crossing gibraltar

June 19, 2014 Jennifer Branco, Executive Director The Michael “Pinball” Clemons Foundation 55 Stewart Street, Suite 114 Toronto, ON M5V 2V1 via email to: [email protected]

Re: Request for donation in the amount of $5,000 for Crossing Gibraltar youth outreach Dear Ms. Branco, Thank you so much for your encouraging response to our letter of inquiry dated April 22, 2014. I am very pleased to submit CAHOOTS’ formal proposal to the Michael “Pinball” Clemons Foundation (MPCF) for your review and consideration. Like MPCF, we value character-building very highly. Our youth outreach program, Crossing Gibraltar, is specifically focused on building the self-expression and self-esteem of a chronically under-served population in our own back yard … young immigrants and refugees 16 to 25 years old. Our proposal requests $5,000 to offer arts education programming to 20 deserving young people with our Scarborough-based delivery partner, Access Alliance Multicultural Health and Community Services. Crossing Gibraltar, experience has taught us, helps break down linguistic and cultural barriers, and better equips youth to connect and communicate in daily life. Please accept our thanks for the interest you have shown so far in helping young newcomers to Toronto and to Canada find their dignity, their potential, and their way to a bright, hopeful future. Yours Truly, CAHOOTS Theatre Company Michelle Yeung, President Encl: Proposal Crossing Gibraltar Information Sheet CAHOOTS Theatre Company Brochure Access Alliance Programs Booklet C.V.s for Catharine Hernandez and Marjorie Chan Sample Questionnaires Letter from Toronto Arts Council CAHOOTS 2013 Financial Statements Confirmation of Charitable Status CAHOOTS Board of Directors

Proposal to

The Michael “Pinball” Clemons Foundation

for

Crossing Gibraltar

A Youth Outreach Initiative of

Submitted June 19, 2014

by Amani Alibrahim, Jackie Laurie, and Kate Ann Vandermeer

Proposal to The Michael “Pinball” Clemons Foundation

June 2, 2015 Crossing Gibraltar – CAHOOTS Theatre Company Page 2

Table of Contents

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY ........................................................................................................... 3

INTRODUCTION ....................................................................................................................... 5

STATEMENT OF NEED ............................................................................................................ 6

PROJECT DESCRIPTION ......................................................................................................... 7

PURPOSE STATEMENT .............................................................................................................. 7 GOAL ...................................................................................................................................... 7 OBJECTIVE .............................................................................................................................. 7 ACTIVITIES ............................................................................................................................... 7 OUTCOMES .............................................................................................................................. 9 TIMELINE ................................................................................................................................10 RESOURCES ...........................................................................................................................11 EVALUATION PLAN ..................................................................................................................11 LOGIC MODEL – CROSSING GIBRALTAR PROGRAM ....................................................................12

BUDGET ...................................................................................................................................15

CONCLUSION ..........................................................................................................................17

REFERENCES .........................................................................................................................18

APPENDICES...........................................................................................................................19

ADDITIONAL ATTACHMENTS ................................................................................................19



“Crossing Gibraltar is a great program which allows me to express my

thoughts and ideas in a way that I normally can’t. It is the greatest

opportunity that I have ever received. Being a refugee in Canada is difficult. I enjoy giving back and encouraging

those who watched our performance.”

Qiyan Y. (right) a past Crossing Gibraltar participant,

who later became a program facilitator, sharing a laugh with a new friend.

Executive Summary Understanding that two pillars of the Michael “Pinball” Clemons Foundation (MPCF) are “to build character” and “prioritize those with the fewest resources at home”, CAHOOTS Theatre Company (CAHOOTS) is pleased to invite your support for the deserving but underserved and under-resourced youth that we have taken to our hearts, right here in Toronto. They are immigrant and refugee youth between 16 and 25, who possess all the vitality and character necessary to build stellar new lives in this city, but lack the financial resources and established social network that we longer term residents tend to take for granted. In keeping with our own 27-year mandate of creating, developing and producing new works that investigate the complexities and intersections of Canada’s cultural diversity, CAHOOTS offers these newcomer youth a novel theatre arts outreach program called Crossing Gibraltar. In a fun social setting, the program helps dissolve linguistic and cultural barriers and diffuse the participants’ sensations of displacement and isolation. Participants courageously present their own stories of exodus. And according to the qualitative research we collect through their entry and exit interviews, they leave with greater confidence, fresh tools for self-expression, plus enduring connections to both Art itself and their newfound community. Founded in 2006, Crossing Gibraltar has since enjoyed the support and generosity of many community partners. Planning is under way now for CAHOOTS’ 2015 offering of Crossing Gibraltar, and we’re delighted to advise MPCF that Access Alliance Multicultural Health and Community Services (Access Alliance) will be partnering with us to deliver it. Access Alliance brings 25 years of experience helping Toronto’s diverse communities achieve health with dignity, which has given them a robust acquaintance with local newcomer youth. Additionally, they will be donating the workshop facilities and personnel for outreach and administration for eight (8) consecutive Saturdays between October and December 2015. In 2015, CAHOOTS is also endeavouring to enhance Crossing Gibraltar with “community enrichment activities”, excursions to two (2) thoughtfully selected professional theatre performances that would otherwise remain far out of reach for our participants and their families. Specific consideration will be given to selecting a genre of performance – dance, for example – that will transcend most linguistic or cultural barriers. To that end, we’ve approached Nova Dance and Young People’s Theatre, and are awaiting confirmation that they will significantly discount the cost of the requisite tickets. Importantly, tickets to these performances will not only be made available to the youth engaged in this program but also to their families; the outcomes for which we strive will have an extended reach.



