Cover Me Urban - Tkaronto

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Land Acknowledgement

The City of Toronto is on the traditional territory of many nations including the Mississaugas of the Credit, the Anishnabeg, the Chippewa, the Haudenosaunee and the Wendat peoples and is now home to many diverse First Nations, Inuit and Métis peoples. To begin an exploration of our city through Cover Me Urban, we would like to first acknowledge the land that we are on and celebrate and appreciate our origins. The word “Toronto” originates from the Mohawk word “Tkaronto,” meaning “the place in the water where the trees are standing.”

THANK YOU FOR JOINING US

Cover Me Urban Tkaronto was an amazing night! The first of our Neighbourhood Series, we joined together to celebrate our roots as we learned about the history of this land and city, the Original Meeting Place. We sampled delicious foods from chefs across the city, participated in a silent auction, watched some amazing performances from local Indigenous artists, and explored YWS via a virtual tour. In total, between our sponsorships, ticket sales, silent auction funds, and donations, we were able to raise a total of $142,378 to support our youth here at Youth Without Shelter! Thank you to everyone who came out to join us for such a special night, who participated in our silent auction, and who donated to the cause.

We would also like to say thank you to our performers, Cody Coyote and TheRa11n – you were remarkable! Thank you to Lewis the Artist for your emotional spoken word performance.

A shout-out to our delicious food vendor Dashmaawaan Bemaadzinjin for the incredible Indigenous menu you created and shared with our guests. We’d also like to thank The Rec Room, Chef Keith and the students from Thistletown Collegiate, Demetres, and our YWS chefs for the wonderful food and desserts.

Thank you to our knowledge keepers, carriers, and Indigenous consultants, Bill Wassengeso, Larry Page and Giselle Aiabens for guiding us through this journey to create an educational experience focused on appreciation and celebration, all the while bringing awareness to the youth homelessness crisis across our city and beyond.

To August Swinson, the artist who donated his artwork that inspired all our Cover Me Urban Tkaronto materials for this year’s event – it was a pleasure to work with you! Thank you for everything.

Thank you to the Rec Room for your impeccable customer service and assistance throughout the evening. We are always so grateful for your support.

Thank you to our volunteers who helped us throughout the day and evening with set up, check-in, and much more.

And a big round of applause for Jakeb, our youth host for the evening! You did a fantastic job representing your peers and sharing their perspectives on what Toronto and Reconciliation mean to them.

We would like to say a special thank you to our donors who helped make CMU possible: 

  • Presenting Sponsor: Scotiabank 
  • Title Sponsor: Hudbay Minerals  
  • The Humberview Group 
  • Bell 
  • IPSEN 
  • Summerhill Capital Management 
  • Redberry Restaurants 

And lastly, thank you to our dedicated Development Committee who volunteered their time to create Cover Me Urban from the ground up. Although CMU is a YWS event, it is truly these incredible committee members who donate their time and expertise to create an opportunity for our community to come together to raise funds and awareness. Without this team of individuals, CMU would simply not exist. So, from the bottom of our hearts, thank you for your devotion, your commitment to the cause, and your support of our youth. Your dedication is truly inspirational.

2023 CMU Committee

Photography: Neal Burstyn (http://www.ntbcreative.com

5 Day African Safari for Two in Tanzania

Provided by: Wildlife Safaris | Tanzania — Urth Expedition (urthsafari.com)

Air Canada Foundation Package

Tom Wilson Painting

Youth Without Shelter – commonly known as ‘YWS’ – is a charity offering shelter and support for youth facing homelessness in the GTA. Since our founding in 1986, when a group of teachers came together to create a safe place for youth after seeing the need within their classrooms, we have been providing client-focused services in a non-judgmental environment for youth aged 16 – 24. Located in North Etobicoke, we are a house where a youth’s culture and needs are understood, and where each youth can receive shelter, one-on-one guidance, mental health and wellness supports, and training, through our wrap-around model of programming. All operations are trauma-informed and designed to build self-esteem and resiliency, and focus on personal strengths. Together, with our experienced team of staff, we recognize the individual needs of each youth we serve and empower them to discover their own unique path out of homelessness and to live responsibly and independently within our society.

Toronto is recognized as one of the most diverse cities in the world. Over 250 ethnicities and 180 languages are represented here. We celebrate our multiculturalism in many ways; by visiting cultural neighbourhoods, enjoying social celebrations, and visiting restaurants with foods from around the world. Together, we create a beautiful and exciting place to be, filled with heritage and tradition, creating a culture within our city that is unlike any other.

