Take Up Space, You Matter!: Fostering (Re)Connection After the Pandemic Through Trauma-Informed Community Arts Programming was a joint initiative between Dr. Charity Marsh (HRI) and Dr. Nathalie Reid (CTRC) with community partners GRR!, Vibes YQR, and Femmes Across the Board. Their primary research question that guided the project was: How can trauma-informed, community arts-based engagements support improved youth mental health and wellbeing in Saskatchewan in the midst of COVID-19? 

Throughout May and June 2022 the research team, along with facilitators from the community partner organizations, hosted a series of workshops on songwriting, street dance, and skateboarding. Prior to the workshop series all facilitators took part in a training workshop focusing on trauma-informed arts based approaches. 

The outcomes from the workshops as well as pre/post surveys from the participants and focus group sessions from the facilitators were presented to the public by members of the research team. 

This toolkit offers up resources for trauma-informed training for facilitators and programming guidelines for organizers to host their own workshop series.