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Youville Alumnae Inspire Current Students at Mentorship Lunch & Learn

Lunch & Learn Alumnae 002

Pictured here with our students are: (second from left) Marina Stipanac, Mentorship Program Volunteer, and (centre, L to R)  Penny Carkner and Darlene Villeneuve, Youville Centre alumnae.

April’s Lunch & Learn event brought two former Youville graduates back to the centre to speak to our students. Organized by Mentorship Program Volunteer Marina Stipanac, the lunch was a great success and a chance for current students to connect with alumnae, and to be inspired by their stories.

First to speak was Penny Carkner, who currently works as a Retail Manager at Rexall. Having graduated in 1990, Penny was in the second graduating class in Youville’s history, and she told our current students that the first graduating class inspired her: “That set in motion the dreams I had to move forward”, she said. After Youville Centre, she went on to college, and started working at Wal-Mart. She moved up to Assistant Manager there and with this promotion she was able to travel for work. Penny worked at Wal-Mart for 13 years and thoroughly enjoyed her time there. “Don’t overlook retail as a career”, she told the students. “There are opportunities for management, merchandising and other corporate roles.” Now at Rexall, Penny loves her job  and she loves her customers. She is a homeowner, and is married with another child. Her son who attended Youville Centre as a child, won our Second Generation Bursary in 2009, and is now a licensed mechanic working for OCTranspo. Penny admitted that she has had her ups and downs, but that she feels confident that she’s doing well.

Penny shared some sage advice for Youville’s current young moms:

  • “Look for the opportunities that are out there for you!”
  • “I can and I can’t. Very powerful words. — That’s your choice. Don’t let people think that you are not good enough.”
  • “Look for the good within yourself because it’s there.”
  • “Be proud of who you are today because the person you are today will influence who you become tomorrow.”

Next to share her story with Youville’s young moms was Darlene Villeneuve, a Youville Centre graduate from the Class of 1993, and currently an Educational Assistant with the Ottawa Catholic School Board. Darlene was at Youville Centre for two years and some of her fondest memories involve learning to cook and helping in the kitchen. She thanks Youville Centre for setting her upon a positive path towards her dreams: “Thank God for Youville”, she said.

After Youville, Darlene admits that she had to work hard, and she had some challenges along the way, but she never gave up, and she echoed that advice to our students: “Even if the doors keep shutting on you, don’t give up”, she urged our young moms. “I never gave up because I always had a dream to work for the school board, ever since I did a placement there at the age of 16.”

Darlene set upon the path to achieve her dream, and along the way she attended college, volunteered with children, studied graphic arts and computer technology. It was her aptitude with computers that got her in the door at the school board.

Today Darlene has 3 children. One of her sons lives in Whistler, the other is a stand up comedian here in Ottawa, and she also has a 9 year old at home. Her two older sons both recieved our Second Generation Bursaries in 2007 and 2011. Darlene has been working with the Ottawa Catholic School Board for six years now and she couldn’t be more proud of her accomplishments: “I’m just so happy to be finally where I dreamed to be.”

It was a wonderful chance for Youville students past and present to connect at this Lunch & Learn. If you are a Youville Centre graduate and you’d like to become involved with Youville Centre again in some way, please contact us at communications@youvillecentre.org or (613) 231-5150 Ext. 128. We’d love to hear from you!

Shepherd’s Helps Youville Grads Prepare for Fashion Show

On Monday, October 7th, six lucky Youville Centre graduates got the chance to try on some glamourous gowns at Shepherd’s Fashions! In preparation for our long running fashion show fundraiser with Marlene Shepherd (which was on October 22), our alumnae tried on cocktail dresses and formal evening wear, all in an effort to choose the perfect outfit in which to walk the runway at the event.

Marlene

Marlene gets a dress ready for one of our alumnae.

Adding a special fashion show finale where Youville Centre grads would proudly model in the show was an idea we had been working on for a while, and once we had chosen our alumnae models, Marlene Shepherd generously offered to dress them for the fashion show.

Clarissa and CindyYouville Centre graduate and current Child Development Program Coordinator, Clarissa, selects a dress with the help of Youville Centre’s Executive Director, Cindy Simpson.

After our grads chose a dress, it was time to accessorize, and Marlene and her team graciously helped our Youville alumnae pick the perfect earrings, bracelets and necklaces to go with their dresses.

AmandaYouville alumna Amanda found a dress that she loved right away!

 It was a chance to get dressed up and have fun with fashion, and an opportunity to reconnect with former classmates and get to know other Youville Centre grads from over the years. Many thanks to Marlene and her team for being so generous!

Dress

Stay tuned to the blog for more news and photos from our recent fashion show!

