Honouring Life Network Blog

Blue Print For Life was founded by Stephen Leafloor, a social worker and B-boy. The HLN filmed a documentary in Clyde River about the Ilisaqsivik youth hiphop program which was inspired by a Blue Print For Life workshop. Check back to see this film - it will soon be available on our website in both English and Inuktitut!

For now, check out this video about Blue Print and the work that they do:
http://www.aux.tv/videos/blueprint-for-life-cypher/

Here's a bit more about Blue Print (taken from their website www.blueprintforlife.ca):

Blue Print For Life runs “Social Work Through Hiphop” programs throughout Canada’s north and in Canada’s inner cities. Often Blueprint becomes the school curriculum for the entire week in at risk communities. We also offer creative consulting, project management and training in the fields of Social Work and Education. Its founder Stephen Leafloor has over 25 years experience as a social worker in the areas of Probation, Wilderness Programs, Street Work with Youth at Risk, Residential Group Homes, Child Protection and Community Outreach. Stephen has also been an active participant in the Hiphop Culture since 1981 and completed his masters thesis on this culture and its importance for educators and social workers.

Blue Print For Life believes that people make changes in their lives based on the relationships they have with others and how they see themselves fitting into the world. We are dedicated to working creatively with youth around the world to empower them with a sense of control and hope in their lives. We have worked creatively with over 3600 Youth at Risk in a variety of projects in 40 communities, and specialize in the education, guidance, and development of youth through the positive elements of HipHop. We have been in the national media many times for our work and have been featured in a number of documentaries about our work with Canada’s aboriginal youth.

Thanks to a Healthy and Vibrant Communities grant from the Ontario Trillium Foundation, which was awarded to the Honouring Life Network in November of 2009 we were able to bring you these two amazing short documentaries focusing on some of the positive Aboriginal youth programming that is being offered across our country. We hope that by highlighting the efforts of these two different Ontario communities, that the feeling of hope for the future will spread through our youth and across our great nation.

Click on the links below to check them out!

Bimaadiziwin which can be translated from Ojibway to mean “Living in a Good Way”, highlights the efforts of Walpole Island First Nation and the Bkejwanong Youth Facility, and shows the positive changes community members have seen in the youth, and the community as a whole, since its establishment.