REST is a small nonprofit. But a giant in its ambition.

By: Dagma Koyi, Founder and Executive Director, REST Centres

Ten years. Ten years of REST creating impact, building programs, and touching lives. That is something to celebrate. But I also want to be transparent: this work has never been easy. Every step forward has taken struggle, sacrifice, and a fight that is still very real.

There’s a passage in the Bible that has shaped my journey as the Founder and Executive Director of REST Centres. It comes from Numbers 13:33:

“And there we saw the giants, the sons of Anak... and we were in our own sight as grasshoppers, and so we were in their sight.”

When I first had the idea to support BIPOC youth at risk of homelessness, it was just that—an idea. I was determined. I had mentors who believed in me. But I didn’t have resources. I didn’t have connections. I didn’t have a clear path forward.

I remember attending a housing symposium in those early days. On my name tag, I wrote: Dagma Koyi, REST Centres.

REST didn’t technically exist yet. But I believed in it enough to speak it into being.

That day, a number of people told me, “You have to connect with this housing advocate! She’s doing something similar.” I was excited. I thought, Finally, I’ve found a mentor. Someone who understands this work and can guide me.

When I connected with her, she listened to my vision for REST and then asked, “Do you know anyone in the government?”

I said, “No.”

She pressed: “Not even at the municipal level? No one in regional or federal?”

Again, I said, “No.”

She looked at me and said, “There’s no way you can build something like REST. I knew all the right people and funders, and even I couldn’t do it. How do you think you’ll manage?”

Her words hit me hard. At that moment, I saw how she saw me. She saw me as small. She saw me as a grasshopper. And she was telling me: I’m a giant, and even I couldn’t do it. What hope do you have?

I went home asking myself, “Dagma, can you really do this?” Her words had started to shape how I saw myself. I began to feel small too.

But here’s the lesson I learned:

The work of justice will always require you to be resilient in the face of giants. It matters less how others define you. What matters more is how you define yourself. It’s about the story you tell yourself when you’re confronted by giants. That inner story will determine whether you stand or shrink.

REST is a small nonprofit. But we are a giant in our ambition. 

10 years ago, REST began as an idea.

In the 10 years I have led REST, I have been in many rooms where people dismissed me. Where they overlooked my voice and doubted the work we were doing. Where they told me no. But I have never let their view become mine.

In 10 years REST has:

🏠 Provided over $200,000 in rental subsidies and $100,000 in food subsidies

❤️ Launched the HERO mental health support program with a full-time social worker

🎙️ Presented for the second time at the National Conference on Homelessness

📣 Sat on countless policy tables to inform folks about the scale of Black youth homelessness in Peel

What we need is partners who also see us as giants in our ambition and commitment. We need people who understand the scale of homelessness and how it disproportionately affects Black youth.

We can only grow with our community standing with us.

We can only continue with the support of our people.

Will you stand with us?