Engaged young leaders raise funds, awareness for Nexus Youth Services
Friday, October 13, 2017
Jordan Skerrett, Nithya Mani & JJ Harland with NYS staff Stephanie Barbosa, John Choi & Andrea Peca
The coordinators and people I have met along the way helped build new experiences in my life
For immediate release
MISSISSAUGA – The PosVibes Project (PVP), a group of youth volunteers on a mission to support their peers’ mental health, has made a $20,000 donation to Nexus Youth Services (Nexus). The funds were raised at PVP’s third annual Gala in June. Since 2015 PVP has contributed more than $47,000 to Nexus.
What began as a single fundraising event in the summer of 2015 quickly gained momentum and grew into a larger movement of youth working together to help other youth. Today, PVP hosts a variety of dynamic community events to raise funds and awareness in support of youth mental health initiatives across Ontario. PVP’s consistently sold out events attract supporters of every age, brought together by a common connection to mental health, and the passion and high energy of the PVP team guarantees fun and meaningful experiences for their guests.
“What started out as a group of friends who felt compelled to make a change has turned into something much bigger,” says PVP Founder and Executive Director JJ Harland. “As a young person, I witnessed many friends, colleagues, and friends of friends, of all ages, face their mental health challenges alone. As an individual, my ability to help them felt limited, but I knew that if I could bring these people to an event, together with other supporters, we could provide them with the tools and resources to help them overcome their challenges.”
With three consecutive gala fundraisers under their belt, PVP is currently developing a strategy to host charity sports tournaments, an outdoor family festival, and a networking conference in the future. “Our motto at PVP is to spread positive vibes all ways, always,” says Harland. “We’re proud of the impact we’ve had amongst our peers and in our broader community in just a few short years. We hope it inspires other youth to reach out and help others, too.”
“As a youth-serving agency, Nexus values the diverse voices of youth and young adults, and our strongest initiatives are led by youth who want to help their peers,” says Nexus Supervisor John Choi. “PVP is a real-life example of Nexus’s commitment to working ‘for youth, with youth’ and we are proud to partner with them to make a difference for young people in the Peel community.”
Nexus creates opportunities for youth by providing high quality services that are inclusive and responsive to the needs and voices of youth ages 14 to 24 who live in Peel Region. As an accredited, community-based, publicly funded, mental health agency, Nexus helps more than 2,000 youth annually through its Community Counselling Program and the Nexus Youth Centre (NYC), located in the Mississauga Central Library. NYC is fully accessible drop-in centre, providing mental health counselling services, daily activities and group programs to youth with no referral required. For more information on Nexus programs and services, call 905-795-3518 or visit www.nexusyouth.ca.
Media enquiries:
Alexandra Macgregor-Amde, Communications Specialist
(905) 795-3500 ext. 2297
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MISSISSAUGA – The PosVibes Project (PVP), a group of youth volunteers on a mission to support their peers’ mental health, has made a $20,000 donation to Nexus Youth Services (Nexus). The funds were raised at PVP’s third annual Gala in June. Since 2015 PVP has contributed more than $47,000 to Nexus.
What began as a single fundraising event in the summer of 2015 quickly gained momentum and grew into a larger movement of youth working together to help other youth. Today, PVP hosts a variety of dynamic community events to raise funds and awareness in support of youth mental health initiatives across Ontario. PVP’s consistently sold out events attract supporters of every age, brought together by a common connection to mental health, and the passion and high energy of the PVP team guarantees fun and meaningful experiences for their guests.
“What started out as a group of friends who felt compelled to make a change has turned into something much bigger,” says PVP Founder and Executive Director JJ Harland. “As a young person, I witnessed many friends, colleagues, and friends of friends, of all ages, face their mental health challenges alone. As an individual, my ability to help them felt limited, but I knew that if I could bring these people to an event, together with other supporters, we could provide them with the tools and resources to help them overcome their challenges.”
With three consecutive gala fundraisers under their belt, PVP is currently developing a strategy to host charity sports tournaments, an outdoor family festival, and a networking conference in the future. “Our motto at PVP is to spread positive vibes all ways, always,” says Harland. “We’re proud of the impact we’ve had amongst our peers and in our broader community in just a few short years. We hope it inspires other youth to reach out and help others, too.”
“As a youth-serving agency, Nexus values the diverse voices of youth and young adults, and our strongest initiatives are led by youth who want to help their peers,” says Nexus Supervisor John Choi. “PVP is a real-life example of Nexus’s commitment to working ‘for youth, with youth’ and we are proud to partner with them to make a difference for young people in the Peel community.”
Nexus creates opportunities for youth by providing high quality services that are inclusive and responsive to the needs and voices of youth ages 14 to 24 who live in Peel Region. As an accredited, community-based, publicly funded, mental health agency, Nexus helps more than 2,000 youth annually through its Community Counselling Program and the Nexus Youth Centre (NYC), located in the Mississauga Central Library. NYC is fully accessible drop-in centre, providing mental health counselling services, daily activities and group programs to youth with no referral required. For more information on Nexus programs and services, call 905-795-3518 or visit www.nexusyouth.ca.
Media enquiries:
Alexandra Macgregor-Amde, Communications Specialist
(905) 795-3500 ext. 2297
< back to all news