YIP’s 3rd Annual IMPACT Youth Forum

On Saturday, January 21, 2023, Durham Regional Police Service’s Youth in Policing Initiative hosted their third Annual I.M.P.A.C.T. Youth Forum.

The goal of the forum is to Inspire. Motivate. Persevere. Act. Create. Transcend. (IMPACT). This year’s event focused on perseverance.

All 338 attendees from across the province received up to six volunteer hours. Through keynote presentations, workshops, and team building exercises, attendees developed and strengthened skills to help them persevere through times of adversity.

To kick off the event, Deputy Chief Dean Bertrim provided words of encouragement. With the challenges many youth have faced over the past few years, Deputy Bertrim highlighted that we all have it in us to persevere by taking small consistent actions, that then lead us to making an IMPACT.

The forum began with keynote presentations from Dillon Mendes and Sara Westbrook. Both speakers highlighted the importance of being emotionally in tune with ourselves to be able to persevere through adversities. The afternoon included interactive workshops from Oscar Li and Christene Lewis. Both social entrepreneurs shared the importance of having the right intentions in order to make an impact.

Thank you again to all attendees and to the DRPS Youth in Policing Team, Program Coordinator Cynthia Nimri, Supervising Team Leader Hannah Crockford and Team Leader Gabi Forbes-Cultess.

The YIP program is reaching more youth than ever before. The YIP program will be hiring for the 2023 Summer Initiative starting in February, so check out www.drps.ca./yip for more information, email us at youthinpolicing@drps.ca or visit our social media accounts.