LOFT MPP Sophia Aggelonitis inaugurates Youth Entrepreneurship Program at the LOFT

Last Wednesday, June 24, 2009, the LOFT Youth Program at the Christie Ossington Neighbourhood Centre welcome the honorable MPP Sophia Aggelonitis to inaugurate the Youth Innovation Centre - a social enterprise geared to engage youth through the production of clothing, murals and other visual arts projects in Ward 19, Toronto.

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Above:  A former resident of the Bloorcourt, Ms Aggelonitis inaugurated the Youth Innovation Centre at the LOFT by creating her own tshirt, with the help of youth participants, through a process known as silkscreening. 

The MPP gave a heart warming speech about the prospects of this new program, citing experiences from her own entrepreunerial success as founder of "Sauces by Sophia" - a sauce that is marketed and distributed across Southern Ontario.

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Above: Executive Director Lynn Daly at the Press Conference, discussing the reasons that Christie Ossington N. Centre is embarking on social enterprise at the LOFT - to empower youth to use their creativity to stimulate change in the community, through programs such as "Graffiti Arts" which employs graffiti artists to paint beautiful murals over vandalized walls in the neighbourhood.

Unda the Radar is the name the youth have given to the clothing that will be produced and marketed at the Youth Innovation Centre (YIC). Funded by the Ministry of Small Businesses and Consumer Services,  the YIC are currently seeking youth to join the program and learn about the skills required to produce, market and distribute their own clothing. Similar to the ARTERY program that the LOFT hosted in 2008, this opportunity has proven to allow youth to gain valuable experience in the technical production of goods and services as well as an understanding of entrepreneurial skills required to be a successful artist in the city of Toronto.

 

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Above: LOFT Youth come together to take some photos with the MPP!

If you or your small business or organization is looking to have tshirts made, support youth in the community by contacting us to get your tshirts made!