Strength, Safety & Fun: A Recap of Our 1st Women’s Workshop in High Park-Bloor West

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Strength, Safety & Fun: A Recap of Our 1st Women’s Workshop in High Park-Bloor West

By: Sumera Garcia-Quadri

With rising concerns around gun shootings at Summer festivals, it’s easy to feel anxious about heading out to outdoor parties and events. But while we can’t always control what happens around us, we can choose to be prepared.

Since 2019, I’ve been partnering with community organizations operating in Toronto NIAs fighting some of the highest crime and gun violence rates in the city to run yearly dance and street safety sessions for youth and kids ages 6 to 18. The goal is to give the next generation the tools to navigate our city boldly, safely, and with more confidence.

This summer, I decided to put out a list of interest for my very 1st women’s street safety workshop at our High Park space. Within days, our registration list was almost full.

The session was INCREDIBLE. We had an amazing group of participants, including past members, moms and daughters, and best friends training side-by-side. We started off with fun ice breaker warm-ups to get to know our classmates, learned basic stances for stability and strength, how to block and escape specific grabs/attacks, and talked about situational awareness, our gut instincts, de-escalation and what it means to be attacked on the street, when riding the bus, and walking home at night. The group was laughing from start to finish which told me everything I needed to know: they were engaged, connected, and LEARNING.

As the days get shorter and nights longer, personal safety is top of mind for families. I am currently available to facilitate 1-hour interactive workshops for kids' clubs, youth groups, women’s shelters, and community organizations across Toronto.

If you want to host a street safety workshop for kids or women in Toronto, please contact me through the contact page here.

A quick note on my background: My series focuses on street safety and situational awareness and I adapt my curriculum based on the needs of the group. I also work alongside highly-skilled and safe martial arts coaches to lead sessions. If you are looking to master advanced combat tactics or learn various martial arts forms, I encourage participants to join a reputable martial arts school in Toronto.

Bringing Street Safety To Young People: 2025 Dance & Street Safety Series

Bringing Street Safety To Young People: 2025 Dance & Street Safety Series

By: Sumera Garcia-Quadri

This June, I was lucky to run three FUN-FILLED sessions for youth ages 13 to 19 for the 2025 PartciPACTION Community Challenge. With their generosity, the City of Toronto, and 3 host organizations, we got approximately 40 youth to turn off their cells and BUST A MOVE!

Since 2019, the goal of the safety series has been to get youth to move more and feel safe as they walk around their neighborhoods, with an emphasis on those living in areas tackling high gun violence rates.

I believe kids and teens should feel safe when walking to and from school, from a friend’s house, and from work or volunteering in the day and night.

Here are 5 takeaways from the June series

• For the first time, all of our sessions were co-ed with a high number of teen boys ages 13 to 19 participating

• Youth learned how their stance, posture, and eye contact could play a BIG role in how safe they were on streets through fun games and drills

• We touched on distracted walking (looking down at a cell or listening to loud music on our earphones while crossing the street) and how certain footwear can lead to slip and falls. We agreed that personal injuries SUCK and can keep us away from the activities we love, like sports and dance!

• Together, boys and girls brain stormed ways to address and escape different situations like being followed home from a party to someone trying to follow them home from the mall

• All host organizations were consulted in advance on how we could deliver a session for their community effectively

I would like to thank our host organizations for collaborating with me for a 6th year, Jessica and Tanya at AlbionBGC, Cori at RCHC, and Alyssa at McGregor Park CC and Eileen at Malvern CC. Thank you to our sweet dance instructors Jess and Alejandra.

Please keep an eye out for our 2nd kid’s Halloween Dance & Safety series coming in October.

Sumera

Fun at our 1st Kid's Trick or Treat Safety Series

Kids trick or treat dance & safety session at Project XGuard BJJ

Kids trick or treat dance & safety session at the Toronto Libraries

Fun at Our 1st Kid's Trick or Treat Safety Series

By: Sumera Garcia-Quadri

There are more child-pedestrian injuries on Halloween night than on any other holiday night. With that in mind, I thought it would be the perfect time to run an age-appropriate dance and safety series for kids ages 6 to 12. In the past 5 years, our series has focused on getting youth ages 12 to 18 who live in under-resourced areas with high gun violence rates to move more and feel safer as they walk around their neighborhoods and take the transit.

Through the generosity of the Toronto Arts Council and Coaches Ontario, our series got over 50 kids dancing, crafting Halloween masks, and learning about street safety (what many martial artists call “situational awareness”). After dance and crafts, we used group games and chats to teach kids how to be ALERT and SEEN while walking on the street at night and after school, and how to use their voice (words) and body (distance and posture) to protect themselves from any potentially unwanted contact or scary situations.

Our sessions were hosted by the Toronto Public Libraries in Rexdale and Scarborough Central, Project Xguard BJJ in North Scarborough, and Flemingdon Health Center in East York.

To see what we did, please click on the clips in this blog.

I cannot wait to return in 2025 with another safety series in the Spring and Fall.

Sumera

Takeaways: 2024 Spring Youth Dance & Safety Series

Little Takeaways: 2024 Spring Youth Dance & Safety Series

By: Sumera Garcia-Quadri

This year, we were LUCKY to bring back our Free Youth Dance and Safety event series in the Spring and Fall through the support of the Toronto Arts Council and PartciPACTION Community Challenge. Through their generosity, we partnered with 6 organizations operating in 5 unique communities to get over 100 youth moving in June.

The goal of our series has always been to get more youth who live in under-resourced areas with high gun violence rates to move more and feel safe as they walk around their neighborhoods and take the transit.

Here are a few takeaways from our Spring series

• A new kid's club joined our event series

• We got over 100 youth ages 6 to 18 years old moving within 30 days

• Participants were taught beginner self-defense techniques such as how to defend themselves from bodily harm (such as strikes and kicks) and escape common attacks (such as wrist grabs, back grabs, and choke holds).

• Most of the sessions had at least 18 youth in attendance, surpassing the average number of youth we had per session in past years (this year, the smallest number of participants was 12, and 45 was the largest)

• All host organizations were consulted in advance (via email & phone calls) on how we could deliver a well-run session for their age group/demographic

• All workshops ran according to plan and instructors adapted on the spot to ensure a fun and safe class

• All host organizations have shown an interest in bringing us back!

I would like to thank our host organizations for collaborating with me once more

• Scarborough Central – Kabibi and Tanya at Kick Start Club, TNG Services

• Black Creek – Shanaz and Pique at Success Beyond limits-JaneFinch

• York – Latisha, DeQuon, and Alex at Weston Frontlines

• North Etobicoke – Jessica at AlbionBGC and Stephanie at RCHC

• Scarborough North – Eileen at L’Amoreaux Community Center

I thank our newest facilitators, Kris and Dee, for sharing their positive energy and skills with the next generation.

Keep an eye out for our 1st Halloween Dance & Safety series coming in October,

Sumera

Are you an organization interested in bringing our series to you?

Don't hesitate to get in touch with me (here) and mention your location and dates, age group /demographic, and budget.