This is MPCF’s opportunity to make a grand entrance, with a gift of $5,000 to the enhanced 2015 program, and an introduction to 20 extraordinary youngsters with inspirational tales of trial and triumph in crossing their own personal Gibraltars. We know MPCF appreciates that diverse cultures and communities helped create Toronto’s identity as a vibrant global city. We suspect you also share our commitment to ensuring young newcomers settle and integrate into the city’s social, economic and cultural landscape ... where they reflect back creativity, resilience and a pioneering spirit that benefits us all. Please don’t hesitate to contact us for clarification or additional information pertaining to this proposal: Kate Ann Vandermeer General Manager e: [email protected] p: 416.203.9000 CAHOOTS Theatre Company 388 Queen Street East, Unit 3, Toronto, ON M5A 1T3



51% of those living in Toronto are immigrants, as compared with the Canadian rate of 21%.

One third of immigrants in Toronto are newcomers, having arrived in Canada in the past 10 years.

Residents of Toronto identified with over 230 different ethnic origins.

Source: 2011 National Household Survey, Statistics Canada

Introduction Even in a city as diverse and welcoming as Toronto, which every year tens of thousands of people choose as their new home, immigration is a challenging experience. Many young newcomers are fleeing nightmarish war or violence. Often they have left behind extended families and the comforts of familiar political institutions and support systems. For the majority, neither English nor French is their first language. Language, together with significant cultural differences, can make it very difficult for them to attend school, find friends, secure employment, or get involved in stress-relieving recreational activities. Cost is also a barrier to newcomers who might otherwise wish to discover their new city by visiting cultural institutions.

Through Crossing Gibraltar, CAHOOTS has found a modest way to break down some of those barriers in the everyday life of the children of immigrants or refugees. (For program details, we’ve provided an information sheet in Appendix 1. Appendix 2, CAHOOTS’ 25th anniversary brochure, supplies additional history and context on our non-profit theatre company.) Extensive research in the field of arts education suggests strongly that it paves the way to academic achievement, social and emotional development, civic engagement, and equitable opportunities. Every ingredient for success and prosperity! So we leverage our theatre company’s collective expertise in the performing arts to help young people through a most intimidating period of their lives with renewed hope and aspirations. It’s a great delight to watch these young women and men begin to blossom in a few short weeks. It’s still more rewarding to have them return to the program later as linguistic or cultural facilitators for other newcomer youth. Many past participants have continued their relationship with our company and their exploration of the performing arts. In fact, our only regret in almost 10 years of offering this program is that we cannot yet run it as often or in as many locations as we would like, and for as large a number of deserving participants we would wish to serve. CAHOOTS is also aware that despite the availability of excellent program and services designed to meet their family needs, many newcomers in Toronto have great difficulty finding out about, and accessing these services when they are most needed. In part, Crossing Gibraltar’s past success has turned on the willingness of community organizations to partner with us to identify newcomer youth – potential participants – and reach out to them through familiar venues such as health clinics, meeting halls, or sporting facilities. The program is, and has been from the beginning, free for participants. With funding support from generous donors, CAHOOTS has in recent years been able to fund expenses such as their TTC fares to travel to our workshops. The final public performance, which concludes every series of arts workshops, includes a public reception with halal food refreshments. Both the show and the little after-party are free for participants, families, friends and the community.



Statement of Need As previously noted, immigrants and refugees arrive in Toronto by the tens of thousands every year. Within this traditionally underserved population of newcomers is another often-overlooked and chronically underserved sub-set … newcomer youth. They have made their first crossing, from their homeland into Canada. Awesome as that passage is, with it, the journey of young newcomers has just begun. At 16 to 25 years old, they are among the most vulnerable of immigrants and refugees, who must find themselves as well as their places in a bewildering and new society. There are many possible paths on that journey, and not all ultimate destinations are equally safe, dignified, or rewarding. Nobody else, not even the most loving and concerned of parents, can make choices on behalf of these young men and women as they confront obstacles and opportunities in their new city. What we can do is equip them with supports, resources and risk-free experiences that will help them make the best possible life choices. Fortunately, the City of Toronto together with a large number of social services agencies and charitable organizations, focus efforts and resources on education and health programs for this population. But building the confidence and self-esteem of newcomer youth is another matter entirely, and the special concern of CAHOOTS’ Crossing Gibraltar program. As the location for our 2015 program, we have targeted Ward 35 (shaded blue in the map below), which represents the base of operations for our main delivery partner, Access Alliance, as well as home to a concentrated newcomer population. 56% of residents in this ward were born outside of Canada, as compared with the Toronto-wide rate of 51%, and higher percentages are recent immigrants. We estimate the number of newcomer youth at over 4,441.

