2009 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:

Our Sponsor

The 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.

Background

Review Panel

Want to apply for an Eva's Initiatives Award for Innovation?

2008 Winners

Past Winners

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:

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:

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:

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:

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:

Céline Bellot Associate Professor/ Professeur adjointe école de service social Université de Montréal
Wayne Helgason Executive Director, Social Planning Council of Winnipeg
Pam Jolliffe National Executive Director of Boys and Girls Clubs of Canada
Darlene Lanceley Coordinator of Planning and Development, Saskatchewan Indian Institute of Technologies
Jennifer Morris Director of National Initiatives for Eva's Initiatives
Bruce Pearce Community Development, St. John's Community Advisory Committee on Homelessness

Want to apply for an Eva's Initiatives Award for Innovation?

Download information about the 2009 awards and an application form here or send an email to awards@evas.ca to request an application.

Past Winners

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:

  1. 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.
  2. 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.
  3. Youth Counselling which ensures that each program participant has access to one on one counselling and support through SKETCH's resident youth worker.
  4. 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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