Launching the ROYC: Regional Okanagan Youth Council
Over the past two years, CLARITY has heard from community partners that:
Young people are struggling to find community spaces in which they feel like they belong and can be themselves;
Young people want to be more involved in community decision-making and leadership spaces yet there is not a lot of research on how to support and sustain such spaces;
Many local organizations facilitate youth leadership by hosting youth councils, but keeping these councils running takes a lot of time, effort, and resources.
In direct response to these concerns, CLARITY launched a Regional Okanagan Youth Council (ROYC) to create a collective youth voice for mental health and wellness within the Central Okanagan community. The ROYC aims to serve youth ages 12-25 by providing casual and fun spaces for them to connect with one another (known as ROYC Hangouts), as well as through giving them a platform to speak up about what they need from CLARITY and other community organizations, to feel happier and healthier (known as ROYC Assemblies). The ROYC further seeks to support community partners by alleviating their resource and administrative burdens of running individual youth councils while simultaneously providing them access to a wide breadth and depth of youth perspectives.
CLARITY recently welcomed Joshua Raphael, creator and executive director of Kelowna Inclusive and young person living in the Central Okanagan, as ROYC Coordinator. With Josh’s extensive wisdom and support, we have begun hosting twice-a-month ROYC Hangouts (including beach days, board game nights, and pickle-ball extravaganzas).
If you are a young person ages 12-25, follow us on Instagram @the_clarity_project to stay tuned for our next ROYC Hangout. If you are a community partner interested in partnering with ROYC to host a Hangout, reach out to clarity.project@ubc.ca.