Art, Outreach, and Tools for Change (English)

[Melodic piano music plays throughout.]

Description:

The following video features two individual speakers, shown from the shoulders up, each set against a light mossy green background. The first is Abi Ajibolade, a Black African/Canadian woman with dark skin tone; Executive Director of The Redwood. The second is Akilah Downey, a Black woman with light skin tone; Former Volunteer Coordinator of The Redwood. Images and statistics related to their interviews appear on the screen beside them. www.idetermine.ca

Abi Ajibolade, Executive Director, The Redwood:

In 2019, the call for proposals came from Canadian Internet Registration Authorities, CIRA. They were really excited about the proposal and we got right in to work by July doing some program project planning, really trying to recruit all of our team. We wanted a platform that could be easily accessible to survivors and somewhat bring the same level of programs that we have at The Redwood, bring it online and make it accessible to survivors. So the project plan was to last a full year. We're testing with different groups of people, testing with younger people with different abilities.

Akilha Downey, Former Volunteer Coordinator, The Redwood:

The COVID pandemic hit and the first lockdown in March of 2020 happened. There was going to be a huge need for support for women and children who were locked in homes with someone who's doing harm to them and would not be able to seek support in the same ways that they might have traditionally done. So for example, picking up the phone and calling the helpline, which is traditionally what we had encouraged folks to do, may not have been an option because the person who was doing harm, who was a threat to them was right there.

Abi Ajibolade:

Normally. One of the things that we usually would ask when we receive a call on our crisis line is, can you talk? Are you safe right now? And most times what we hear from the women is yeah. I mean, I just told my partner I'm taking a walk and I'm at a coffee shop now making this call and that was not possible anymore.

Akilha Downey:

One of the things that was going to be a huge challenge, of course, in moving a launch date up is that we weren't totally prepared for it. You know we need folks to staff a digital helpline it’s a 24 hour seven days a week tool. We have counselors working at The Redwood who would support the phone lines. We had volunteers who would support the phone lines. But this was going to be an entirely different tool in and of itself. And so we needed that staff or volunteers to support. And so as part of the launch to kind of raise awareness for this tool, we did some media. We did a lot of community outreach.

Abi Ajibolade:

A group of medical students called COVID-19 women's initiative, and they reached out to us at that time, we trust everything just worked out. About 30 plus or so of them all got trained the same day.

Akilha Downey:

You know we worked really diligently to get folks trained like as soon as we possibly could in counseling and responding to the helpline, responding to crisis.

Abi Ajibolade:

On the 8th of May, it went out live and became accessible to anyone and everyone who knew about it and wanted to reach us. Our first assessment of it was we had about 1,500 folks who had reached us on the chat line. Thousands more on trying to do a safety quiz and have a safety plan in a personalized safety planning. Thousands more, checking our resource page, understanding what abuse is. We had some illustrations there to show for folks whose first language is not English. So they can look at the illustrations and can relate. Oh yeah, that's what I'm experiencing.

Akilha Downey:

Picking up the phone, like COVID or not, it's just it's hard to do. My understanding is it can be really difficult and you start to censor yourself a little bit and you're because you're saying it out loud to somebody, whereas it's just easier to type. Realistically, you could do it from anywhere in the world. The tool can be and has been used for folks who think to themselves, I think this is violent, I think this is abusive. Something is not right here and I don't feel right. But I need to learn more. I need more information. I need somebody to talk to you about it. And so it really is a tool for that as well, as well as getting immediate help to get out of wherever you are right now.

Abi Ajibolade:

The numbers have not dwindled at all. It is only increasing every day. And we're fortunate because we're a shelter and we already operate 24-7-365 so our overnight staff just takes this on and we are able to run it overnight. I’m hoping that this is lifesaving as folks have shared with us, that it has been for them.

Speaker 1:

So the art piece is talking about COVID and how it started off really sad and depressing for a lot of people losing hope. And then it merges into a more colorful, really hopeful and bright piece. And initially we started off with four different sections, and that was to start off with like a really black, white, gray sort of area.

