’re using their stories and experiences to make change.

In this documentary short, you meet Brigitte, Jess, Kaygan, Princess, Rachelle, Susan, and Zo, who participated in national programs created by the Adoption Council of Canada, in collaboration with the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health: Youth Speak Out Storyteller and Digital Storytellers. These youth reflect on their pasts in the child welfare system and advocate for a better future for those who come next.

This youth-partnered film shares a story of hope, resilience, and the capacity of youth to make change when given appropriate support and opportunity. And, perhaps most of all, this film asks that we don’t allow the youth who come next to feel alone or left behind.

Meet the youth of From Those Who Come Next

Jessica Van der veer

“If you care enough that you want to see a change, that's enough to be an advocate”

READ MORE

Jessica was adopted at six years old. She spoke in the House of Commons for the first time at age 12 and has not slowed down since. She has won numerous community awards for advocacy and volunteerism, and has created safe spaces across Canada for youth in care to support each other. She is working towards a future where no child has to feel alone in the child welfare system.

JESS' DIGITAL STORY

Princess Land

“Just going out there and being able to share your stories makes you a good advocate.”

READ MORE

Princess has worked as an advocate since first taking part in a youth panel about the importance of permanency. By speaking out and connecting with other youth in and from care, she has learned about the widespread issues and challenges within the system at large. She now writes a blog to share her experiences and insights, with the hope that readers will feel less alone. This motivates Princess to keep writing and shining light on the child welfare system.

VISIT PRINCESS' BLOG

kaygan-for-those-who-come-next-documentary-adoption-council-canada.jpg

Kaygan Drew Beardy

“You can't rely on jurisdictions or people of authority to fix these issues. They need to have ideas and solutions to be able to do it.”

READ MORE

Kaygan has been advocating for years. He has a simple idea to improve the child welfare system: make communication more efficient. He wants to make sure that no youth has to wait for someone to answer an email for help. He hopes that no child will feel neglected by the system meant to protect them.

KAYGAN'S DIGITAL STORY

Brigitte Fernandez

“The real power comes from the youth themselves, and from the workers themselves, not from being a part of the system”

READ MORE

Brigitte aged out of the child welfare system without permanence. She communicates her experiences through poetry and prose, putting words to the more difficult events of her youth. She wants every youth to remember they have a voice. And, perhaps most of all, to remember that they are capable of transcending even the most difficult of circumstances. POEM: Transendence By Brigitte Fernandez I once looked at you before I knew you, your beauty was distant. As I looked at you, all I used to feel was contamination, you were to clean for my dirtiness. But now I look at you transendence and I realize you are the dance I have been longing for since the sun lost it’s light a long time ago. Your beauty is my beauty, your light is my light. In the abstract, now I see you in ways that before I couldn’t. Transendence over suffering, I welcome you as wings of a sparrow soaring into the sky.

BRIGITTE'S DIGITAL STORY

rachelle-for-those-who-come-next-documentary-adoption-council-canada.jpg

Rachelle Metatawabin

“Through active listening, you're going to learn so much more than what you already know, because the people who are speaking have a real time view of what's going on in today's world”

READ MORE

Rachelle became a youth collaborator with the Children’s Aid Society at the age of 15, consulting and volunteering to share youth voice. She has continued to advocate for children and youth throughout her life and is currently a youth support worker. Rachelle is working to improve the system, with the hope of breaking intergenerational cycles of poverty and trauma.

RACHELLE'S DIGITAL STORY

Susan Russell-Csanyi

“I firmly believe that no other youth should have to endure the system that we endured”

READ MORE

No one should age out of care into homelessness or the other many adverse outcomes that accompany unsupported youth transitions. Sustained post-majority support is an issue Susan is advocating for in British Columbia. Once she found her calling as an advocate, she could never go back. She continues to mobilize and engage youth in decision-making, with the hope that no one will have to endure the system she endured. She is now a campaign organizer for a group called Fostering Change, based in British Columbia.

SUSAN'S DIGITAL STORY

Zo Amelia

“The wheels of government work slow, but I have patience. I've been doing this for 10 years. I'm gonna keep going.”

READ MORE

Zo was 15 when she gave her first public speech. She spoke at her foster mother’s retirement party, sharing how adoption changed her life for the better. She started to share her experiences and make change long before the inclusion youth voice was commonplace For the last decade, Zo has been building community and advocating for change. While governmental and policy changes are slow-moving, she refuses to give up. She is currently a social worker and program coordinator.

ZO'S DIGITAL STORY

Stories

Scroll the map and click to view digital stories created by youth in and from the Canadian child welfare system.

These short films, created during 3-day workshops held in communities across the country, inspire both compassion and action.

Partners

This project was made possible through generous funding from Frayme, a national knowledge mobilization network in youth mental health and substance use practices, and RBC's Future Launch Program

With thanks to the Purpleville Foundation for their generous support.

Ways to advocate for change

It takes a united effort to make change, but there are many ways to get started. We are working to:

Connect with provincial and territorial governments and agencies to advance common goals and jointly advocate for positive changes across Canada’s child welfare systems;
Recognize and promote support services and resources for the permanency community (kinship caregivers, customary caregivers, foster families, legal guardians and adoptive parents); and
Amplify the stories and experiences of youth in and from the child welfare system.