Community Support Programs
Building a Brighter Future for Our Youth
At AFRO, we believe in the power of community and the strength that comes from our diverse cultural heritage. Our programs are designed to uplift, support, and empower individuals across generations. From fostering resilience in young girls to celebrating African culture, we aim to create a positive impact on the lives of our participants and their families. Join us on our journey to build a brighter future for our community.
Quick links
Seniors and Youth - Support Through the Generations:
Mini Me-to-We:
Black Mental Health Campaign
Empowering Girls Program
Parents School Knowledge Initiative Program
Mother and Daughter
“Never be limited by other people’s limited imaginations.”
—Dr. Mae Jemison, first African-American female astronaut
Seniors and Youth
Support Through the Generations
Support Through the Generations is a program that supports Black/African Origin/Newcomer older adults with dementia (and their caregivers), and works to build meaningful, supportive relationships between older adults and our community’s youth.
This project is supported by the Supporting Inclusion through Intergenerational Partnerships (SIIP) project at the Schlegel-UW Research Institute for Aging (RIA). SIIP is funded by the Government of Canada’s New Horizons for Seniors Program.
To learn more about this program, or to register, contact us using this form.
It is a long established fact that a reader will be distracted by the readable content of a page when looking at its layout
Older adults with dementia
Mini Me-to-We
Program for 11-13-year-old girls to boost resilience.
Mini Me-to-We is a ten-week program for 11-13-year-old girls that helps them recognize their strengths to increase their resiliency.
We provide light snacks and guided learning activities such as mindfulness, crafts, group games, outings, and guest speakers. Each activity is designed to help individuals discover their strengths while building self-help and social skills and enriching their self-esteem.
This program is part of The Resilience Project, and is funded by the Lyle S Hallman Foundation.
To learn more about this program, or to register, contact us using this form.
Our goal is to help the girls recognize the positive impact they can have in their lives, their families’ lives, and the community they live in. Some of our activities may include getting to know each other, making mind jars, visiting a fire station, and baking cookies to distribute as Random Acts of Kindness.
Youth Recreation
Support the Young Generations
Our youth recreation program involves youth ages 16-22. We hold the program in The Family Centre gym every week.
The program is designed for youth to support others and encourage them to stay off the streets. This program usually involves the youth playing basketball or hosting talking circles, promoting healthy relationships and communication skills.
To learn more about this program, or to register, contact us using this form.
Cultural Enrichment Program
Strengthening identity through African heritage
Children and youth who have immigrated to Canada often feel torn between the culture of their new country and that of their family. We work with a number of youth who feel that they cannot fit into Canadian culture, and yet cannot understand the culture of their parents. Without a sense of belonging in either community, these young people feel isolated and can engage in problematic behavior that puts themselves at risk.
AFRO’s objective is to increase the resilience of these young people by strengthening their ties to their cultures and communities. By feeling connected to their families and their heritage, these young people can feel more emotionally prepared to deal with the struggles they may face while integrating into the wider Canadian community. Learning about their own cultures will help these young people better understand how they relate to their parents, their community, and to Canada, and can help them build the confidence they need to overcome the isolation and cultural challenges they face.
This program is part of The Resilience Project, and is funded by the Lyle S Hallman Foundation.
To learn more about this program, or to register, contact us using this form.
AFRO believes in empowering immigrant youth by connecting them to their cultural roots and community, fostering resilience and a sense of belonging.
Black Mental Health Campaign
Supporting mental health in the African community
The Black Mental Health Campaign (BMHC) is an afterschool program that strives to promote the mental health and well-being of Black & African children and teenagers in Kitchener-Waterloo. The BMHC seeks to shatter the stigmas surrounding mental health in the Black community by redefining the narrative, normalizing help-seeking behaviours and instilling confidence in youth to seek community resources for their well-being.
AFRO’s BMHC is about initiating conversations about mental health with children and youth who will, in turn, be encouraged to share these conversations with their parents and caregivers. The goal is to increase the frequency at which families talk about what they are feeling and how they can be supported by each other. This is an excellent opportunity to build community and friendships and engage in shaping culturally responsive programming. For this very reason, the BMHC is innovating and one of a kind!
To learn more about this program, or to register, contact us using this form.
Increasing mental health awareness about 'big emotions' among Black children & youth
Normalizing conversations about emotions, mental health, and well-being for children & youth
Engaging families to have broader conversations about mental health in their own homes & communities
To improve help-seeking behaviour (recognize what is happening and empowered to ask for help)
To improve agency and navigation skills of mental health services
The key areas we anticipate addressing through this campaign are:
AFRO is honoured to have been selected by Lyle Halman's Foundation for a three years Mental Health Campaign project.
Free for all: Balance is essential! Conversations about mental wellness are not always easy, so we embed some free leisurely time for participants to decompress, including games, food, and one-on-one time with the mental health counsellor
Empowering Girls Program
Building skills and confidence for young girls
Unlike the Mini-Me to We program, the AFRO Empowering Girls Program is a two-year program for 11+-year-old black girls that helps them recognize their strengths to increase their resiliency.
Each activity is designed to help individuals discover their strengths while building self-help, entrepreneurial, and social skills and enriching their self-esteem.
This project is funded by the Upstream Funding from the Region of Waterloo
To learn more about this program, or to register, contact us using this form.
Our goal is to help the girls recognize the positive impact they can have in their lives, families, and communities.
Parents School Knowledge
Initiative Program
Helping parents support children's education.
Many parents who have come to Canada as newcomers (immigrants, Government-Assisted Refugees, sponsored refugees or asylum seekers) have children in school. However, as the parents/guardians may not have attended school in Canada, there is often a knowledge gap (i.e., How to read report cards, the benefits of parent-teacher interviews, how to advocate for their child(ren), etc.), which puts them at a disadvantage in terms of being able to participate and navigate the school system with and for their children.
This initiative hosts Parent Knowledge Sessions for parents who fit this criterion and are geographically located in a high-needs area. Each session runs for two hours and provides information to as many parents as possible. Parents/guardians have the opportunity to ask questions and engage with teachers. The goal is to maximize their involvement in their children’s education journey.
As so many parents are not knowledgeable and often do now know where to go to get answers about their children, their schooling and any resources they may need, this program serves Black & racialized communities to become more engaged in this process. While this program does not directly impact affordable housing, most of our clientele struggle with housing insecurity and unaffordability; this builds connections with us and may lead to a referral for housing services and may alleviate one area of stress these families and individuals goes through.
To learn more about this program, or to register, contact us using this form.
Our goal is to empower parents with the knowledge and tools they need to support their children's education and development, fostering strong family bonds and academic success.
This project is funded by the
Kitchener Waterloo Community Foundation
Mother and Daughter
Strengthening mother-daughter bonds
As these young women continue to grow and develop in Canada while their mothers had a different upbringing back in their origin country, there has been some cultural divide that we seek to eradicate. We hope to do this by bringing these two generations together so they can learn from one another through different forms of healing art and pedagogies.
Some of the activities we hope to incorporate are storytelling, dancing/drumming, baking, and experiential learning. Through this program, open communication between mothers and their daughters will be a priority in hopes of breaking the divide.
To learn more about this program, or to register, contact us using this form.
This program aims to connect mothers and daughters from immigrant families amidst the "Canadianization" they are getting used to.
With Gratitude
Acknowledging Our Key Funders
