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By Angela Brown

HOPE AND THE FUTURE

Hope and the Future: Concern For Youth still there to offer support to kids after challenging year

Jan 3, 2021 | 3:06 PM

The COVID-19 pandemic makes 2020 a year many may prefer to forget, but there is hope for the future. We’ve decided to make that the focus of our series of end-of-year stories.

Concern For Youth is starting the year hoping for more opportunities to be able to carry out its programs in full in 2021.

The non-profit organization continues to focus on offering outreach and support services to youth in the Battlefords.

“I just feel very lucky that we have been able to stay open this entire time… So I am very thankful,” executive director Dani Williams said.

She said the organization continues to make efforts to connect with youth while following all the COVID-19 precautions in place.

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Earlier in 2020, Concern For Youth moved to its new location at 1361-101 St. in North Battleford, from its prior spot at the Don Ross Centre. The new location is more accessible to youth as it is located in a residential area, across from the library and closer to the city centre.

“It is a bigger space,” Williams said. “Our plan before COVID hit was to be able to open in the evenings just as a drop-in for youth. However, with COVID obviously, we haven’t have been able to do that. But that [new venue] gives us the ability to do all of our programming in one space.”

The organization continues to offer free transportation for youth ages 12-19 to and from school, and to access appointments, Mondays to Fridays when staff is working.

Concern For Youth also offers a Mentorship Service, through funding support it receives from the Ministry of Social Services.

Trained mentors/outreach workers engage youth in activities to help build up their self-esteem and social skills. The aim of the program is to offer youth life skills and help them access the resources and support they need to reach their goals.

The organization is meeting with youth one-on-one weekly in the community and currently has 30 youth in the program for ages five to 19.

“We stopped seeing youth for Mentorship from April to the middle of May. Then, we started back up again,” Williams said. “We are making sure staff and families continue to stay healthy, wearing masks, sanitizing, asking health questions daily.”

She said the organizers also offer support to families stuck in isolation or quarantine by dropping off items for them, and checking in with them via phone calls and text messages.

“[We are] just providing them any sort of support if they are in quarantine,” Williams said.

During the summer of 2020, Concern For Youth started sending out Connection Kits. Over 1,000 kits containing such items as snack packs, movies, and books were made and handed out in the community.

For any families interested in its programs, the organization posts its calendar of activities on Facebook and its website.

Concern For Youth also offers cultural programming, recreational activities, and creative projects for youngsters to take part in. Participants need to register in advance due to COVID-19 restrictions.

“We do hope that will eventually get to the point where we can just have it as a drop-in,” Williams said.

While it has been more difficult to hold activities since only a small number of youth are allowed inside the office at the same time, Williams is hopeful for 2021 that the COVID-19 situation will start to improve and the province’s restrictions will begin to ease so more can take part.

In the meantime she said Concern For Youth staff “have been rotating youth through our programs and making sure that youth that are interested all get a chance at something.”

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angela.brown@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @battlefordsNOW