By Gina Harris
Sometimes monumental changes begin with one small step. Lianna Foley’s life changed when she picked up the phone and asked for help.
Nine months ago Foley’s life looked bleak. With no job, and a two-year-old daughter to raise by herself, each day was a struggle.
She says the youth internship program run by Somerset West Community Health centre changed her life.
“My teacher gave me the courage to get up in front of people and actually speak, which I’ve never been able to do before,” she says. “They just said ‘do it, you’ll be fine,’ and I did it.”
In 24 weeks, Foley took herself off the welfare roll and became a full-time employee at JDS Fitel Inc., a local high-tech company.
The federal government has given the health centre $90,000 to run one more session of this program, giving 12 more young people the help they need to overcome life’s obstacles. The two-year-old program teaches youth between the ages of 15 and 30 time management, conflict resolution, and other skills to help them join the workforce.
“I mean getting up on time, showing up for work on time, knowing how to work within a team, how to find a job, how to look for work. Things that many of us take for granted,” says David Gibson, manager of community and social services at the health centre.
Students work at a high-tech company for 12 weeks to gain practical experience.
But the future of the program, which boasts an 85-per- cent success rate in getting youth back to school or off social assistance, is uncertain.
For years federal and provincial governments have bickered over responsibility for training. When the funding ends on June 30, the province will assume responsibility for the program. No one knows what will happen then.
“The unfortunate part is after this intake we have no other means of providing the current program as it exists,” says Gibson.
Near the end of March the centre will be making a presentation to a regional task force on employment to show the program is worthwhile and should continue.
With the help of the University of Ottawa’s psychology department, the centre also expects to publish a paper in three months showing the program increases the general health of participants by improving self-esteem.
“People have different barriers and this gives people with the most barriers a chance to get some kind of job skills and get out and working,” says Kim Mansour, a social worker and life skills coach. She says many of the 36 students already helped by the program came from multi-cultural backgrounds and were newcomers to Canada. They often struggled with loneliness and an unfamiliar language. Ninety per cent of participants had less than a Grade 12 education.
Mansour says the most important thing students gain is the confidence that comes with accomplishment.