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2008 Innovation Awards
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Winners Announced
In this third year of Eva's Initiatives Award for Innovation, three winners are being recognized for their outstanding work with homeless youth. Eva's Initiatives received 52 applications from organizations working with homeless youth in ten provinces and territories. All applications were reviewed by a panel consisting of seven individuals from across Canada who are knowledgeable about services for homeless youth. The panel was responsible for selecting three winners from among the many applicants who have impressive and innovative projects underway in both large and small communities across Canada.
The three winners for 2008, recognized for their models of integrated supports for homeless youth, are:
• SIDA/AIDS
Moncton for the Youth Asset Program (Moncton, NB)
• YMCA
of Greater Toronto for Peel Youth Village Residential Democratic
Living Program (Mississauga, ON)
• Coming Home
Society for Young Wolves Lodge (Vancouver, BC)
Our SponsorThe Eva's Initiatives Award for Innovation is generously sponsored by CIBC. Each winning organization receives a prize of $5,000, presented at an awards ceremony in their community.
2008 Winners
SIDA/AIDS Moncton: Youth Asset Program
The mission of SIDA/AIDS Moncton (SAM) is to improve the quality
of life of those infected and affected by HIV/AIDS and to reduce
the spread of HIV and other infectious diseases.A primary focus of the organization is on prevention, especially among homeless and at-risk youth.
Using discussion groups and an 'asset inventory' administered by youth to 80 at-risk and homeless youth, SAM undertook research to identify the challenges youth face in achieving their life goals. The findings of the research indicated that this target group showed a high interest in film, media, and performance arts. Furthermore the asset inventory found that homeless and at-risk youth already had many skills and abilities that relate to these sectors. These findings led to the first phase of the Youth Asset Program (YAP) and the involvement of youth in developing and producing:
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A six episode television series
called Generation Sex " A six part CBC radio series and
a film called It Won't Happen to Me |
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Two theatrical productions performed
in schools, treatment centres, group homes, institutions
and to audiences of street youth |
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A video about the prevention of HIV/HCV
targeted to at-risk youth " 3 English and 3 French radio
ads aimed at youth |
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A short film about the lives
of two youth with HCV |
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Various print materials and multiple
radio interviews |
The youth develop the ideas and assist in writing
scripts. They perform and assist with lighting, sound, film
editing and graphic design. The youth also participate in promoting
this work. Youth gain experience by working hands-on with professionals
from SAM's partners in media and film.
SAM looks to the following outcomes for the activities within
the Youth Asset Program:
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Youth feeling respected and
appreciated; |
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Youth building self esteem, self
confidence and leadership skills, with positive feelings
about the contributions they made; |
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Youth gaining new skills and
knowledge about the film industry that they believe will
help them in the future. |
About SIDA/AIDS Moncton www.sida-aidsmoncton.com
YMCA of Greater Toronto : Peel Youth Village Residential Democratic Living Program
The objective of Peel Youth Village (PYV) is to assist female, male and trans youth aged 16 to 30 in attaining the life skills required to live and thrive independently within the community. The program provides housing and supports for its youth residents as well as offering programming and activities to the larger community, including an Employment Resource Centre, a breakfast program, and recreation and leisure activities.
Youth can stay at PYV for up to 1 year. The first month is an orientation phase when new residents meet with staff, set goals and evaluate if PYV is right for them. The second phase is a 6 month occupancy agreement, during which the youths participate in a life skills program, collaborate with a case worker, youth worker, employment counselor and housing mobility worker and work on an action plan to help them reach their goals and overcome barriers. The third and final phase is a 5 month occupancy agreement, during which time the focus is on discharge planning and establishing community-based networks of support for the youth.
At PYV, the strategy is to provide at-risk youth with a 'one stop' link into services and opportunities. Youth connected to PYV make a commitment to themselves and to the program through a charter of rights and responsibilities, and are ready to accept help and support while moving towards new skill development. PYV focuses on education, employment and training as pathways to independence for the youth. Service delivery is rooted in the principles of democratic living, youth governance, harm reduction, holistic services, and a belief that residents can accomplish their goals.
