These programs are designed to empower you as multiply marginalized queer and trans youth through: identifying life goals; building meaningful connections with experienced and affirming community members; and developing skills, experience and leadership to increase confidence and self-advocacy.
SOY CONNECT: MENTORSHIP PROGRAMS
Mentorship is a personal developmental relationship in which a more experienced or more knowledgeable person helps to guide a less experienced or less knowledgeable person. The mentor may be older or younger, but have a certain area of expertise. It is a learning and development partnership between someone with vast experience and someone who wants to learn.
We have three mentorship streams: SOY Group Mentorship, SOY One-on-one Mentorship, and the Melanin Linx Project.
You can apply to be an individual mentee through our One-on-one Mentorship applications forms. Please read the descriptions for each stream below to find out if they seem like a fit for you.
Interested in mentoring? Our Be a mentor page has all the details you need to know and how you can apply.
SOY GROUP MENTORSHIP
SOY runs weekly youth community health and well-being groups where mentors are part of the team supporting you during program time. Group mentors share identities with you; have skills, talents and experiences to share; are leaders in our communities; and are trained in anti-racism/anti-oppression practices. They support group meals, provide a listening ear, and offer personal and professional knowledge and experience. SOY looks for LGBT2SQ mentors with experience in areas such as: budget and meal planning, shopping for groceries, meal preparation, career exploration and networking, career shadowing, job search support, lived experiences of homelessness, poverty, sex work, medical transitioning, and more.
SOY groups with mentorship support are: Black Queer Youth, Express and Trans Fusion Crew.
SOY ONE-ON-ONE MENTORSHIP
One-on-one mentorship involves matching you as a lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans, two spirit queer or questioning youth (29 years old and under) with a community member who is lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans, two spirit and/or queer. They will support you in a regular and intentional way. Mentorship arrangements are tailored to your specific needs.
Do you want to be a SOY personal mentee? Fill out our online form to let us know. For more information on SOY one-on-one mentorship, please email peerleadership@sherbourne.on.ca.
SOY LEAD
Mondays and Wednesdays, 6 – 8 p.m. at Sherbourne Health, on the second floor.
SOY Lead is a 20-week peer leadership training program that aims to improve your health and wellbeing, while building your skills in working with others.
This program supports 2SLGBTQ youth 29 and under to develop capacity in the following areas: social justice, trauma-informed support, one-to-one support, health promotion, arts-based programming and evaluation, facilitation, and offers a practicum component to select youth. Please note there will be an extensive supervised practicum experience during their time. Selected participants receive a weekly honorarium, dinner, and TTC fare for each session.
We are currently accepting applicants for our 2023 programming. To apply, please send a written or video response to the following prompts to peerleadership@sherbourne.on.ca by Monday, February 20:
- Introduce yourself! Tell us who you are in three to five sentences.
- What does community mean to you?
- What makes you laugh?
- What brings you joy?
Selected applicants will be contacted for program interviews in late February. If sending a video or written application is a barrier, interested youth can email us to arrange a phone conversation with SOY program staff.
THE PEER LEADERSHIP PROJECT
A mentor is a role model who assists someone with making an important transition, learning a new skill, or facing an unknown challenge. A peer leader is a type of mentor who has learned from experience and has developed skills to successfully guide others like themselves.
Peer Leadership honours the knowledge, resilience and strength each of us brings to our relationships and communities. It supports your self-determined strengths to address systemic inequities and to achieve what you view as success.
BE A PEER LEADER
Are you a 2SLGBTQ youth, 29 and under, who has faced barriers to participating in SOY programs? Are you searching to develop your confidence and self-advocacy skills? Do you care about your health and wellness, and your peers?
For more information please email peerleadership@sherbourne.on.ca.