SCOPING THE NEED:

Given Ward 35’s total population = 62,445

and 56% or 34,969 are immigrants

then 12.7% of those immigrants, or about

4,441 are youth aged 15-24.

Source: (map, all data): Ward Profile – 2011 Census and 2011 National Household Survey, City of Toronto, 2014



Project Description

Purpose Statement CAHOOTS is seeking MPCF’s support for the 2015 offering of Crossing Gibraltar, an outreach program for newcomer youth that we launched in 2006. This program has been designed as a series of interrelated workshops interspersed with community enrichment activities, and is scheduled to run for eight (8) weeks on consecutive Saturdays between October 17 and December 5, at the Access Alliance’s main centre on Danforth Avenue in Toronto. It will offer 20 local girls and boys (16 to 25 years) an opportunity to explore a range of theatre arts activities, develop confidence, and express themselves in the company of other young newcomers, all under the tutelage of experienced artists and workshop leaders with particular sensitivity for the complexities of cultural diversity. At the end of the program, participants will perform for their families, friends, and community an original show devised from their own experiences and imaginations. As a major donor of the program, we would love to have MPCF representation at the show, if your time and interest would permit.

Goal Crossing Gibraltar aims to break down linguistic and cultural barriers among newcomer and refugee youth, resulting in increased self-esteem and confidence, improved communication skills, a sense of community, and acquisition of tools towards artistic expression. An important associated impact is increased compassion, understanding and societal awareness in the community at large. Objective Our specific objective = increase the self-expression and communication abilities of up to 20 newcomer youth (aged 16 to 25) in Scarborough’s Ward 35, by December 5, 2015.

Activities CAHOOTS will fulfill our objective by providing access to free theatre arts workshops for the targeted participants. To achieve this, we will rely on a delivery partner already well known to newcomers in their Scarborough neighbourhood, and with whom we have worked successfully on several previous programs. Access Alliance – located at 3079 Danforth Avenue – will assist in identifying and referring potential participants, and by advertising the program on their web site and posters on the premises. Besides the workshop/performance space, we will have use of a kitchen for preparing lunches and refreshments after the final performance. To learn more about Access Alliance, please see Appendix 3 to this proposal. Access Alliance personnel will also provide ad hoc assistance with reception and greeting of participants and guests, though responsibility for program administration rests with CAHOOTS. Naturally, CAHOOTS will also provide the talent for devising and running the theatre arts programming. A framework for Crossing Gibraltar workshops is provided in the table following; however some fine tuning is typically necessary to accommodate artist availability. We’ve also indicated where the 2015 program enrichment is most likely to be added. We recognize that being responsive to the interests of our participants encourages them to complete all eight weeks and earn their certificates. If capacity exists in any of our weekly sessions and there are additional young people interested in attending, CAHOOTS will include them in the weekly programming until our full enrolment is reached.



Date Activity

Week 1 Saturday, October 17, 2015 – 10am to 4pm Meet & Greet | Introduction | Welcome

Description: A presentation on Crossing Gibraltar will be provided for participants and their families in attendance. This will detail the arts workshops programmed, the final presentation and reception details, the goals of the program, the option to participate in additional community enrichment activities. An outline of the honorarium, TTC fare and snack allowances provided for participation will be given. Games and group activities will be planned to break down barriers and begin building relationships.

Week 2 Saturday, October 24, 2015 – 10am to 4pm Workshop #1 | Collage Art & Poetry

Description: Led by arts facilitator Lisa Pijuan-Nomura, this workshop will involve creating a personalized art collage based on the theme of ‘home’. Using images from magazines and newspapers, participants will develop their own collage image that illustrates what home means to them. After the collage creation, each participant will be asked to find a few select words that best articulate the image they’ve crafted. With facilitator direction, the group will collectively piece together a poetic narrative that captures all participants’ stories of home.

Week 3 Saturday, October 31, 2015 – 10am to 4pm Workshop #2 | Movement

Description: Led by arts facilitator Andrea Mapili, this workshop will build on the ideas of home that came out of the first workshop. Participants will be taught different styles of movement and will get the opportunity to explore how best to express feeling and meaning through movement. Various exercises and games will be used to engage the participants in these group activities.

Week 3 (Optional)

Sunday, November 1, 2015 – 2pm to 4pm (Optional)

Description: All participants will be invited to attend a community enrichment activity. Each participant will be asked to bring along a family member too. This activity will involve attending a matinee performance of a play, a dance piece or a concert. TTC fare and tickets will be provided free of charge for all who attend, and careful attention will be given to ensure the performance selected is appropriate for all participating in this activity. After the show, discussion about the performance will take place.

Week 4 Saturday, November 7, 2015 – 10am to 4pm Workshop #3 | Costume Design

Description: Led by arts facilitator Camellia Koo, participants will receive an overview on costume design and insight into how selection of clothing can convey a story on its own. Having access to a variety of CAHOOTS’ favourite wardrobe items, participants will explore, create, embody and share their different character creations with one another.

