The poem below was delivered on the steps of Victoria’s Parliament for a Youth in Care Rally that invited communities to come together and find solutions to better support our young people turning 19 and “journeying into adulthood.”
Today.
Hands up in gratitude
Fists up in solidarity
to the Peoples of this land
for the space to connect, work, and play.
May we come,
may we be, and
may we go in a good way.
Hearts and ears open –
leaning in and hearing what young people have to say about our experiences everyday with mental health, housing, education, and AYA.
Today.
We stand together,
banded together,
re-branding foster care and foster kids.
Together.
Today
As we build policy considering the responsibility of possibility –
as members of parliament and of communities to be instruments in our symphonies of resiliency.
For my siblings in the system.
For our families.
For us and for them.
Today
We gather united and unified
carrying forward the work of the Vancouver Foundation in shifting the foundation toward you.
To share it with us.
Because it is most certainly and assuredly about you and us.
You and me.
Do you see me?
In my trauma?
In my illness?
And most substantially and importantly in my wellness?
In my re-written story of success and glory?
And my relations who stand in strength and celebration?
Today.
They are generously and graciously giving and gifting their knowledge and wisdom.
Narrating and illustrating tools
to foster our foster care raising and rising up.
So that those of us in this room [and in these legislative steps] are no longer the exception but the expectation to the rule.
Together.
Today.