Penning for a chance
Ryerson's involvement with a community organization has been giving the homeless a creative outlet for their voices.
For the past six years, Ve'ahavta, the Canadian Jewish Humanitarian and Relief Committee, has been organizing a creative writing contest offering people living on the streets or in shelters an opportunity to demonstrate and improve their writing skills.
Ryerson has been taking part in this initiative by providing the grand prize -- a creative writing course organized and instructed by Ryerson's school of continuing education.
Although Ryerson's commitment to the prize this year has not been officially confirmed yet, Ryerson's manager of public relations, Bruce Piercey, said he doesn't see why the university would not be involved again.
Ken Radway, communication and design program director for the G. Raymond Chang School of Continuing Education, initiated Ryerson's involvement in this contest.
"We're really thankful that Ryerson is willing to help us with this," said Shlomit Kringer, Ve'ahavta's contest and workshop co-ordinator.
"These people have lost so many things and so we want to let them know that we're here to listen to what they have to say. It's nice to know that a university like Ryerson is willing to lend an ear, too."
Kringer graduated from Ryerson's journalism program last June. Now she is using the skills she acquired in the magazine stream to compile and publish winning contest entries in a zine -- a smaller version of a special interest magazine -- that will be distributed in homeless shelters and temporary housing complexes around the Greater Toronto Area.
Ve'ahavta is a non-profit organization committed to "tikun olam," which is Hebrew for "repairing the world." Along with outreach services, the program offers counselling to those in need.
"What we really like about this contest is that it speaks to our tradition of being non-traditional," Piercey said. "We're giving people that don't normally have access to a real classroom environment a chance to express themselves through words."
Robyn Tousson, manager of volunteer services for Ve'ahavta, said participants are more interested in learning how to write properly than securing daily meals.
"They're so excited about the course," said Tousson. "They're so excited about having the opportunity to go to school. Although these people are starving, they want to learn more than anything."
Other prizes include cash, gift certificates, books, movies and personal hygiene products.
"I'm very happy to be able to inspire others to write," said Kringer.
"We encourage participants to submit all types of work. It could be a true story about their life, a poem, a song, anything. We hope to inspire people to find a passion for writing and we've had cases where participants do actually go on to pursue careers in writing and social work as a result of their experience in the contest."
Entries submitted to Ve'ahavta for the creative writing contest will be judged by award-winning authors, newspaper columnists, community leaders and professors, said Kringer.
"It's a therapeutic exercise, but it's also an opportunity for them to develop new skills," Tousson said. "The whole program is about empowering these people to tell their stories and use their voices."
Ve'ahavta will spread the word to potential participants by hosting various writing workshops at shelters and community centres across the city.
The contest deadline is Nov. 17.
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