As a martial artist, producer and actor, my life has been shaped by a deep passion for the arts, athletic excellence and filmmaking. These various outlets have provided me with a safe, brave space to express myself and find connection with a vibrant community of empathetic, like-minded creatives. Seeing firsthand how transformative these safe havens are for building confidence and self-development, I understand the importance of accessible community engagement.

Growing up, my family’s socioeconomic status did not allow my 3 siblings and I access to extra curricular activities, being in a low-income household and a child to wonderful, hardworking immigrant parents. In order to access the public school funded extra curricular sports teams in Niagara Falls, Ontario, you needed a raw natural talent, or, a refined (privately coached) skillset to earn a spot of 8-10 athletes on any given sports team, beating out many children in the same situation.

Further, to access after school band and music clubs, it required financial resources to afford your own instruments. Thankfully, my high school offered a drama class for the first time when I was in grade 12. With only two semesters of drama classes under my 17 year old tool belt, I made the bold choice to attend post secondary education; studying Acting for Film and Television. At the age of 22, I enrolled myself in Taekwondo, my first private extracurricular athletic activity. Attending college to access arts programming, and becoming a Black Belt in Martial Arts were both programs I paid for with my own resources as a young adult.

Reverie Arts and Club Wizard are partnering with the mission to make extra curricular activities accessible to all underserved communities, regardless of socioeconomic status, geographical location and race, culture, ablest and gender prejudices. We strive to build confidence through creative programming and developing athletic excellence. Our athletics and creative programming will serve to build self-discipline, physical and mental wellness, and safety. Together, we are building up community infrastructure without the required privilege of privately funded coaching. 

To find out how to get involved, please reach out! Our communities thrive on like-minded, empathetic villages made up of folks like you.