Tending the Roots

Tending the Roots Community of Practice

We are a national collective across Turtle Island for anyone serving families with 2SLGBTQIA+ child(ren), hosted by Central Toronto Youth Services.

We centre in Indigenous Sovereignty, Anti-Oppression, and Anti-Black Racism frameworks. We believe this gets to the roots of decolonizing white supremacist practices of care that continue to promote anti-indigeneity, racism, homophobia, transphobia, and enbyphobia–which all hinder our work in supporting 2SLGBTQIA+ youth and their families.

We know this work is both incredibly celebratory and involves unique challenges.

What do we hope to achieve?

As host of Tending the Roots, Central Toronto Youth Services provides structured online opportunities for knowledge sharing, peer mentorship, co-learning, and cross-sector advocacy. We hope the Community of Practice will include representatives from different family-serving groups across Turtle Island. We aim to have representation from various sectors (e.g. health, justice, and child welfare) and professions (e.g. service providers, academics, and researchers).

Why Tending the Roots Community of Practice?

Many practitioners are doing good work supporting families of queer and gender-diverse youth. We believe that working together to build a collective space to share needs, advocate as a unit, and build knowledge will help us identify opportunities for change and develop resources that are centralized for easy access.

In addition to supporting one another’s work, a key component of Tending the Roots is supporting each other as peers. We hope that by joining the Community of Practice you’d develop a strong support network to also tend to your needs.

What does the Community of Practice entail?

Tending the Roots Community of Practice provides a structured virtual space for colleagues to discuss the unique specificities that arise when working with 2SLGBTQIA+ youth and caregivers. The CoP meets once a month over Zoom. We aim to provide structured online opportunities. Our meetings consist of guest speakers and opportunities for knowledge sharing, collective care, mutual learning, and cross-sector advocacy.