For the past 8 years, Cover Me Urban has been a celebration of our diverse city. We come together for a special night to celebrate the culture-rich neighbourhoods of Toronto for an electric evening of urban sights and sounds. 

We sample street foods prepared by local Toronto Chefs, enjoy visual arts, music and entertainment, all while supporting and bringing awareness to youth within our city who struggle with the realities of homelessness.While celebrating our diversity, CMU fundraising events have always represented different cultures and communities by having “neighbourhoods” in our venues to embody the spirit of Toronto. For 2023, we are revamping the CMU experience, diving deeper into the spirit of our city, and communities, to explore the magic Toronto has to offer with our Neighbourhood Series.

Cover Me Urban will always be a celebration of our vibrant city! Moving forward, we’d like to dedicate each year to a cultural neighbourhood of Toronto. We hope that together we will be able to explore and learn about our communities while raising awareness to the thousands of youth within them who struggle to find a safe place to call home.

With our new CMU model, deciding on our first neighbourhood to celebrate in 2023 was very important. This year, we will look back to our roots, exploring the original neighbourhood and meeting place on this land – Tkaronto.

Working alongside First Nations, knowledge holders, artists, and organizations within our community, “CMU – Tkaronto, The Original Meeting Place” will be a collaborative celebration of the origins of our city – the original meeting place.

We invite you to join us in the celebration of our past, to learn, and to grow with us, as we explore our city while raising awareness and funds to support our youth – the future of tomorrow.

Cover Me Urban - Tkaronto

June 7, 2023

6:30-9:30

The Rec Room, Toronto

255 Bremner Blvd, Toronto, ON M5V 3M9

PLEASE NOTE: This is a 19+ event

ATTIRE: Evening Casual

PERFORMANCES BY:

Cody Coyote

Photo credit: Wendy Wei Photography

 

Ottawa’s Cody Coyote is of Ojibwe/Irish descent with ancestry from Matachewan First Nation. With his fusion of strong, profound lyricism accompanied by corresponding influential sounds such as his song “Debwe”, this multi-award nominated, and award-winning Hip-Hop/Electronic/Pop artist commands his listeners’ attention by delivering mesmerizing performances.

With recognition for creating positive change in the world, this dedicated artist won the award for Ottawa’s Best Hip-Hop Artist at the 2023 Ottawa Awards hosted by FACES Magazine, CTV and Mattamy Homes Canada.

Outside of music, Cody Coyote is also a motivational speaker, workshop facilitator and is the host of “The Beat” on elmnt fm owned and operated by First People’s Radio Inc. (Ottawa/Toronto).

“The community work I do is really what drives me and has allowed me to become passionate about initiating positive change in the world today.” says Coyote. “I want the future generations of this world to ultimately feel empowered and seen.”

TheRa11n

 

TheRa11n is an award-winning First Nation’s femcee from Toronto, Canada. She is known for her high-energy live shows where she fuses traditional Indigenous dancing and sound with hip-hop, a vibe that will move the whole audience.

TheRa11n won “Best Female Hip-Hop Artist of the Year” at the first annual International Indigenous Hip-Hop Awards Show 2021 and is set to perform at the second annual IIHAS and is also nominated for two
awards. Their latest single “TheRa11n – IYKYK Produced by DJ Shub” is currently #17 on the IMC Top 40 and rising. She has recently headlined at Pride 2022 on the Bud Light Wellesly Stage as well as headlining The Fab Collective’s “Indigenous Grooves” at Lee’s Palace. 

Dashmaawaan Bemaadzinjin

Dashmaawaan Bemaadzinjin is an innovative catering company focused on increasing access to healthy food for Indigenous Seniors and vulnerable community members, utilizing catering as a means to support food security and community connections.

@dashmaawaanbemaadzinjin

OUR GUIDES AND KNOWLEDGE KEEPERS

August Swinson

Mississaugas of Scugog Island First Nation

Gisele Aiabens

Anishinaabe

Bill Wassengeso

Odawa tribe of Manatoulin Island

Phil Davis

Haudenosaunee

Artist: August Swinson

I am a First Nation artist of the Mississaugas band, currently living in Kitchener, Ontario. I work in a variety of styles and use a mix of hand-drawn and computer-generated illustrations. Influenced by the beauty of nature and the classic Canadian landscape, and memories of my childhood living on Scugog Island, my illustrations evoke a sense of fun, and something familiar that reminds us of a more innocent age but from a new perspective. 

@augustillustrated

August Swinson

Mississaugas of Scugog Island First Nation, augustillustrated.squarespace.com

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