Week 5 Saturday, November 14, 2015 – 10am to 4pm Workshop #4 | Voice Work

Description: Led by arts facilitator Derek Kwan, participants will get the opportunity to explore different techniques of voice work. They will be provided with the basic tools for public performance and will partake in many fun exercises that will have each individual feeling more confident and comfortable with finding and sharing their own voice.

Week 6 Saturday, November 21, 2015 – 10am to 4pm Workshop #5 | Puppetry & Prop Design

Description: Led by arts facilitator Lindsay Anne Black, participants will be shown how puppetry and props design can be used to tell a story. They will be introduced to shadow puppetry, hand puppetry and shown various types of theatrical props. Materials will be provided so that every participant will get the chance to create their own prop or puppet for use in the final presentation.



“As an immigrant who came to this country before my teens, with very little spoken English, I found myself identifying with many of the experiences shared by the new students today. From loneliness to fear of not fitting in, these are feelings that are difficult to articulate and even harder to bridge.”

John Ng, performer and playwright, mentor for

T.L., participant from Vietnam

“Crossing Gibraltar had helped me to improve my communication skills, and my confidence. I had learned many things such as dancing, and acting. I did have a great time during the program.”

Paolo A.B.O., participant from Colombia

Date Activity

Week 6 (Optional)

Sunday, November 22, 2015 – 2pm to 4pm (Optional)

Description: All participants will be invited to attend a community enrichment activity. Each participant will be asked to bring along a family member too. This activity will involve attending a matinee performance of a play, a dance piece or a concert. TTC fare and tickets will be provided free-of-charge for all who attend and careful attention will be given to ensure the performance selected is appropriate for all participating in this activity. After the show, discussion about the performance will take place.

Week 7 Saturday, November 28, 2015 – 10am to 4pm Workshop #6 | Improvisation & Scene Work

Description: Led by arts facilitator Leah-Simone Bowen, this workshop will focus on letting go and freeing up the imagination. Using various improvisational games and techniques, participants will explore various themes and create scenes together that use all of the various components (i.e. Puppets, costumes, movement, voice, etc.) from earlier workshops. Time will be spent compiling a 30 minute presentation for the final week of this program.

Week 8 Saturday, December 5, 2015 – 10am to 4pm Final Presentation | Public Reception

Description: Rehearsals will take place in the morning (10am-1pm) and following the lunch break (2pm) a public presentation that showcases and captures the skills learned as well as the process, will be shared. Family, friends, the community, our partners and funders are all invited to the show, which will be followed by a reception.

For the 2015 program, as noted in red in the schedule above, we intend to add “community enrichment activities” – two (2) opportunities for interested participants and members of their families to experience professional theatre arts productions free of charge. Engaging families in these outings will help broaden out into the community the learning and compassion that live theatre teaches. Although attendance will be optional at these sessions, we expect they will be widely attended by newcomers who might not otherwise be able to afford tickets.

Outcomes In the short term, CAHOOTS expects we shall see – as we have over the course of other Crossing Gibraltar programs – a gradual evolution from shy, tongue-tied and somewhat bewildered youth to more relaxed and empathetic young men and women whose confidence and communication skills seem to build by the hour. Over the longer term, extended relationship-building with their peers and with CAHOOTS are usual among past participants, as the testimonials presented at left will attest.



Timeline As already noted, in 2015, Crossing Gibraltar is scheduled for October 17 to December 5, 2015. Of course, planning will be underway long before. For details, please consult the implementation plan table below.

Objective Activity Timeframe Responsibility

1. Increase access to arts programs by 50% for newcomer and refugee youth (16-25) partaking in our program taking place in Scarborough, ON by December, 2015.

a. Hire Community Arts Facilitator and Community Coordinator to prepare and deliver outreach program.

June 2015

CAHOOTS Personnel: • General Manager • Artistic Director

b. Work with Access Alliance to determine demographics and needs of newcomer youth in Scarborough area. July 2015

CAHOOTS Personnel: • Artistic Director • Program Manager • Community Coordinator • Community Facilitator Coordinator Access Alliance Personnel: • Program Officer

c. Determine theme of 6 arts-related workshops to be delivered during outreach program and the location/performance of the 2 community enrichment activities.

July to August 2015

CAHOOTS Personnel: • Artistic Director • Program Manager • Community Coordinator • Community Facilitator Coordinator Access Alliance Personnel: • Program Officer

d. Hire professional arts facilitators to deliver 6 arts workshops to youth.

August to September

2015

CAHOOTS Personnel: • Community Coordinator • Community Facilitator Coordinator

2. Increase confidence, self-expression and communication among our program participants by 25% by December, 2015.

a. Deliver benchmark survey to youth participating in our arts workshops at Access Alliance.

