Youth Empowerment Ssupport

The Youth Empowerment Support Program is a judgment-free safe space for our youths to have meaningful connection, support, and encouragement to “Deliver the Future”. Almost one in every 3 newcomers was under 24 years of age( 2016 research). Approximately 34% of all newcomers to Canada are underage. Most newcomer youth aged 15 to 24 (79.8%) are from racialized “visible minority” backgrounds This demographics struggle  with:

• Developing a sense of identity (individual and peer)
• Building relationships
•  Acquiring the skills to be resilient in coping with stress and life challenges.
• Higher rates of unemployment compared to Canadian-born youth.
• Lack of language proficiency can form a barrier in education, employment, and social settings.
• Identity development can be more challenging when home and peer groups are from different cultures.
• Newcomer youths are at a life stage when they are more adaptable to change.
• Maintaining a connection to culture of origin can be positive for identity development.
• Mental and physical health struggle.
• Pre-migration trauma can impact newcomer youth’s mental and physical health.
• There is a lack of youth mental health support in general, even fewer supports for newcomers.

At the Youth Empowerment Support Program, we mentor our youths for:

• Academic excellence, 
• Personal leadership, and effectiveness. 
• Development of a reading culture by the TRIF Literacy Club which  reads a non-fiction book of the month, gather to discuss, and explore their learnings from each book on 1st Saturdays of the month at the Lois Hole Library at Callingwood.
• Financial literacy
• Time management
• Self-esteem and self-worth
• Effective goal setting. 
• Aspirational support for the youths in our community, 
• Prevention from entanglement with the judicial criminal system.
• Emotional and mental health.

As an organization, we encourage youths to volunteer. Our volunteering at the Edmonton’s Food Bank was described as the “ biggest gathering of black kids in the history of the Edmonton’s Food Bank”. Our 2-day leadership bootcamp is aimed to develop and imbue personal and corporate skills in the youths in the immigrant community and challenge them early to provide solutions wherever they are. Our goal is to provide aspirational support for the youths in our community, prevent them getting entangled with the judicial criminal system and help with their emotional and mental health.