BREAKING DOWN LANGUAGE BARRIERS AND EXPANDING RESEARCH DIVERSITY
Despite Canada’s embrace of multiculturalism, language barriers remain a common experience, compromising one’s fundamental autonomy, voice, and rights. By offering accessible translation services and eing integrated in both healthcare and research, this project sought to advance health equity in British Columbia and improve the health outcomes for under-served, minority, and other marginalized communities. UBC Student […]
COOKING UP STEAM IN RURAL BRITISH COLUMBIA WITH FLAVOURFUL SCIENCE
This project successfully delivered engaging, hands-on workshops to rural schools in British Columbia, addressing critical educational gaps in science, technology, engineering, arts, and mathematics (STEAM). Recognizing that rural students face significant barriers to accessing STEAM education—including limited resources, geographic isolation, and reduced exposure to STEAM career pathways. This project aimed to bridge these gaps and […]
BELLA BELLA PHYLO(MON) DIGITAL CARD GAME
Indigenous knowledge, defined as “an ancient, communal, holistic and spiritual knowledge that encompasses every aspect of human existence” (Brascoupé and Mann, 2001), plays a crucial role in shaping one’s self-identity, a community’s uniqueness, and connection with the world (Harbord et al., 2022). This project aims to safeguard Indigenous knowledge and facilitate its transmission through culturally […]
SEEDS OF HOPE
For many, living in an urban area comes at the expense of developing a meaningful relationship and connection with nature. To raise consciousness and plant seeds of connectedness, garden workshops and community gatherings were held to empower youth in the Guilford community to cultiavte a personal and reciprocal relationship with nature. UBC Student Project Lead: Kiara […]
SEXUAL HEALTH WORKSHOPS FOR HOMELESS YOUTH
Sexual health workshops provided by healthcare experts, resources, and care packages were offered to homeless youth to promote safe sex practices. Workshops and resource creation centred on diverse, inclusive, and non-binary sexual health and education. UBC Student Project Leads: Sriya Srivastava, Nana Yamamoto Community Partner: Covenant House Vancouver Grant Type: Connect 2 Community Grant Year of […]
MEMORIES OF MARPOLE
This project invited people from the Marpole community to gather, connect, and share about their connections to the neighbourhood through Art. These creative opportunities to explore the Memories of Marpole were collected and incorporated into a final art piece shared with the community. UBC Student Project Lead: Catiyana Adam Community Partner: Marpole Neighbourhood House Grant Type: […]
GENDER-INCLUSIVE LANGUAGE IN FRENCH
Gender-inclusive French language workshops were offered at two local secondary schools to provide students with a toolkit to be better allies in and outside the classroom. Workshops invited students to read a French comic book (“Le Voyage D’Alex”) exploring the experiences of a non-binary character in their journey of self-discovery, navigating challenges, and finding their […]
PROMOTING EYE-GAZE DEVICE IN RARE DISEASE COMMUNITY
People with certain neurodegenerative diseases or injuries such as Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS) and Rett Syndrome frequently experience a loss of motor control and speech, severely impacting their ability to communicate with others. Eye-gaze devices support communication for people experiencing these impairments by tracking eye-movements on a screen to select and vocalize words. It is […]
COMMUNITY BAKING WORKSHOPS
Free baking workshops were offered to vulnerable populations in Vancouver to create opportunities for social connection and community inclusion for people experiencing housing instability, developmental disabilities, criminal justice involvement, and mental health concerns. Through sharing experiences in baking delicious food, these workshops created a supportive environment which helped decrease social isolation within marginalized communities and […]
RICHMOND COMMUNITY HEAT RELIEF STATION
Extreme weather events in recent years have disproportionately impacted vulnerable and marginalized community members, including seniors, low-income households, and new immigrants. This project hosted cooling stations which provided immediate heat relief to community members by offering cooled refreshments, sunscreens, hand fans, and resources on extreme heat protection. These events further helped raise about how to […]
GENCONNECT APNA MELA
The Apna Mela 2024 was a free festival created to increase intergenerational connections between youth and seniors within local South Asian and Punjabi communities. This festival focused on decreasing social isolation among seniors in these communities by creating opportunities for youth and seniors to connect over workshops centred around culture, food, heritage, and traditions. UBC […]
EMPOWERING INDIGENOUS YOUTH THROUGH STEMM WORKSHOPS