Once again, the really sad times. And slowly shifted towards a much more brighter place. But during our time working on that, we ended up just letting go of the sections and it became like one whole piece. I focused on the part where it was really, like, toned down and washed out, and then right next to it—

So what I did was just like this person sitting like all stressed out in front of the computer because during that time we were getting a lot of news about COVID and how people are like dying from it and how it was a really, really bad virus. And a lot of people— they were really isolated because they couldn't go to see their friends, their family.

It was like a hard time for everyone. So I did that and I made a lot of it was— the person was completely white with like black outlines. And I made really dark clothes come out of it so it could pop out more. And then there's also some cloudy gray like loose gray clouds on there as well, and some matrix type numbers, because we were all online.

Everything was online. School was online to take a break online, to go places online. Everything was online. So, yeah, and it was like representing the technical side of things. And then right next to it, I drew a person, a really big person, and then her shirt is cut out to represent like this heart thing and it's stapled to the shirt like taped on and everything.

That just represent how vulnerable we were during that time. And how everything like looks like a simple words of acknowledgment really helped to bring everyone together.

I think the art there is like a lot of things to grasp on it. So really taking the time to understand every single piece on it would be pretty cool because you can interpret that a whole different way than another person that's looking at it and how we wanted you to interpret.

Speaker 2:

Well, I think it's like showing the before and after, like in coronavirus time, like in the pandemic that how people like get to go into Internet and how people like kind of, you know, they had to like be in their houses and everything was kind of like not really good. So and then after the protest, after that, like the pandemic, I think everything is getting better and people can meet each other.

And yeah, I think that's how that's like where things are showing the art that it's like before and after pandemic, after like pandemic. It's like can be more like colorful and how everything can be like, better. And I feel like for my— for me, I think Rainbow, it's kind of the symbol that it's like show hope, I think the work that we had was really great. We help each other so much and all the ideas. I think we use all the ideas that we had.

Speaker 3:

It's meant to represent our journey through COVID and there are multiple symbols in the picture that can kind of express that, but not really in a direct way kind of to things. And it's also up to interpretation a little bit because like the colors, the symbols themselves, there's a whole bunch of things that can kind of relate to how COVID was, like over the years.

Speaker 4:

My part of the drawing means to me that things were bad, but little by little things started to get better and better and life started going back to normal. And as we started living again. It was kind of scary because we didn't know what was going to happen. But, you know, that was the good things too. We spent a lot of time with your family, but it was really boring. Sometimes it felt really lonely, but, you know, things got better.

Speaker 5:

I mean, it was definitely a change, a big, big change. But like, it was still bearable. Like, we got through it and now it's pretty much normal now. So, like, it was it was all right. Even though there were like a couple of bumps and certain days that like, people got really sick and I was getting worried. But like, we're good now and it's over almost.

So I think I think it was pretty okay. I mean, the only thing that really comes to my mind is how like kind of distant everybody was. But we found ways to get around that problem, like going online and Zoom calls. And we also got to like, do things online, which some of that was actually pretty fun. So even though it was pretty hard, it was just you just trying to make the best out of it really. And then like just making the hard times easier by not trying to worry about all the bad things and looking at the positives.

Speaker 6:

The only thing that I wanted was to like kind of going out of with food and like, yeah, that was, I think the only thing that and in that time I was thinking about was to leave the shelter and kind of I didn't like to be there, but and the first night, but after like a few months when I met others, like that's a start and everyone's was just amazing and really kind.

And then after that, when there was a time that I had to leave the shelter, I just cried because I wasn't really able to leave there cause they were like the only people that I know in Canada. So they were like, they are like kind of my family. So, you know, I feel that they are my family.

Speaker 7:

Um, it was actually really nice because I learned to adapt a lot faster in my situation. I also found that with COVID especially and being on technology 24 seven, literally, I was able to find out who I was and where, like my morals are and everything, because before that I was really influenced by my friends, my school mates and everything. But because we had that time period for ourselves, I could like become myself.