2009 Innovation Award Winners

En Français

In the fourth year of Eva's Initiatives Award for Innovation, three winners are being recognized for their outstanding work with homeless youth. Eva's Initiatives received 40 applications from organizations working with homeless youth in ten provinces and territories. A six member panel, knowledgeable about services for homeless youth across Canada, reviewed all applications and selected three winners from among the many applicants with impressive and innovative projects underway in communities across the county.

The three winners for 2009, recognized for their models of integrated supports for homeless youth, are:

• Groupe communautaire l'itinéraire for the initiative Le magDVD le 3e Œil (Montréal, QC)
• The Laing House Association for the program Youth Speak : Breaking Down Stigma One Classroom at a Time (Halifax, NS)
• Parkland Youth Homes Society for Street Ties Youth Outreach (Red Deer, AB)

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?

2009 Winners

Past Winners

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 six 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 2009 awards were:

Céline Bellot	Associate Professor/ Professeur adjointe école de service social Université de Montréal
Rachel Gray	Director of National Initiatives for Eva's Initiatives
Linda Healing	Community Facilitator, Social Planning Dept, City of Red Deer
Darlene Lanceley	Coordinator of Planning and Development, Saskatchewan Indian Institute of Technologies
Bruce Pearce	Community Development, St. John's Community Advisory Committee on Homelessness
Robert Wilmot	Manager, Broadway Youth Resource Centre

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

Learn about the 2010 awards and download an application

2009 Winners:

Groupe communautaire l'itinéraire : Le magDVD le 3e Œi (Montréal, QC)

Le Groupe communautaire L'Itinéraire is a non-profit organization that develops social enterprise projects with the goal of improving the standard of living of Montréal's homeless population and those with alcohol and drug addictions. The mission of the organization is to develop autonomy, knowledge and creativity among individuals who have struggled due to homelessness and being marginalized. L'Itinéraire helps people reclaim their place in society and develop self esteem by participating in tangible projects.

Le magDVD le 3e Œil aims to facilitate the social reintegration of street youth aged 18 to 30 years or those who are at risk of becoming street involved. The strategy is to train youth in video production and journalism. The production and sale of a magazine in DVD format is a way to reconnect with a vulnerable population that is very interested in multimedia. The initiative provides an alternative to panhandling, a way to feel valued, and work experience. The result is an information magazine about the experience of youth and their battle with addictions and disengagement. The magazine itself is a tool to promote understanding of youth culture and reduce prejudices.

The approach includes partnerships with social workers as well as a team of professionals for training the youth in multimedia. The initiative includes working with youth around addictions prevention, life skills, developing healthy life habits, and preventing the negative effects of street life. Begun in 2005, the project has resulted in 5 editions of the DVD magazine. In all, 120 youth directly participated and 4000 copies of each edition were distributed in addition to distribution through our website www.3eoeil.com.

The Laing House Association: Youth Speak : Breaking Down Stigma One Classroom at a Time (Hailifax, NS)

Laing House is a support centre for youth living with mental illness. The youth have a diagnosis of mood, anxiety and/or psychotic disorder. When a young person experiences a mental illness it is almost impossible to balance school, friends and a job. Laing House helps youth rebuild their lives and learn how to effectively manage their illness.

Youth Speak is an educational initiative that targets junior high, high school and university students. The model is peer-to-peer interactive workshops led by young mental health consumers who are successfully navigating through life with a mental illness. They model recovery and demonstrate hope. This approach aims to increase knowledge and understanding around mental illness, raise awareness of available resources and treatments, reduce stigma and isolation and encourage youth to seek help. Most importantly, this program encourages dialogue about youth mental health issues. It reaches out to a vulnerable at-risk population.

Workshop facilitators are able to quickly engage and connect with the students as they courageously share their personal stories. They convey experiential knowledge of the issues, myths and facts. Many have lived through the high school experience while dealing with mental illness. The stories told in their own voices elicit questions from youth in an atmosphere made comfortable by the facilitator's honesty and openness. Compassion, understanding and increased awareness are promoted through this project. For more info www.lainghouse.org.

Parkland Youth Homes Society: Street Ties Youth Outreach (Red Deer, AB)

Parkland Youth Homes is a private non–profit organization providing a continuum of services to young people and their families in Central Alberta. Services include: residential and day treatment programs, walk–in clinic, counselling, caregiver support, group homes and youth outreach program.

Street Ties Youth Outreach seeks to divert youth from street involvement that may lead to drug addiction, crime and sexual exploitation. Pillars of the program include focussing on education, crisis support and early intervention; connecting youth with appropriate community resources; and offering youth a safe and non-judgemental space as a first step in supporting healthier lifestyle choices.

Street Ties Youth Outreach consists of: (1) a drop-in centre targeting at-risk youth 12 to 21; (2) an outreach program with workers on the street employing harm reduction strategies, providing referrals, and offering non-judgemental support; (3) Art in the Park, a summertime outreach program that attracts street-involved youth and provides opportunities for positive self expression; and (4) educational presentations to students in grades 7 to 12 on the issue of sexual exploitation, stages of recruitment, and the risk factors that may lead to a youth becoming entrenched in street life.

The drop-in centre is the only one of its kind in Red Deer. It provides resources to youth who are outside of the mainstream and typically exist un-noticed and unheard. Outreach workers advocate on behalf of the youth using the drop-in centre, thereby putting a spotlight on the existence of youth at-risk in Red Deer. For more info www.parklandyouthhomes.ca.

Past Winners:

2008 Winners:

• SIDA/AIDS Moncton for the Youth Asset Program (Moncton, NB)
• YWCA of Greater Toronto for Peel Youth Village Residential Democratic Living Program (Mississauga, ON)
• Coming Home Society for Young Wolves Lodge (Vancouver, BC)

2007 Winners:

• Okanagan Boys and Girls Clubs: Kelowna Downtown Youth Centre
• Saskatoon Community Youth Arts Programming Inc.: Urban Canvas Project
• Les Maisons Transitionnelles 03 for their housing and support program for young parents

2006 Winners:

• Broadway Youth Resource Centre
• Mères et Monde (Québec City)
• SKETCH Working Arts for Street-involved and Homeless Youth

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:

• A six episode television series called "Generation Sex"
• A six part CBC radio series and a film called It Won't Happen to Me
• Two theatrical productions performed in schools, treatment centres, group homes, institutions and to audiences of street youth
• A video about the prevention of HIV/HCV targeted to at-risk youth h
• 3 English and 3 French radio ads aimed at youth
• A short film about the lives of two youth with HCV
• Various print materials and multiple radio interviews

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.

More on Peel Youth Village.

Coming Home Society: Young Wolves Lodge

Coming Home Society 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.

More on the Coming Home Society