CSED recently sat down with Eva Cohen, Founder & Principal of Civil Protection Youth Canada to learn more about the organization and the people they serve.
What does your social enterprise do?
Our mission is to equip and empower the next generation with hands-on training and skills to anticipate, prepare for, mitigate, respond to, and recover from disasters; to close the gap between those affected and those addressing the challenges. We focus on a fun and activity- based way of learning, combined with team-spirit and healthy outdoor and nature experiences. We aim to build community around hazard awareness and create adult operational capacity through youth engagement.
Where are you located?
Our HQ is in Cantley, 20min north of Ottawa.
Tell us about the people you serve? How do they typically find you?
We offer activities for youth- individuals, families, groups, schools – anyone who is interested to learn new aspects or skills and have a good time while doing so! We have not started marketing, but already more and more people see the need and the value in what we do. They approach us directly through personal contacts, our network or via our website www.civilprotection.ca.
What was the inspiration behind your social enterprise?
With all the advocacy work I have done over the last decade to strengthen our disaster preparedness and response capacity, I’ve realized that we need a culture change. But we also need to act NOW. Because of my international network and having seen how well youth elsewhere are being prepared for the challenges ahead, I decided to ensure that our Canadian youth are included. More so, I hope to make them our knowledge holders and the driving force to improve our resilience!
How has CSED helped you?
Finding CSED has been a tremendous relief. I think many social entrepreneurs are motivated by the social need they see and don’t necessarily have the business background to understand how to turn their vision into a sustainable business. It is a big personal financial risk to fully commit to making it all happen, as many of us work full time for months or years without any form of income. To be able to have access to expert support, network and exchange with peers in the same boat is invaluable.
What challenges do you face day to day?
Mostly breaking down the complexity of the big vision into little implementation steps. The biggest challenge is initial funding for the operational costs of getting started and being able to hire qualified staff to help move the program forward.
How has COVID-19 affected your activities and what are you doing to respond?
First, it felt devastating that after a full year of development everything had to come to a halt. However, after realizing the mental health impact of the lockdown on youth, I decided to use our own principles around hazard awareness, risk management and confidence building and pivoted to a focus on safe outdoor activities. I invited local youth to help me build the infrastructure for that; trails and activity areas. It turned out to be hugely rewarding.
What are some of the lessons you and your team have learned along the way?
Especially as a perfectionist one never seems to be ready to start. The summer project we offered was completely spontaneous but it turned out to be incredibly helpful in the development of all kinds of tools and program aspects. Previously, I was unsure about how our overall long term curriculum for CPYC community groups could be integrated into activities we offer to extend our reach and to create some revenue. By turning it around and starting with the activities, it all fell into place!
What makes you most proud?
Having my son’s support in this endeavor! And starting to get recognition which also manifested in an ECSF government grant. It was incredibly rewarding to see the difference we were making for the youth who participated in the summer pilot program, and how we were able to provide them with a sense of purpose, confidence, happiness and normalcy in a time of uncertainty and crisis.
What keeps you up at night?
The balance between the freedom and fulfillment of working for something I truly believe in and am passionate about, and the fear of failure!
What is your vision moving forward?
Our long term vision is to sell our service to communities, municipalities, maybe even Provinces, all across the country. With the intention that, through youth integration and leadership, we will empower youth and prepare them for the effects of a changing climate, strengthen individual and community resilience and create a concerted effort to build local, operational, efficient, sustainable, all-hazards disaster preparedness and response capacity.