The Region of Peel funds PYV and owns the property. Peel Children's Aid Society, various internal programs of the YMCA of Greater Toronto, and a community mental health outreach service are the major partners in the initiative.
More on Peel
Youth Village.
Coming Home Society: Young Wolves Lodge
The Coming Home Society working in partnership with Urban Native Youth Association provides alcohol and drug recovery services for young Aboriginal women aged 17 to 24 who are homeless or at-risk of homelessness in Vancouver's Downtown Eastside. Priority goes to young women who are mothers but who have been unable to parent and have had their children taken into care. The goal of the organization is to help young women stabilize their lives, recover from past trauma, deal with substance misuse, reunite with their children, and experience a place of belonging within their culture and in the community.
Young Wolves Lodge is a five-bed house for young Aboriginal women (aged 17 to 24), providing a safe and nurturing home environment for a residential alcohol and drug recovery program. Women develop their own goals for the four month program and their lives, and no woman leaves the program until she has secured a place to live and is ready to take the next step in her life, whether that is going on to more intensive treatment, returning to school, finding employment, or actively parenting her children. A primary goal of the program is helping young women develop a renewed sense of pride in themselves and rediscovering their culture by learning about and living out its values and spiritual traditions.
At Young Wolves Lodge, the concept of the Medicine Wheel provides the basis for a holistic approach to physical, emotional, mental and spiritual wellness. Physical wellness is promoted through regularly scheduled physical activity. Emotional needs are met through individual and group counselling. A wide range of workshops are the source for learning that promotes mental wellbeing and life skills. Spiritual wellness is nurtured through participation in smudging and prayer circles, Sweat Lodge ceremonies and other seasonal ceremonies, cultural teaching, trips and Pow Wows. Connections with community agencies, social workers, alcohol and drug councillors, probation officers, and medical clinics help the women build a network of support prior to leaving the program.
The Coming Home Society, an initiative of the Anglican Diocese of New Westminster, is proud to be in partnership with Urban Native Youth Association whose long experience in delivering programs to urban Aboriginal youth has made it possible for the vision to become a reality. The organization has received grants from the Anglican Church and Young Wolves Lodge receives federal homelessness funding.Contributions from the business community helped furnish Young Wolves Lodge. A private donor funds the transition worker position, a staff position that provides up to one year of post-program follow-up support to former residents.
More on the Coming
Home Society
Background
Eva’s Initiatives and CIBC have teamed up to offer three annual awards for organizations working with homeless and at risk youth. Award winners:
- Demonstrate innovation in delivering services to homeless youth;
- Successfully use partnerships to develop, implement or operate services;
- Deliver services that help youth who are homeless or at risk of becoming homeless achieve greater self-sufficiency and reduce their chances of experiencing homelessness in the future;
- Offer services that integrate two or more of the following: housing, education, vocational training, employment, health and addictions supports, life skills, or other interventions aimed at assisting homeless and at risk youth to become self-sufficient.
Why offer an Award for Innovation?
The goal of the awards is to recognize other organizations that are doing innovative work with youth who are homeless or at-risk of homelessness.
What does Eva’s mean by ‘innovation’?
Innovation means different things to different people. For these awards, innovation means:
- New methods for addressing a community need are established, resulting in improved services aimed at helping homeless youth develop self-sufficiency.
- Something new develops in the community as a result of an initiative. (Some examples are: new partners or sectors in your community become involved in addressing homelessness; services that were previously unavailable now are available; or an initiative results in increased public awareness and understanding of youth homelessness.)
- Partnerships develop between services for homeless youth and other sectors such as business, labour, industry, financial services, education and training, government, and faith communities.
- New ways to more effectively manage services for young homeless individuals are identified and implemented.
Review Panel
Eva’s Initiatives is grateful for the assistance received from the seven members of the review panel. This cross-Canada panel diligently reviewed and evaluated all applications, and were responsible for selecting the three winners.
