This program serves, as the title describes, as an introduction to the F-You project, the overriding philosophy of our work, and our intentions and outlook as peer facilitators. The program is offered to groups of participants who have shown the highest interest in music and song creation as well as the willingness to use these tools as forms of discussion around topics such as forgiveness. Ongoing evaluation through informal conversation and final evaluation through self-reflective surveys will be conducted to measure the impact of the program.

We work with an extremely under served population which consists of men awaiting trial in jail. Toronto South Detention has minimal programming and the young men we work with are held in a cell with limited access to phones and showers. The majority of the young men we work with are gang-identified which means they likely were arrested in a raid and will sit in custody for 1-2 years even if they are innocent.

Our programs are currently held in a small program room on the units and with an average attendance of between 15-20 guys per program cycle (which is approximately between 4-6 weeks per cycle, at one 2hr program per week; the disparity in delivery times is mainly affected by lockdown provisions at the institution.)

“MM” is designed to compliment F-You core programming by providing spaces for continued and extended self-care, stress management and deepened conversations into emotional and mental well-being. Each cycle consists of 5 weeks of sessions per range, followed by once a month sessions on completed ranges, as required. The goal during the five weeks is to offer simple tools and mindfulness practices which can be done on an individual basis, to then be followed up by once a month group session to check in with the inmates.

This program is available to young men (18-35) in custody who have completed one of FYou’s prerequisite level I programs, and filled out an application to participate. Being that the inmate must be able to complete the entire cycle of the program, only those who are projected to be in custody for at least six more months would be able to apply. All participants must fill out an application form that allows each young man to speak to their capacity to commit, dedicate and be passionate about the writing program.

Students will gain an understanding of how to evoke their own writing style through reading and hands-on practice, with the underlying goal of enhancing their existing vocabulary and developing their creativity. The program runs for 10 weeks, over the course of which students will be assisted and encouraged to improve comprehension through reading and response. Students will acquire the fundamental skills to produce strong writing (ie. how to format an essay, how to write a journal entry.)
Program requirements: 25 hours of class time, 15 hours of homework = 40 hours of work.

*Prerequisite credit and application required

*Prerequisite credit and application required

'Forgiveness or a lack thereof has affected many of us, including myself. With that being said, I’m incredibly proud of Tara and her team for creating such an inspirational and much needed initiative.'

'F-You is definitely an integral part of Toronto's community, and an example of community working together to erase negativity and inspire healing, and at that, has such a broad scope in the artistic community, it touches so many people. I would like to see F-You be a cross-country event that travels to the major cities, and teach these cities how to involve key influential figure in media the way that it does now.'

'F-You is definitely an integral part of Toronto's community, and an example of community working together to erase negativity and inspire healing, and at that, has such a broad scope in the artistic community, it touches so many people. I would like to see F-You be a cross-country event that travels to the major cities, and teach these cities how to involve key influential figure in media the way that it does now.'

'Forgiveness is not permission, or predisposed justification — it’s the release of detrimental feelings, thoughts and emotions that can consume us.'

'I really enjoyed the event on Wednesday night and found it very inspiring not only for youth but also for the Youth Workers and adults to really think about the power of forgiveness and how it can play a huge role in you relieving mental stress and enabling growth.'

'This Project has taught me that hurt people hurt people.'

Lesley has been working in correctional institutions with the Forgiveness Project since 2018. She facilitates programming to aid participants during their time in the system.

FYOU has been featured on MTV, CBC, CTV, Globe & Mail, The Star and many more media outlets for the innovative theories on healing our culture.

The FYou Project Book Series: Published 4 books co-authored by dozens of contributors around themes of forgiveness, grief, loss, and manhood.

Project FYou Workshop Series: Produced over *400 safe space events over the past *9 years, catering to people who’ve experienced trauma who wish to share their stories of how they overcame (and continue to struggle with) surviving extremely difficult circumstances.

FYou Project Jail Program: We deliver programs in jails that target mainly at-risk/gang affiliated young men in custody; engaging in conversations about what is forgiveness/FYou Project about, anger management, conflict resolution, etc. We have had contact with over *500 inmates at various jails over the past 3 years.

Our Jail Program encompasses 4 main programming streams: