With each stroke, one wall at a time, a group of Toronto students is helping to transform the city.
The students are from Monsignor Fraser College's Isabella campus, an alternative school that is part of the Toronto Catholic District School Board. Over the last six weeks, about 50 of them have been collaborating with members of the Toronto Police Service to paint over graffiti.
Const. Marty McLaughlin, who helps run the initiative, says the unique art program aims to create a safer community.
"If you take care of your property, your neighbour will take care of their property," he told CTV Toronto on Tuesday. "It helps the community look better and make people feel safer."
So far, the students and police officers have painted over 275-square-metres of graffiti and vandalism. Most of their efforts have been focused in areas that will welcome visitors for World Pride, including the community of Caggabetown.
The students have also had the opportunity to work with an artist to help create a mural for Free the Children, a Canadian-based charity. It is located in the back alley of the Free the Children Toronto office, near Carlton and Parliament streets.
"I feel good when I walk up on Parliament," one student told CTV Toronto. "I stand back and it looks so, so nice."
The mural -- which celebrates multiculturalism, aboriginal art and children -- was funded by a grant from the City of Toronto.
In addition to giving walls a new life, the program has also given adult learners another chance to reach their educational goals.
"These students have not received a diploma," a teacher told CTV Toronto on Tuesday. "For whatever reason, there has been an interruption in their high school careers. They come to us with all sorts of backgrounds."