The members of the review panel for the 2008 awards were:
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Céline Bellot
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Associate Professor/ Professeur adjointe École de service social
Université de Montréal
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Wayne Helgason
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Executive Director, Social Planning Council of Winnipeg
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Pam Jolliffe
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National Executive Director of Boys and Girls Clubs of Canada
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Darlene Lanceley
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Coordinator of Planning and Development, Saskatchewan Indian Institute of Technologies
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Jennifer Morris
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Director of National Initiatives for Eva’s Initiatives
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Bruce Pearce
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Community Development, St. John’s Community Advisory Committee on Homelessness
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Want to apply for an Eva’s Initiatives Award for Innovation?
Watch this Web site for details. Information about the 2009 awards and an application form will be available by September 2008.
Past Winners
2007 Winners:
2006 Winners:
Okanagan Boys and Girls Clubs: Kelowna Downtown Youth Centre (Kelowna BC)
The Kelowna Downtown Youth Centre is located in a converted heritage 2 storey elementary school with a gymnasium. The centre provides one-stop coordinated service for young people (ages 13 to 18) who are homeless or at-risk of homelessness.
During the day, youth can access food, clothing, hygiene supplies,
showers, laundry facilities, storage, a phone and computer,
counselling and information sessions, job search programs, a
message centre, recreation opportunities and community resources.
The program operates five days per week from 8:00 a.m. to 6:00
p.m.
At night, the youth centre is designed to be a safe, no barrier
overnight and temporary shelter, specifically for youth ages
13 to 18 years and open 7 days a week. Youth come into the centre
at 8:00 p.m. and leave at 8:00 a.m. The program also operates
during the day on weekends. The gym area is partitioned to accommodate
male and female youth in safe, separate, sleeping environments.
Showers and laundry are also available. The shelter works in
conjunction with the day services to provide a full range of
supports to youth who are at-risk or are homeless. The evening
shelter is the first stage in a multi-stage approach to transitional
housing for youth, complemented by a full range of off site
residential services.
A variety of on site programs provide wraparound service and
support to meet the needs of youth. These include street outreach;
parent and teen mediation; mental health outreach; youth employment
and training services; self help group for parents; family and
youth counselling; and a restorative justice program as an alternative
to the courts for minor offences. In addition, addictions workers
as well as social services staff from government, the local
school board and community agencies visit the centre and work
with the youth individually or in groups.
The centre has partnerships with faith groups, service clubs,
retailers, and non-profit and community service organizations.
It also has support from the corporate sector, all levels of
government, the judicial system, and the educational community.
The Kelowna Downtown Youth Centre looks for the following community
outcomes: reduction in open street drug scene, increased referrals
to alcohol and drug treatment services, improved public order,
reduced risk to individuals at large, and enhanced public safety
and security.
For more info: http://www.boysandgirlsclubs.ca
Saskatoon Community Youth Arts Programming Inc (SCYAP): Urban Canvas Project (Saskatoon, SK)
SCYAP was established to address the social,
educational and economic needs of Aboriginal and at-risk youth.
The organization uses artistic inclination as the basis for
personal development and redirection towards a more productive,
stable way of life.
The Urban Canvas Project is a 39-week intensive program
of arts training for selected at-risk youth, many of whom are
First Nations, Métis or members of ethnic minorities. The target
age group is 16 to 30. Participants are selected from among
troubled youth who have dropped out of school, become involved
in gangs, been in trouble with the law, or experienced addiction
problems. Their common characteristics are an interest in visual
art and a desire to change their life.
Participants commit themselves to a rigorous, structured schedule,
which they themselves help to establish. They receive wages
and are supported in learning to budget their money, control
their spending, and stabilize their domestic situation. They
thus receive the idea that disciplined work and the application
of their lifeskills can bring practical as well as emotional
rewards.
Training in drawing, painting, photography, art history and
other formal subjects is accompanied by workshops in personal
and professional development, job skills, health, and literacy.
Participants work towards three exhibitions of their individual
works and contribute to large works of public art.
