An innovative non-profit that brings teens and tools together in a bid to build community will hold a three-day workshop in New Westminster, starting on Sunday.
Organizers Tobias Atkinson, 32, and Renee Michaud, 33, created Hammer and Saw: Youth Building Community, as a free way to help teens who struggle in regular school to find purpose and meaning through building - not just materials but connections as well.
"It came out of the idea that both of us want to be educators, but we feel that the system needs to have better alternatives, especially for youth that are struggling in standardized education systems, so more like the alternative school model - where youth can be more engaged in a community of learning rather than as high school students shuffling through class to class," Michaud told The Record.
Supported by a grant from the River Market/Donald's Market ONE Prize, the two graduates of the BCIT Technology Teacher Education program plan lead a group of 10 New Westminster youth in designing and safely building a woodworking project for the community.
The project will involve building planter boxes. The plan was to place the planters at the youth centre at Century House, but they are still determining if the City of New Westminster will allow them to place the planters on the site.
"We are hoping for the youth centre, but that might take a bit of time," says Michaud.
The three-day workshop will launch with an ice-cream social, and it includes lunches for the teens. Atkinson and Michaud are volunteering their time.
"So, it's really a holistic vision of having the community support the youth through space and material and food," explains Michaud, who lives in East Vancouver, while Atkinson recently moved to New Westminster.
The participants can be anyone aged 13 to 18 who is interested in learning new skills and meeting people.
"We are looking for diversity of ethnicity and gender. We really want it to be an inclusive group of youth," Michaud says.
The New Westminster project will be their first, while another workshop is planned for East Vancouver in August.
"All of this is fairly exploratory," she says. "It's going to be a growing, evolving thing."
So far, five local teens are committed to the event. Youth, who are interested in participating, can email [email protected] or call 778-896-2473.
Anyone interested in donating food or tools to the cause, can do so through the same contact information.
