By reducing personal barriers, we serve youth who are:
Youth Central empowers youth to find and build their communities. We offer:
We need help with:
The need for our services:
Since the onset of the pandemic youth have faced a social disconnect that previous generations have not experienced. The situation calls for a robust effort to help young people reconnect their social and community ties. The demand for youth driven programming and support is the highest we’ve seen in 30 years.
According to a recent survey on the impact of Covid-19 on youth in Canada, 49% of youth indicated that one of the biggest challenges they faced was isolation and loneliness. The shift from in-person to remote learning was also identified as a key challenge for 33% of the youth that were surveyed (P6 Mental Health Commission of Canada). These numbers reflect the critical need for renewed social opportunities for young people to connect with their peers and community.
Currently Youth Central connects with over 1,200 youth annually through our programming. Youth who engage with Youth Central are empowered by:
How?
We believe youth should volunteer and be involved in social change efforts in all levels of community. To do this we collaborate with nearly 100 local organizations to provide meaningful volunteer and leadership opportunities.
We recruit youth through:
We have a unique approach to youth engagement. Youth Central is a welcoming and safe place that is 100% driven by youth. We value meaningful and equal engagement between youth and staff, where individual strengths, ideas and opinions are respected and encouraged. We prioritize:
How can you help?