October 2015

CAHOOTS Personnel: • Community Coordinator Access Alliance Personnel: • Program Officer

b. Deliver introductory workshop,6 different arts workshops & performance workshop to newcomer and refugee youth

October to December

2015

CAHOOTS Personnel: • Community Coordinator • Community Facilitator Coordinator Access Alliance Personnel: • Program Officer

c. Deliver 2 off-site enrichment activities for participants to attend with a family member. November

2015

CAHOOTS Personnel: • Community Coordinator • Community Facilitator Coordinator Access Alliance Personnel: • Centre Volunteers

d. Produce a final presentation for the public with the newcomer and refugee participants. December

2015

CAHOOTS Personnel: • Community Coordinator • Community Facilitator Coordinator Access Alliance Personnel: • Program Officer • Centre Volunteers

e. Evaluation: deliver exit survey for youth participants’ results.

December 2015

CAHOOTS Personnel: • Community Coordinator • Program Coordinator



Resources Crossing Gibraltar is not dependent upon volunteers. All of the artistic and administrative staff and facilitators are compensated for their time and travel, either by CAHOOTS or by Access Alliance. Our workshops typically represent a commitment of six (6) hours per day, once per week, over a program lasting eight (8) weeks. Because they are so well known and highly respected within the Toronto theatre community, we’re delighted to announce that overall responsibility for the 2015 program design and delivery will be in the capable hands of Community Arts Coordinator Catherine Hernandez, and Program Manager Marjorie Chan. Appendix 4 contains C.V.s for each of these artists. Materials required for program delivery are minimal, as neither the workshops nor the final performance are technically heavy. CAHOOTS will provide these necessities, such as garments from our wardrobe, fabric, paper, paints, etc. for the various workshops scheduled. Evaluation Plan While we’re great believers in measuring progress against our objectives, CAHOOTS is limited to collecting qualitative information (and that very carefully), since overcoming difficulties with language and self-expression are so often the issues which bring participants to Crossing Gibraltar in the first place. We do administer a short benchmark questionnaire at the start of the program, for comparison with an exit questionnaire which we administer at its conclusion. Examples of past questionnaires have been provided in Appendix 5. We assiduously avoid leaving newcomer youth with the impression that they are somehow being “judged” or “graded” on their performances or abilities.

1 Past participants in their final performance.

For a comprehensive overview of Crossing Gibraltar, please refer to the logic model presented on the next page.



Logic Model – Crossing Gibraltar Program Goal: Crossing Gibraltar aims to break down linguistic and cultural barriers among newcomer and refugee youth by providing access to free theatre arts workshops. These workshops will help them to increase their self-esteem and confidence, improve their communication skills, gain a sense of community, and provide them with tools towards artistic expression. Background: Crossing Gibraltar is CAHOOTS’ outreach program for refugees and newcomers, which began in 2006. This program brings artists and community members together to share their skills and their stories, empowering and informing both parties’ artistic expression. In October 2015, we will deliver Crossing Gibraltar in partnership with Access Alliance in Scarborough to provide an 8-week outreach program for newcomer and refugee youth (ages 16-25).

Logic Model Content: The model showcases two objectives that fulfill the project goal. The first objective focuses on accomplishing four activities around hiring the staff that will develop and plan the outreach program workshop schedule and engage qualified and professional artists. All these activities will take into consideration the needs of the target audience that the outreach program will eventually serve. The second objective focuses on running workshops to serve the target audience. This will help in increasing participants’ knowledge of the arts and the tools needed for artistic expression. In the process, participants will improve their communication skills, gain a sense of community, increase confidence, and strengthen self-esteem. All of these new or improved skills will be showcased in a grand performance at Week 8 in front of a live audience. The broader overall impact includes expansion of community outreach programming to serve four (4) different priority neighbourhoods across the GTA. It also includes creating a network of Canadian youth exhibiting increased self- esteem, who are connected through the program, and who are versatile in using arts tools to express themselves and their stories with confidence.

Objective Activity Time-line

Inputs Outputs Aggregate Short-Term and

Impact Indicators Data Source Intermediate-Term Effects

1. Increase access to arts programs by 50% for newcomer and refugee youth (16-25) partaking in our program taking place in Scarborough, ON by December 2015.

Assumptions: • Support from Access

Alliance • Arts Facilitators are

available and committed.

• Youth in the community will participate

• Families of the youth

a. Hire Community Arts Facilitator and Community Coordinator to prepare and deliver outreach program.

Jun. 2015

CAHOOTS Personnel: • General Manager • Artistic Director

• Contract two positions from July 2015 until December 2015 for our outreach program.

Short-Term Effects

• Build a robust outreach program to introduce youth from newcomer and refugee backgrounds to arts tools that can be used towards artistic expression

• Have a community commitment to increase the knowledge of arts tools that can be used towards artistic expression especially for those who need to share their stories, build a sense of community, and call Canada home.

• Have well experienced staff working on the program development

• CAHOOTS employee performance feedback reviews

b. Work with Access Alliance to determine demographics and needs of newcomer youth in Scarborough area and the best way to reach them.

July 2015

CAHOOTS Personnel: • Artistic Director • Program Manager • Community Coordinator • Community Facilitator

Coordinator Access Alliance Personnel: • Program Officer

• Collect facts and statistics about the area and the youth we will be serving. Have a strategy in place with Access Alliance to reach out to the youth and their families.

