New funding from the Government of Canada to strengthen access to abortion services will support research by Stephanie Begun and the Youth Wellness Lab

On May 9, the Government of Canada announced more than $4.2 million in funding to strengthen access to abortion services. The funding, from the Sexual and Reproductive Health (SRH) Fund, will go to the University of British Columbia’s Contraception and Abortion Research Team (CART) and Action Canada for Sexual Health and Rights for projects that will remove barriers to vital abortion services and offer accurate reproductive health information for Canadians. 

(Photo by Devin Avery on Unsplash)

Youth homelessness is a violation of human rights and impacts approximately 3 million young people under the age of 25 in the United States each year. In addition to facing an array of obstacles in obtaining basic necessities on a daily basis, under-housed youth encounter injustices specifically pertaining to their reproductive and sexual health and rights.

(Image by @mylosoftpaint)

“Is this not a social work topic, or are we just afraid to talk about it?”

Dr. Begun’s passion for reproductive rights started early in her career – before graduate school, she worked with Planned Parenthood in Colorado. She completed her Master of Social Work, then went on to complete her PhD, examining family planning attitudes and social network influences among youth experiencing homelessness.

(Photo by Mostafa Alkharouf/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)
October 04, 2022 by  Tina Adamopoulos

Grace Yu remembers marvelling at the night sky as a child. Today, that childhood memory lives on as she studies the stars that make up the Milky Way.

Illustration by David Sparshott
April 2022 by 

Improv comedy is fun to watch – and difficult to do. But simply trying it could have valuable therapeutic effects for marginalized women, according to new research by Stephanie Begun, an assistant professor at the Factor-Inwentash Faculty of Social Work.

March 28th, 2022 by Pat Doherty

The Transit Access Project for Youth (TAP for Youth) is a transit equity research project of the University of Toronto student chapter of Engineers Without Borders (EWB U of T).

Daphney Joseph, left, an artist, producer and Second City performer, led an improv workshop series focused on vulnerable youth that was part of a pilot project designed by U of T researcher Stephanie Begun, right (photos by Pierre Gautreau and Harry Choi)
December 07, 2021 by Megan Easton

The Transit Access Project for Youth (TAP for Youth) is a transit equity research project of the University of Toronto student chapter of Engineers Without Borders (EWB U of T).

Assistant Professor Stephanie Begun | Photo by Harry Choi

December 3, 2021 

Shortly before the pandemic, social work professor Stephanie Begun put up some flyers for a free improv workshop at a Toronto homeless shelter for youth. She was taking a risk on an idea she’d been toying with for years: that participating in improv might benefit vulnerable populations. The exercise was a big success, leading to more workshops and paving the way for research about the potential role of improv in social work interventions.