A distinguishing feature of the Urban Canvas Project is the
engagement with the larger community in public art projects.
These include interior and exterior murals, decoration of street
furniture, and artworks associated with cultural events. Participants
have painted outside murals for the White Buffalo Youth Lodge,
recreational facilities, and buildings in the downtown area,
as well as interior murals for schools in the city. They have
contributed large-scale works to the Northern Saskatchewan International
Children's Festival and Shakespeare on the Saskatchewan. This
aspect of the program gives participants an opportunity to break
out of their social isolation by interacting with community
representatives and displaying their expertise in a social context.
They receive positive reinforcement of their efforts from members
of the city police force, politicians, media, business owners
and community leaders.
The Urban Canvas Project is supported by senior levels of government
as well as through partnerships within the Aboriginal community,
retail sector, and community services sector. The project also
fosters connections with the media and professional artists.
In evaluating the project, organizers consider the most important
indicator of success to be the ability of participants to find
and hold jobs or pursue a career path.
For more info: http://www.scyapinc.org
Les Maisons Transitionnelles 03 (Montreal, QC)
Les Maisons Transitionnelles O3 (MT03) offers subsidized
transitional housing and services to young, at-risk families
(primarily single mothers, aged 16 to 24, with children newborn
to age 5). MTO3 is located on the Benny Farm site, a former
veteran's housing site in Montréal that is being redeveloped
to include housing for a mixed social clientele. Other housing
already on the site includes veteran's housing, co-ops for families,
and housing for single mothers continuing their post-secondary
education. The redevelopment of the Benny farm site provides
a unique opportunity to build a community of young families
who need support within the heart of an existing and growing
community, where community involvement and good neighbourliness
were (and remain ) the norm.
Housing is subsidized through the Société d'habitation du Québec
and residents pay rent equal to 25 percent of their income.
The project offers 29 affordable, subsidized apartments for
young, at-risk families. Through programs and activities offered
both on site and through partner organizations in the community,
MTO3 helps young parents: acquire independent living skills;
learn how cope on a low income; connect with and use resources
in the community; build self-esteem; develop their leadership
skills; further their education; and improve their employability.
Programs also help young women adjust to their role as parents,
while helping ensure that their children have the best possible
start in life. The average length of stay at MTO3 is expected
to be 3 years - which allows time for the development of a network
of service providers, as well as better continuity of services
and more timely identification of possible developmental and
health issues, especially in the children.
MT03 has number of key partners. Elizabeth House (a rehabilitation
centre for young mothers in difficulty) spearheaded the creation
of the housing project and continues to provide some administrative
and clerical support. The Elizabeth House Foundation fundraises
to pay for the services at MTO3. The local health and social
services centre provides services geared specifically for the
residents. A literacy and school-preparedness program works
with parents in their homes, and an arrangement with a local
college results in students in social services working with
the young parents and children as part of a field placement.
The first basic measure of success for many of these young families
is being able to pay their rent on time and in full and to provide
their child with basic necessities, food and shelter. The next
measure of success is whether a resident can follow through
on taking the steps to reach her or his personal goals as set
out in an Individual Action Plan. In all cases, being able to
live independently (manage a household on the income the family
receives), balance the child's needs and the parent's needs,
provide the child with the physical and emotion security and
the stimulation for his or her intellectual development is a
mark of success.
Broadway Youth Resource Centre (Vancouver BC)
Opened in 1999, the Broadway Youth Resource Centre (BYRC) is
a grassroots collaboration between nine social service agencies,
three levels of government, a university and a college. This
multi-agency model provides a continuum of services to at-risk
youth aged 12 to 24, through a storefront location. At the core
of BYRC is a drop-in Resource Room, accessible to all, and an
opportunity for staff begin a dialogue with transient youth
who walk into the centre. Youth have access to free computers,
phones, fax machines, workshops, activities, celebrations, employment
and housing information, medical services, and food. The approach
at BYRC is to combine principles of community development with
a population health approach, with the youth encouraged to take
responsibility for their own lives and environments. Support
services and 'fun' activities are geared to promote physical,
emotional and psychological health. Spiritual and cultural well
being is addressed through weekly Aboriginal programming, talking
circles and ceremonies.