• # of diverse participants enrolled in our outreach program

• Demographics of audience attendees

• Access Alliance • CAHOOTS

internal survey

c. Determine theme of 6 arts-related workshops to be

July to Aug. 2015

CAHOOTS Personnel: • Artistic Director • Program Manager

• Develop and tailor outreach programs workshops to reflect the

• The theme of workshops needed to address youth

• CAHOOTS internal survey

• Community



participating in the workshop will welcome and support the idea.

Risk Factors: • Language Barriers:

artists might not be able to communicate effectively with the youth who don’t have good command of English language.

• Commitment: Artists might not be able to commit for the duration of the program

• Cultural Barriers: newcomers’’ families might not consider arts as appropriate or important to learn.

• Family Opposition: Potential for families to withhold their children’s participation in the program.

delivered during outreach program and plan 2 community enrichment activities.

• Community Coordinator • Community Facilitator

Coordinator Access Alliance Personnel: • Program Officer

needs of the youth in this community.

needs in this community

• Community partnership with theatres for the community enrichment activities or discounted tickets

• # of family members interested and engaged in off-site enrichment activities

enrichment activities attendance list

d. Hire professional arts facilitators to deliver arts workshops to youth.

Aug. to Sept. 2015

CAHOOTS Personnel: • Community Coordinator • Community Facilitator

Coordinator

• Have experienced and committed artists carry the workshops

Medium-Term Effects

• Provide year round art and artistic expression programs to underserved newcomers and refugees across the GTA

• The diversity of the artists and their artistic fields


2. Increase confidence, self-expression and communication among our program participants by 25% by December, 2015.

Assumptions: • Interest and availability

of community partners. • Support from Access

Alliance • Families of the youth

participating in the workshop will be welcoming to the idea and supportive

a. Deliver benchmark survey to youth participating in our arts workshops at Access Alliance.

Oct. 2015

CAHOOTS Personnel: • Community Coordinator Access Alliance Personnel : • Program Officer

• Benchmark survey findings will check the art knowledge and attitude of participants towards arts and artistic expression. The survey will also report on demographics and needs of participants in a new living environment.

Short-Term Effects

• Increased understanding of arts and artistic expression

• Change in participants’ attitudes and comfort levels

• Increase in communication skills and confidence

• Create a healthy environment where participants feel a sense of community and gain friendships that will endure

• Expansion of community outreach programming to serve 4 different priority neighbourhoods across the GTA

• Create a network of new Canadian youth who are connected through the program, who display high self-esteem, and who are versatile in

• # of surveys completed

• # of youth participants enrolled


b. Deliver 6 different arts workshops to newcomer youth.

Oct. to Dec. 2015


Coordinator Access Alliance Personnel:

• Carry workshops that help participants share their stories and express their needs through arts. These workshops also help

• # of different workshops offered to address the needs of newcomer youth

• # well-recognized and experienced

• CAHOOTS Internal survey

• CAHOOTS program schedule



• Interest and availability of youth participants.

• Arts Facilitators availability and commitment.

• Access to reduced ticket prices from partnering arts organizations for off-site enrichment activities

Risk Factors: • Language Barriers: the

youth might not have good command of English language.

• Cultural Barriers: newcomers’ and refugees’ families might not consider arts as appropriate or important to learn.

• Parents Disapproval: withheld from allowing their youth to participate in the program

• Committed Youth: have youth from the start of the program till the end to measure behaviour , knowledge, and attitude change

• Program Officer students to build self-esteem and express themselves in a safe environment

• Have dialogue through sharing stories and opinions about workshop art topics

• Use tools and materials to express their journey to Canada

using art tools to express themselves and their stories with confidence.

artists running these workshops

c. Deliver 2 off-site enrichment activities for participants to attend with a family member.

Nov. 2015


Coordinator Access Alliance Personnel: • Centre Volunteers

• Participants and family members engage in the off-site enrichment activities

Medium-Term Effects

• Increased number of community partners to run these workshops

• Increased participants’ and community engagement with the arts

• Continued relationship between CAHOOTS and participants

• # of family members interested and engaged in off-site enrichment activities

• # of interested partner companies to provide discounted tickets

• Internal data survey

• Attendance list • Location of

community enrichment activities

• # of discounted/ fee waived tickets

d. Produce a final presentation for the public with the newcomer and refugee participants.

Dec. 2015

CAHOOTS Personnel • Community Coordinator • Community Facilitator

Coordinator Access Alliance Personnel • Program Officer • Centre Volunteers

• Participants perform the skills they learned in front of an audience (attending for free) which includes family members, community members , funders, and supporters

• # of audience attendees at final performance

• Participants’ ability to communicate what they learned with confidence and ease

• Audience demographics


• Audience list • Overall

performance

e. Evaluation: deliver exit survey for youth participants’ results.

