PLATT: Evan Hansen has a lot of trouble connecting to people, especially in this age of social media where it's very easy for your thoughts to be immediately shared with everyone and for everything that you say to be criticized and judged and talked about. But actor Ben Platt, who plays Evan, says he's also like a lot of people who struggle to make friends. I'm sorry.īLAIR: Evan Hansen is definitely on the high end of awkward. Just - I mean you - I've seen you play guitar in jazz band. PLATT: (As Evan Hansen) No, no, no, sorry. NPR's Elizabeth Blair reports on the show about an awkward teen, social media and suicide.ĮLIZABETH BLAIR, BYLINE: In "Dear Evan Hansen," teenage self-loathing is both funny and painful to watch.īEN PLATT: (As Evan Hansen) Yes. After a successful run in Washington, D.C., last summer, "Dear Evan Hansen" opens tonight at Second Stage Theatre in New York. The Washington Post says it radiates with charm and wit. Sweet, sad and quite moving, says The New York Times. A specially appointed provincial committee is trying to address why 49 of Ontario's 53 agency's face a $67 million shortfall."Dear Evan Hansen" is a play that exploits human behavior in the digital age. Broten, who has steadfastly told all provincial children's aid societies there is no more money to top up their budgets as Ontario struggles with a $24.7 billion deficit, was forced to come to the agency's help. It was $2.3 million in debt and could not meet payroll. In late December, Payukotayno almost shut its doors. The review showed Payukotayno and Tikinagan children and family services, two agencies located above 50 degrees latitude, require a $24.6 million baseline funding increase to give northern children the same level of care Crown wards in the south receive. He was referring to an independent review done on behalf of the government in 2006. However, there are historic funding inequities in the north that have never been addressed, Beck said. It sounds like a lot, but, in reality, it's not a hell of a lot," said Beck, a former Mushkegowuk grand chief.īeck's submission called for four 12-month positions to address the communities' immediate crises.
"We made a submission for $470,000 and that got approved. The furthest reserve from Moosonee is 500 kilometres away and only accessible by air. Based in Moosonee, Ont., Payukotayno is a First Nations agency that serves seven communities with a combined population of 13,500. "This is an important step we can take to support these families and communities," Meilleur said Wednesday.īeck first asked the ministry for money to train four suicide intervention workers last year. The $470,000 will come out of the ministry's extraordinary circumstances fund, said Paris Meilleur, Broten's press secretary. "We had such difficulty initially, trying to get movement on this thing, to the point of frustration." "This will help us begin to address the problem of suicide," Beck said in an interview. In emergencies, the agency has to spend $400 a minute to charter a plane to reach a child in a fly-in community such as Attawapiskat.Įrnest Beck, executive director of Payukotayno James and Hudson Bay Family Services, praised Children and Youth Services Minister Laurel Broten and the media for helping to bring some hope to the impoverished area. The agency almost shut down in December when it ran out of money because of what officials said was the high cost of providing child protection services in the north.
The one lifeline for these lost youth, the Payukotayno children's aid society, has struggled to provide services while battling the province over its crippling financial woes. His death was the first last year in what child protection workers say is an "epidemic" of teen suicides in northeastern Ontario. His mother, Nellie, found him when she returned home from work. Trapper, a 17-year-old boy who loved hockey and his friends, hanged himself in his bedroom. 24 first anniversary of Thomas Trapper's death. The announcement comes days before the Jan. Another 80 have tried to take their own lives. Last month, a Star investigation revealed that, in 2009, 13 teens took their own lives in the isolated towns dotting the James Bay basin. The Ontario government is freeing up $470,000 in emergency funds to bring four trained suicide prevention workers to the remote James Bay area as aboriginal communities there struggle to cope under a wave of teen suicides.
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