First and foremost, we want to thank each and every one of you for your support over the 2022 year. Whether that meant you were liking and sharing our social media posts, talking about us in the community and with your connections, walking with us in the Coldest Night fundraiser, bringing meals and food bank items to help with food stability for our youth, attending some of our other fundraising and awareness raising events, supporting us financially or a combination of the above, we are truly grateful and humbled by your generosity and compassion for our youth. Without each of you, we would not have been able to engage in the expanding scope of operations that we have undertaken this past year. We hope sharing a few of our current stories will help you see the value of your continued support through the 2023 year as well.
Since our last Christmas update there have been so many more amazing things happening across our Why Not locations!
Our young men at Charlie's Place have been working hard at building connections in our community and were able to compete in the Mann's Distillery SoupFest Fundraiser. They came up with 2 recipes to enter with and served over 100 bowls of soup and chili while talking with so many community members who attended the event. We were so thrilled with their hard work and their reaching way outside their comfort zones to make this day such a success story.
Our young moms in our Supportive Housing for Young Parents (SHYP) at The Elms have also been hard at work going through their culinary skills classes, budgeting classes, parenting classes all while learning healthy routines for their babies and working their way through their high school classes with our in house tutor. One of the young moms has completed her high school diploma and has applied and been accepted to college! It has been incredible to watch the staff team pouring into these girls and their babies and watching the girls thrive and grow under this support.
In the youth centre, we have been able to offer some valuable skills training utilizing community partners. During March Break we were able to have 5 of our youth become First Aid Certified, a great addition to a resume. We have a dedicated staff and volunteer team seeking new and creative ways to get youth in our doors and engage them in fun and interactive ways. We have had a resurgence of family style games nights with lots of board games and card games being played. In our increasingly digital world it has been so encouraging to see our youth setting down devices, playing some games and having conversations while playing. We have seen youth learning new ways of coping with stressors and working so hard to improve their mental health while diligently working to get through their high school credits.
We are so incredibly proud of all the youth we serve and their efforts to change their futures! Our whole team is delighted to be part of the lives of such an incredible group of young people and pour themselves into helping our youth see their potential to not just survive, but to thrive.
This year, we have some wonderful opportunities for you to come out and support Why Not, meet our staff, hear more stories, and connect with the community.
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