Tuesday July 28, 2015
To prevent at-risk Ottawa youth from joining gangs and help gang members leave behind their criminal way of life, the province will give almost $700,000 over three years to Ottawa-based programs working toward that goal.
The funding, which works out to more than $233,000 a year, will build upon the inroads already being made locally that help youth stay on the right track, Ottawa South MPP John Fraser announced June 22 at the Log Cabin Community Centre in Ottawa Community Housing’s Shearwater neighbourhood of Hunt Club.
“One of the unique things about our city and the community that I come from is there is a lot of collaboration. People work together,” said Fraser, who was joined by Ottawa-Orléans MPP Marie-France Lalonde.
“I know that this money will go to the community to support those kinds of collaborations that exist right now,” he said, adding that by supporting youth, boosting their sense of belonging and encouraging their community involvement, young people can have a stable future, and, as a result, neighbourhoods become safer.
Sharmaarke Abdullahi, a former Michele Heights Community House co-ordinator who is now a business consultant with Crime Prevention Ottawa, has seen firsthand how difficult it is for youth to grow up without adequate support.
“I’ve also seen how targeted investments have had tremendous impacts on young people’s lives,” he said.
He told the story of a teen who had lived in six communities in Ontario before settling with his family of six in a social housing community in Ottawa.
Adam, the pseudonym Abdullahi used for the teen, was in Grade 9 when he arrived. As the eldest of four he helped his mother, who suffered from clinical depression, care for his siblings in the absence of his father who was incarcerated.
Adam’s mother learned through the community house the different services that were available and was able to connect her son to the right programs.
“She was particularly interested in homework supports for Adam because he was recently diagnosed with a learning disability and he was also cutting school and falling behind,” Abdullahi said.
Adam was matched with a mentor, tutor, a positive role model and career advice.
“Today, I’m happy to say that Adam has now completed university and is now working to support his mother and younger siblings.”
Abdullahi said more at-risk youth across the province, such as Adam, will be helped by Ontario’s enhanced and expanded Youth Action Plan, through which the new funding will flow into the province’s Gang Prevention/Intervention Program and on to programs in Ottawa, Windsor, Thunder Bay and Toronto.
“There’s a lot of services and a lot of kids doing well, including kids with a lot of stresses in their lives,” said Nancy Worsfold, executive director of Crime Prevention Ottawa, who attended the announcement. “Can we do better with some kids with acute risks? Yes, we can.
“But you look at overall outcomes and we’re doing well. But this doesn’t mean you should stop.
“We need to keep it up,” Worsfold said.