 

 

Youville Centre’s 25th Anniversary: A Gallery

We are so grateful to everyone who attended Youville Centre’s 25th Anniversary Celebration on Thursday, October 25 at the Hampton Inn Conference Centre, and to all of our event and silent auction sponsors who helped to make this event such a success! We will be sharing a full recap of the evening’s festivities in our upcoming newsletter, so if you are not subscribed to our list, please email us at communications[at]youvillecentre[dot]org to sign up.

The event was a wonderful opportunity to bring together Youville supporters past and present, look back on how far we’ve come in the past 25 years, and raise funds to support the next 25. We were so pleased to present awards to our 3 former Executive Directors, as well as a group of key volunteers, donors and advocates for our young mothers and their children. The event also featured three engaging speakers, a retrospective slideshow and a wonderful silent auction.

We were overwhelmed by a few surprise announcements from our Keynote Speaker, Shannon Gorman of TELUS and her friends and colleagues, one of which was a substantial donation to a proposed Mentorship Program. We look forward to sharing more information about this program and many other future endeavours at Youville Centre.

Please enjoy a small gallery of photos from the event below. We look forward to sharing more news from the event in our Fall/Winter Newsletter which should reach your mailbox or your inbox in the coming weeks.

*All photos by Moments of Greatness ~ Photography by Gregory Kolz

(L to R): Former Executive Director Judith Sarginson, Founder & Former Executive Director Sister Betty Ann Kinsella, Former Executive Director Sister Maco Cassetta

Youville Centre Volunteer Angel Award Recipients with Cindy Simpson, Executive Director (far left) and Tara Newman, Youville Centre Board Chair & President (fourth from right)

Longtime supporter of Youville Centre Gerry Clarke peruses Youville Centre’s most recent program report.

Heather Flinn added wonderful ambience to the evening by playing the harp beautifully to welcome our guests.

Jennifer-Anne Gibson was our Alumnae Speaker for the evening.

Sister Betty Ann Kinsella with Kim (right) and Abbey (left). Kim is a Youville Centre graduate and Abbey is her daughter.

Nathalie and Nick Lynda, Youville Centre Alumnae. Nick was our Second Generation speaker for the evening.

Generous donors made it possible for some of our alumnae to attend the event, and they enjoyed themselves thoroughly!

Creative centrepieces for the event were artfully designed and assembled by our Child Development Staff.

Caroline Pidgeon, Youville Centre Volunteer for 18 years, was honoured with the United Way Community Builder Award. We were very pleased to have Michael O’Byrne present this award to Caroline on behalf of United Way Ottawa.

Sister Betty Ann Kinsella with longtime Board Member Mike Lundy, Youville Centre Angel Award recipient Steve Georgopoulos and friends.

The incomparable Leanne Cusack was our fabulous Emcee for the evening.

What an unbelievable surprise to receive this generous donation from our Keynote Speaker, Shannon Gorman of TELUS and members of the TELUS Community Board. Pictured above are (L to R): Dennis Jackson, Cindy Simpson (Executive Director, Youville Centre), Barbara Crook, Jim Orban and Shannon Gorman.

Alumnae & Former Staff Return to Youville to Celebrate 25 Years

 

On Tuesday, October 23rd, Youville Centre Former Staff and Alumnae dating back to Youville’s beginnings 25 years ago visited our centre to reconnect and celebrate. The centre was full of smiles, laughter and even a few tears as everyone in attendance enjoyed reminiscing and reuniting. It was very special to have former Executive Directors, Sister Maco Cassetta and Judith Sarginson in attendance, with Sister Maco having traveled many miles to be there. Photo collages lined the walls, alumnae success stories were displayed, and a “museum” of Youville Centre artifacts was artfully arranged in the boardroom.

Staff and alumnae enjoyed writing messages on our Youville Centre “Yearbook Banner” to commemorate the evening. It was a lively reception and everyone enjoyed a slideshow set to music. Some alumnae even spotted themselves, their former classmates and their children in the photos displayed. Tours of  the childcare rooms and classrooms were given to allow alumnae and their children to re-live their time spent at Youville Centre. 

This event was an interesting opportunity for alumnae and former staff to see how Youville Centre has evolved over the past 25 years. It was a joy to see some of Youville Centre’s former “babies” who are now school-aged children, and it was wonderful to acknowledge Youville Centre alumnae and the accomplishments they have made since they graduated.

Many thanks to all of the staff and volunteers who lent their time and energy to the planning and execution of this event. Special thanks to the five alumnae who shared their personal stories that were posted on the walls for all to see. Please stay tuned to our blog as we will be sharing those five stories in the weeks to come!