Dec. 2015

CAHOOTS Personnel • Community Coordinator • Program Coordinator

• Participants complete exit survey

• Evaluation report to measure growth from before to after

• # surveys completed • # of participants who

completed all 8 weeks

• # of participants interested in returning

• Attitude, opinion, and change based on feedback


• Long-Term data collection



Budget As shown in the budget table below, MPCF’s generous gift will be well invested – on participants themselves – offsetting direct program expenses for the 2015 offering of Crossing Gibraltar. We’d also like to call to your attention to $10,000 in funding for the program already confirmed, from the Toronto Arts Council. In Appendix 6 you will find a copy of the confirmation letter. CAHOOTS will raise the balance of funds needed through fundraising activities. Financial management of Crossing Gibraltar rests entirely with CAHOOTS. To help MPCF place program costs within the context of our overall budget, we have provided our most recent annual financial statements in Appendix 7. Project Proposal Budget to Michael "Pinball" Clemons Foundation

Cahoots Theatre Company - Crossing Gibraltar Outreach Program

REVENUES

Public

Total

Budget

Cahoots

Contribution

Access Alliance

Contribution

Foundation

Request Notes

Toronto Arts Council - Targeted Enhanced Funding 10,000$ 10,000$ -$ -$ Pledged Funding

Michael "Pinball" Clemons Foundation 5,000$ -$ -$ 5,000$ Pending Proposal Submission

SUBTOTAL: 15,000$ 10,000$ -$ 5,000$

Private

Internal Company Fundraiser 500$ 500$ -$ -$ % of Company Fundraising Campaign

SUBTOTAL: 500$ 500$ -$ -$

Other

Facility - In-Kind Contribution* 1,200$ -$ 1,200$ -$ In-Kind Space Rental

Personnel - In-Kind Contribution** 3,300$ 2,500$ 800$ -$ In-Kind Staff Services

SUBTOTAL: 4,500$ 2,500$ 2,000$ -$

TOTAL REVENUE: 20,000$ 13,000$ 2,000$ 5,000$

EXPENSES

Staff/Personnel

Community Arts Coordinator 3,500$ 3,500$ -$ -$ Contract Position

Assistant Coordinator 2,500$ 2,500$ -$ -$ Contract Position

Program Officer Access Alliance ** 800$ -$ 800$ -$ In-Kind Community Staff Services

Program Manager ** 2,500$ 2,500$ -$ -$ In-Kind Cahoots Staff Services

Arts Facilitators 2,400$ 2,400$ -$ -$ Contract Positions for Workshops

SUBTOTAL: 11,700$ 10,900$ 800$ -$

Program Expenses

Participant Honoraria 2,000$ -$ -$ 2,000$ $100/participant x 20 persons

Workshop Art Supplies (eg. Fabric, Paint, etc.) 600$ -$ -$ 600$ $75/workshop x 8 wksps

Public Transporation 400$ 100$ -$ 300$ 2 tokens/person x 20 x 8 wksps

Food for Sessions 400$ 400$ -$ -$ $50/workshop x 8 sessions

Theatre tickets 1,600$ -$ -$ 1,600$ 50 tkts (participant + family) x 2 shows

Final Performance Reception 500$ -$ -$ 500$ Food / Non-alcoholic beverages / Décor

SUBTOTAL: 5,500$ 500$ -$ 5,000$

Administrative Expenses

Marketing & Outreach 500$ 500$ -$ -$ Promotion Materials / Advertisement

Police Checks 300$ 300$ -$ -$ Required checks for working w/ youth

Mileage/Transportation/TTC 500$ 500$ -$ -$ Reimbursement of gas for coordinators

Archival Video/Photography/Evaluation 300$ 300$ -$ -$

Workshop Facility Rental * 1,200$ -$ 1,200$ -$ In-Kind space from Access Alliance

SUBTOTAL: 2,800$ 1,600$ 1,200$ -$

TOTAL EXPENSES: 20,000$ 13,000$ 2,000$ 5,000$



Notes to Expenses • Staff/Personnel: $11,700

o Contract positions for one part-time Community Program Coordinator and one part-time Assistant Coordinator to manage the project implementation. Responsibilities include: serving as the primary contact for our community partner, participants and facilitators; oversight of data collection; and performing administrative duties.

o The positions of Program Officer and Program Manager will be in-kind services provided by Access Alliance and CAHOOTS, respectively. Asterisks (**) above indicate the corresponding revenues and expenses related to these budget line items.

o The artist facilitators will be contracted to create and implement the weekly workshops. • Program Expenses: $5,500

o These costs are directed related to the implementation of the 8 workshops throughout the duration of the program. In addition to the physical materials required (i.e. fabric, glue, paper, etc.) to execute each workshop, each participant will receive an honorarium for their consistent participation throughout the program as well as TTC fare to attend the workshops. There will be halal food and beverages available at each workshop for participants to enjoy during the programmed breaks. Additionally, there are two (2) scheduled community enrichment activities interspersed within this program which will involve providing access to live theatre/dance performances for both participants and a family member to attend together.

• Administrative Expenses: $2,800 o These budget lines account for the other miscellaneous costs related to running this

program, including: printing and disseminating costs related to marketing and outreach; police checks for staff involved in the programming; travel costs; and costs related to evaluation and archiving of the outreach programming. Also included here are the in-kind costs related to using the Access Alliance venue. The asterisk (*) above indicates the corresponding revenues and expenses related to these budget line items.

