Unity Charity
Marcelino DaCosta is an experienced professional in the arts and education sectors, currently serving as a Small Business Owner at Full Step Saga, which promotes progressive creative processes through the arts and education. With a career spanning over two decades, Marcelino has held various prominent roles including Program Coordinator and Senior Facilitator at UNITY Charity, Senior Facilitator at BluePrint For Life, and Senior Instructor at City Dance Corps, specializing in B-Boying/Breakin'. Additional experience includes program development for the City of Mississauga, founding the multicultural collective Ground Illusionz, and speaking at TEDx Vancouver on the creative process related to B-Boying. Marcelino's educational background includes a Fine Arts and Cultural Studies degree from York University and certifications in arts education and English instruction.
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Unity Charity
Mission: Unity Charity is a national non-profit organization that uses Hip Hop art forms to promote resilience and well-being among youth, creating healthier communities. Vision: Youth who reach their full potential and contribute to healthier communities. Unity Programs: Unity offers free programming to youth in underserved neighbourhoods in communities across Canada. Inspire Performances: Are free, educational, short-term offerings that inform young audiences about Hip Hop art forms and their power to positively express stress and anxiety. Unity uses these outreach engagements to point young audiences to local Hip Hop and mental health resources where they can seek further arts education and supports. Engage Programs: Unity partners with educational institutions, community centres, non-profit and social service organizations to deliver free Hip Hop programming to youth (12-29) in predominantly underserved communities. These weekly programs are 8-30 weeks in length, are delivered year-round, and make up the bulk of Unity’s youth-focused Hip Hop education. Some programs are multidisciplinary and introduce participants to all of the Hip Hop art forms, while others are art form specific, and seek to build the foundations of an amateur or entry level artist’s skill set. Through these programs, youth participants improve mental health and well-being outcomes, and are given significant roles in mentorship, performance, evaluation, and volunteering so they may contribute to the well-being of their communities. Empower Opportunities: Unity seeks to empower youth and emerging Hip Hop artists by providing employment, professional development, volunteer and leadership opportunities to further support their development. Unity’s primary EMPOWER opportunity is our artist roster, a front-line team of over 65 multidisciplinary Hip Hop artists that deliver all of our INSPIRE and ENGAGE programs across Canada, with many artists recruited from Unity’s ENGAGE programs.