The former director of the Windsor Youth Centre is shining a spotlight on homelessness and addiction during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Centre co-founder Tamara Kowalska began looking at the grant from the Arts, Culture and Heritage Fund and what story she could tell.
"Experiences from the many years that I was there needed an outlet and so I started writing," she says.
She found two musicians who were once homeless youth themselves and found her focus.
"Somewhere along the line one of my friends who had spent a lot of time being homeless said to me, 'you know you have a voice with the community and I'd like you to send this message for people who don't have a voice,'" added Kowalska.
Ten videos were the final product from her group called Check Day.
She says the videos show struggle through a combination of spoken word, poetry and old school rap songs.
"That doesn't happen for a lot of people who are marginalized or disenfranchised; they don't see themselves reflected back from the outside world and that's part of what makes being disenfranchised so difficult," she added.
The final project is called No Cash or Alcohol on Premises and was released on July 24.
Five videos were already released online, with the final five set for release in early August.