Notes to Revenues - Pending and Pledged Funding • Our organization has the following proposals pending funding results:

o Michael 'Pinball' Clemons Foundation = $5,000 o In-Kind Contributions (Personnel and Facility) by Access Alliance = $2,000

TOTAL: $7,000 • The following support has been committed:

o Toronto Arts Council - Targeted Enhanced Funding = $10,000 o In-Kind Contributions (Personnel) by CAHOOTS Theatre Company = $2,500

TOTAL: $12,500 • At this time, just over 60% of our total $20,000 budget has been pledged. Proceeds from

our company's fundraiser, Cahootsalicious, have been committed to this project; the fundraiser will take place in October 2015, and the projected gross (based on previous fundraisers) is $1,000, with half the proceeds being directed towards this outreach program. o Committed funding: $12,500 o Pending Funding: $7,000 o Fundraiser Revenue: $500

TOTAL: $20,000

Our request to Michael "Pinball" Clemons Foundation for $5,000 would therefore bring us close to completing our $20,000 total project budget for 2015.



“As my friend Bill English of San Francisco's SF Playhouse says, theater is like a gym for empathy. It's where we can go to build up the muscles of compassion, to practice listening and understanding and engaging with people that are not just like ourselves. We practice sitting down, paying attention

and learning from other people's actions. We practice caring.”

Excerpted from How Theater for Young People Could Save the World, Huffington Post, 2012, by Lauren Gunderson

Conclusion Although Crossing Gibraltar may not reveal Canada’s next Glen Gould, Norman Bethune, Marshall McLuhan, or Celine Dion, it may well help future treasures to find themselves within the ranks of young Torontonians who happen to be new to our city and our country. CAHOOTS is very proud to help these young newcomers explore and unlock their potential through a program of outreach and arts education. Ultimately, we’d like to expand the program beyond its present limits to reach more priority neighbourhoods, increase the number of community partnerships bridged, and multiply the number of newcomer youth engaged in Crossing Gibraltar arts programming. Meanwhile, with the generous support of Access Alliance, and gift of $5,000 from MPCF, in autumn 2015 a journey of a thousand miles can begin with the next step … and greatly enrich the lives of 20 more plucky young people.

2 Lasting friendships formed during previous Crossing Gibraltar programs.

On behalf of CAHOOTS, and past and future Crossing Gibraltar participants, thank you very much for your time and your consideration of our proposal.



References Statistics Canada. National Household Survey. 2011 Retrieved June 4, 2014 from: http://www12.statcan.gc.ca/nhs-enm/2011/dp-pd/prof/details/page.cfm?Lang=E&Geo1=PR&Code1=01&Data=Count&SearchText=canada&SearchType=Begins&SearchPR=01&A1=All&B1=All&Custom=&TABID=1 City of Toronto. Ward 35 Scarborough Southwest Profile. 2011. Retrieved June 4, 2014 from: http://www1.toronto.ca/wps/portal/contentonly?vgnextoid=382abe4436161410VgnVCM10000071d60f89RCRD Gunderson, Lauren. (March 2012). How Theater for Young People Could Save the World. Retrieved June 11, 2014, from http://www.huffingtonpost.com/lauren-gunderson/world-theater-for-children-and-young-people-day_b_1343408.html Hardiman, Mariale EdD. Magsamen, Susan. McKhann, Guy MD. and Eilber, Janet. (Dana Press; 2009) Neuroeducation: Learning, Arts and the Brain. Findings and Challenges for Educators and Researchers from the 2009 Johns Hopkins University Summit. Retrieved June 6, 2014, from http://steam-notstem.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/11/Neuroeducation.pdf

Scheuler, Leslie PhD. (March, 2010) Arts Education Makes a Difference in Missouri Schools. Retrieved June 6, 2014, from https://www.missouriartscouncil.org/graphics/assets/documents/b657d9f1adfc.pdf

McCarthy, Kevin F. Ondaatje, Elizabeth H. Brooks, Arthur. Szántó, András. (Rand Corporation; 2005) A Portrait of the Visual Arts: Meeting the Challenges of a New Era. Retrieved June 7, 2014, from http://www.rand.org/content/dam/rand/pubs/monographs/2005/RAND_MG290.pdf



Appendices The following additional information is provided in the form of appendices to this proposal: Appendix 1 – Crossing Gibraltar Information Sheet Appendix 2 – 25 Seasons, CAHOOTS Theatre Company Legacy Brochure Appendix 3 – Access Alliance Multicultural Health and Community Services Programs Booklet Appendix 4 – C.V.s for Catharine Hernandez and Marjorie Chan Appendix 5 – Sample Questionnaires Appendix 6 – Letter of Confirmation from Toronto Arts Council Appendix 7 – CAHOOTS 2013 Annual Financial Statements

Additional Attachments Attachment 1 – Confirmation of Charitable Status Attachment 2 – Listing of CAHOOTS Board of Directors

crossing gibraltar

Career

cahoots formal proposal

toronto arts council

proposal requests

youth outreach initiative

youth outreach program

young newcomers

deserving young people

yard young immigrants