Can you
tell us about the “Strengthening Families Program”?
The
“Strengthening Families Program” is a National Crime Prevention
initiative that (so far) has chosen our organization. We still have
to dot our i's and cross our t's, but our initial application has
been approved. The whole idea around the “Strengthening Families
Program” is to reduce addictions and substance abuse among youth in
the City of Summerside. The program would be a
four-year initiative that would equip us to pay for six to eight
qualified trained employees. They would then provide the
services needed to families who are struggling with similar issues.
What
sort of services will be provided?
The first
thing they will do is 'break bread.' There will be a brand new
industrial kitchen in our Youth Engagement Centre where youth and
their families (guided by employees) are going to make supper. We will
provide all the ingredients, everything that the families and the
youth will need in order to work together to make a meal. Once supper
is cooked, youth and families will have a sit-down meal and as they
are eating there will naturally be conversation, so they will be
building upon their communication skills as they talk about their
days. When we eat we are happy and it changes the atmosphere. A meal
is a great foundation to kick-start the program. After they eat,
they will do some cleaning up and then be broken up into groups. The
youth go in one area and the parents and guardians go in another area
to be assisted by support workers. In their individual groups they will work on curriculum that will help them build resiliency and
communication. They will be building skills to help them be able to
address situations in order to reduce the chance of using
prescription pills, alcohol, etc. and put that energy instead towards
achieving their goals.
Why is
it so important for youth and their parents and caregivers to work
together in this program?
A
lot of programs we had researched separate the two, so it is either
the parents or the youth that are getting help. Through the
“Strengthening Families Program” we want to build up effective
communication to keep families together, thus the strengthening of
families. Through this program, youth and their families will be
working together, breaking any barriers that exist because the youth
will know they have their parents backing them. To be successful it
is important to have the strength you get from your family. There
will be a strong focus on belonging within our engagement centre. Everybody needs to belong to something, it creates a better chance of
youth being able to overcome obstacles and achieve goals.
You could almost call
the Engagement Centre a "belonging centre" because that is what we want
to focus on.
How
will the twenty youth be selected?
Referrals will
go out to groups across Summerside and maybe even outside of
Summerside and they would refer families and their youth who are
struggling with addiction issues. Then twice a week they would meet at
our Youth Engagement Centre with our staff. Our hope is that it will
be a community hub for different agencies that are already doing
amazing things with the youth and
their families. Our youth engagement centre is going to be a place
where youth, their families, and the different agencies can all focus
together, and the youth can get help from different supports systems
in the one centre. It's great to have our eyes opened to other
programs that are already in existence and if you can engage them in
what you're doing, then you've got the best of both worlds.
Why are
you opting for a day program and not an overnight program?
Little steps.
The biggest thing we want to do is offer structured evening programs
for families. Down the road, as we see fit, we would like to expand
to a survival centre and make an overnight program that offers life
skills, washers and dryers, and showers. It would be great to have a
facility for youth who are having issues with couch surfing and
homelessness but we believe that we need to get the “Strengthening
Families Program” and the youth engagement project up and going
first and then down the road we would branch into that program area. I agree with you, there is a definite need for the overnight
programs even though you don't see it in Summerside as much as you do
the other cities. Couch surfing definitely exists. But here at the
Boys and Girls Club, we go one step at a time so, with the Youth Engagement
Centre we are already undertaking a huge step with the “Strengthing
Families Program.” We are also going to offer the “Rogers
Raising the Grade,” which provides education and awareness. We are going
to also add to our programs and services a bullying program, which
we hope will provide the education and the skills needed to eliminate
the program down the road with an overnight program. But, like I
said, we have to take things one step at a time.
Do you
have any plans in place to rase the rest of the $150.0000 that you
will need?
I am glad you
asked that question. Right now we are in the middle of the Aviva
campaign. Last year we came in second and received five thousand
dollars through Aviva. This year we are aiming for one hundred
thousand dollars. We are setting our hopes high! Currently,I think we
in fourteenth place which is pretty neat over all. I think we need to
be in the top twenty to move onto the second phase. The best thing
about Aviva is the exposure that we are getting with the Youth
Engagement Centre. We have had such huge support from the City of
Summerside granting us the right to build an addition onto the
property purchased. In January we are going to kick off a Capital
fundraising campaign. Our goal will be to generate an additional $10,000 with that and it's definitely reachable, as well we will
continue our fundraising with our gold rush.
Are you
looking for community volunteers to assist with the fundraising?
Yes. We will
be putting out a call for volunteers, whether it be canvassing or other fundraisers that we come up with. We try to direct our
fundraisers now towards being experience events, like “Race
for Kids” where they participate in part of the Amazing Race. With
these types of fundraising events, whether the kids win it or not,
they enjoy themselves. In January, we are looking at doing a
fundraising hockey game that's going to help the Youth Engagement
Centre. It's a secret right now but hopefully I'll be announcing the
details soon!
Here's
another way people can volunteer: what we really need is for our youth to speak up
and speak out. Whether through websites or through Facebook, they can give testimonials stating how badly we need this Youth Engagement Centre. It
doesn't have to be a personal testimony. It could be just to share
how a friend is a couch surfer and doesn't have a place to wash their
clothes.
People say
for them to get out and get a job but you have to have the skills to
do that and the ability to put a resume together and without clean
clothes, good social skills and no resume it's hard to get a job.
What
organizations and businesses have come on board to support you?
Good
question. First of all, APM with Tim Banks has donated $50, 000 in
services rendered to help create and do the planning. Tim Banks is
also involved with Killam Properties Inc. and Killam Properties Inc.
is donating fifty
thousand dollars in cash. The Summerside Rotary Club have come
onboard with sixty thousand dollars and a couple of years ago we
received twenty thousand from the Future Shop and we still have that
tucked away. So you can see we're talking about huge organizations
and businesses who want to be identified with what we are doing.
Is
there an official name for the facility ?
For
now it is the Youth Engagement Centre. It's too soon to choose an
official name yet.
Why do
you believe the Youth Engagement Centre is needed here in Summerside?
We have
amazing staff and they are doing an unbelievable job meeting the
needs of 300 children daily from the ages of 4 to 12. So they start
here at age 4 and for eight years they have huge role models and they
have a place where they feel they belong. What happens when they turn 13 years old? We need a place for these 13, 14, 15, and 16 year olds
to go and that's a huge job. We also need a place for our youth to be
able to go to that offers them structured programming, tools to be
able to handle the decision-making that comes at them during a
critical time in life. At 13, 14, 15 – you are faced with everything
from cigarettes and alcohol to drugs. You need to be strong enough to
make proper decisions -- decisions that could change your whole life
the moment you make them. We need somewhere for our club members to
go when they hit the 13, 14, and, 15 mark.
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