A free workshop series was curated and offered to Indigenous Youth, ages 13 to 21, across Metro Vancouver to learn more about STEMM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics, Medicine) careers directly from Indigenous professionals working in these industries. These professionals presented on their career journey, answered questions, and offered career guidance. Resources discussing Indigenous educational and […]
TAKING STRIDES – TOWARDS INCLUSIVE SPORTS FOR YOUTH WITH DISABILITIES
Although affordable sports programs are often available for younger children with disabilities, these programs frequently have age cutoffs that shut out older youth with disabilities (YWD) from participating. This project collaborated with the Taking Strides Children Foundation to increase accessibility of summer programs for older YWD by offering sports sessions led by professional coaches experienced […]
“EVERY OTHER MONDAY” EAST VAN MIGRANT WORKERS POETRY COLLECTIVE
The East Van Migrant Workers Poetry Collective is a project which invited migrant workers across the Joyce-Collingwood neighbourhood area to form a solidarity network of mutual aid, political education (e.g. tenant rights workshops), and cultural-oriented craft work (e.g. poetry reading/writing). Poetry writing sessions, events, and zines were organized and created to offer migrant workers creative […]
WELLNESS POD: HEALTHY TEACHERS HEALTHY CHILDREN
Teachers and advisors make up 7% of the workforce in BC, and there has been little focus on improving working conditions to support their mental health. Carolina’s project hopes to bring the conceptualized “Wellness Pod” to life, a space designed with biophilic principles in mind meant to maximize wellness recuperation throughout an educator’s day. The […]
COLLABORATING WITH THE NISGA’A VALLEY TO INDIGENIZE CHANGE BC
In partnership with the Nisga’a Valley Health Authority, Truman’s project aims to facilitate the incorporation of Indigenous-led, traditional, and land-based physical activities within kinesiology exercise prescriptions normally delivered in primary care settings. By engaging with 4 Nisga’a communities through discussions and sharing circles, traditional and/or land-based physical activities will be identified and implemented in collaboration […]
EQUIPPING SOUTH-ASIAN YOUTH WITH CULTURALLY-SENSITIVE OVERDOSE RESPONSE AND PREVENTION TRAINING
Together with the Students Overcoming Substance Use Disorder and Addictions Society of Canada, this project sought to address the ongoing substance use and overdose crisis in the South Asian community. Through a culturally sensitive workshop series, high-school students from 4 different schools were equipped with overdose response and prevention training. The workshops were available in […]
EMPOWERING NEWCOMER COMMUNITIES WITH ENGLISH-LANGUAGE LEARNING RESOURCES
With the growing rate of newcomers joining the Vancouver community, there arose a need to develop more English language learning resources to better equip volunteers with the tools they need to support the newcomer community. To meet this need, an online webpage was developed, in partnership with ISSofBC as the central platform for volunteers to […]
MALE-INCLUSIVE SUICIDE RESPONSE TRAINING PROGRAM
In Canada, men are reported to have the highest rates of death by suicide and despite this heightened risk, there is a clear lack of male-inclusive mental health response programs nationally. In partnership with the Canadian Centre for Men and Families Vancouver (CCMF-V), free male-inclusive suicide response training program workshops were facilitated across British Columbia […]
BLACK ACCESS NETWORK
In partnership with Black Block Association (BBA), Delali’s project, “Hire Black Youth Initiative”, facilitated greater access to career opportunities for black youth in Vancouver. In partnership with organizations that pledge to support the representation and empowerment of black youth, an online job matching platform was created, featuring access to mentorship, skills training and skills development […]
INCREASING ACCESS AND REPRESENTATION: VOLENTIA HEALTHCARE TRANSLATION
Each year, over 300,000 new immigrants from diverse sociocultural backgrounds relocate to Canada. Language barriers remain a significant obstacle to the provision of equitable healthcare among these communities. By partnering with S.U.C.C.E.S.S, Lynda worked to advance equitable healthcare in Canada by providing free healthcare translation services to immigrants, newcomers, and those with low English-language proficiency, […]
EMPOWERMENT IN HEALTHCARE: VACCINE & HEALTH-RELATED LITERACY WORKSHOPS FOR NEWCOMER WOMEN
Research has highlighted a lack of health literacy in newcomer demographics. This has been exacerbated by frequent changes to guidelines and restrictions seen throughout the COVID-19 pandemic. Through this collaborative project with PIRS (Pacific Immigrant Resources Society), Emilie created a toolkit of healthcare resources, complete with workshops, infographics, and condensed pamphlets fully translated into multiple […]