BYRC is actively involved in the local community, bringing together
at-risk youth, the Vancouver Police Department, and Aboriginal
youth serving agencies; involving youth in a street 'cleanup'
in nearby laneways and streets; partnering with a local business
and community group and the City of Vancouver to open a public
park behind the resource centre; and creating opportunities
for youth to volunteer at local events such as the 2005 Gathering
Voices Aboriginal Youth Conference. In 2005, BYRC was a leader
in initiating a youth driven arts and media gallery in Vancouver,
which led to mentoring relationships between the youth and professional
artists.
BYRC also now houses a youth employment program that pairs at-risk
youth with employers in the construction trades to create meaningful
work experiences. A future direction for BYRC is to rebuild
the centre to incorporate transitional housing for youth into
the facility. For more info:www.pcrs.ca
Mères et Monde (Québec City)
Mères et Monde is a residential and community centre
which aims to prevent transience among young mothers and their
infants, develop their ability to be independent, break the
social isolation experienced by the young parents, and encourage
social and labour force integration. The centre brings together
23 units of social housing, community services and training,
and an early childhood centre with space for 18 children and
opportunities for respite care, and care for children while
the mothers are shopping or attending training programs. Participation
in the training programs or use of the centre is not limited
to women who live in the social housing units. The training
programs involve assisting the participants to develop a life
plan aimed at overcoming social exclusion and poverty, and facilitating
their entry into the adult education centre where the women
can obtain school credits. Once enrolled in the training, participants
receive a monthly allowance for the duration of the course as
well as reimbursement of child care and travel costs as needed.
Mères et Monde operates from the principles of empowerment
and partnerships, with programs and opportunities adapted to
the realities and needs of the parenting women attending the
centre. The centre is run from a model of participatory management,
with the young mothers sitting on committees (including finance,
human resources, staff hiring and evaluation committees), in
addition to forming the majority on the board of directors.
Partnerships with all levels of government, the local school
board, a daycare provider, local employment centre and support
service agencies, mental health agencies, a local museum, chiropractor,
video maker, health centre and others result in a myriad of
opportunities and comprehensive supports for those young women
who live at the centre as well as those from the broader community
who attend programs offered at Mères et Monde.
SKETCH Working Arts for Street-involved and Homeless Youth
SKETCH Connections Program
The goal of the SKETCH Connections Program is to support street-involved
and homeless youth in gaining the skills and experience necessary
to become self-employed in the arts or gain connections to employment
opportunities in the arts sector. Youth are also supported as
they develop a portfolio and in applying for post secondary
education. The program has four main components:
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Skill building in artistic mediums
that are well suited to self employment (eg. silkscreening,
visual arts, woodworking, musical production and recording,
and photography). This is supported by counselling and
coaching in developing year long plans of action, updating
resumes, exploring internships and mentoring, budgeting,
and dealing with housing and health issues. |
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Entrepreneurship where self-employed
artists introduce participants to marketing and arts businesses
through seminars and workshops. This is enhanced with
support for the youth in approaching galleries, coordinating
arts exhibits and marketing, support in project development
and selling work in a market setting. |
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Youth Counselling which ensures that
each program participant has access to one on one counselling
and support through SKETCH's resident youth worker. |
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Inter-Agency partnerships which allow
SKETCH to refer participants who need intensive counselling,
primary care or a case worker to another agency within
their network of partners who specializes in meeting the
immediate needs of street-involved youth. |
To deliver the SKETCH Connections Program, and provide the entrepreneurship,
internship and mentoring opportunities, the organization has
linked youth participants up with museums, galleries, performing
arts centres, and live theatre. A local agency serving homeless
and at-risk youth serves as a primary partner in the referral
process to SKETCH and provides front line resources to the youth
in need.
For more info:www.sketch.ca
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