March 24, 2014
Event: Launch of multimedia installation about youth aging out of government care
Time/Date: Monday, March 24, 2014, 1–2 p.m.
Location: Peter Wall Institute for Advanced Studies, Scholar’s Lounge (2nd floor), 6331 Crescent Road
Directions/Parking: link
Most teenagers can’t wait to turn 19, but the blowing out of all those birthday candles ushers in harsh realities for those raised in government care.
Several former foster kids will share their experiences in a new multimedia installation, hosted at UBC.
Titled The 19th Birthday Party, the installation explores the challenges youth face when they age out of the system. Viewers are situated at the table of a birthday party where each offering is a digital story produced by a former foster kid.
Editors: To view photos of the installation, click here. To preview a video made for the installation, click here
“The fragility, as well as the resilience and insight, of these youth is communicated powerfully, in their own words,” says UBC law professor Margot Young, who helps lead The Housing Justice Project.
In 2014, more than 700 foster kids in B.C. will turn 19. Some say the government should extend the age of care to 23.
Background
The installation is open to the public from March 24 to April 4, Monday to Friday, from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., at the Peter Wall Institute for Advanced Studies.
The installation was conceived and created by the Housing Matters Media Project, in partnership with the Vancouver Foundation’s Youth and Homelessness Initiative, Canada Council for the Arts, the British Columbia Art Council and the Peter Wall Solutions Initiative’s Housing Justice Project.
UBC will waive tuition for former B.C. youth in care, effective as of September 2014. The tuition waiver covers a person’s first undergraduate degree and is for youth that were in foster care for at least one year during their teens.
