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Students Wow Donors and Volunteers with Media and Artwork

At Youville Centre, we sincerely appreciate our generous volunteers, donors and community partners. Without their help and support, we would simply be unable to continue to motivate, educate and nurture our young mothers and their children at the level of service that we provide. This year, to show our appreciation, our students organized a very special Media Festival event.

Student C and board and video

Embrace board

The first of its kind in Youville history, this event allowed students to display their artwork, scrapbooks, mixed media pieces and digital films produced from the Me, My Baby, Our World (MMBOW) parenting course and the EMBRACE Your Future course (EMBRACE = Empower, Motivate, Build Resiliency, Role Model, Advocate, Communicate, Educate). Both courses are linked to credits, helping our students get closer to graduation as they learn important life skills. Executive Director Cindy Simpson launched the event by thanking our volunteers, donors and community partners, and then proudly introducing our hardworking students.

Cindy introduces studentsFollowing Cindy’s introduction, students from each class (MMBOW and EMBRACE) described the course content and shared their learning experiences. Felicia, seen below in her EMBRACE Your future t-shirt, expressed her thoughts on the course:

“This EMBRACE Your Future class has been amazing for me. It has taught me to always value myself and that negative self-talk can be hurtful. This class has made me feel more confident that if I just put my mind to something it can be accomplished and to always follow my dreams. I feel more confident in being a mother and dealing with everyday struggles.”

Students introduce videosAfter the introductions, guests were invited to tour the hallway to look at the scrapbooks,  and to visit each classroom where artwork and videos were on display. Each student stood beside her work of art, whether it was a video or a scrapbook, so that guests could interact with her and talk about her experiences.

In the hallwayScrapbooks are an essential component of the United Way-funded Me, My Baby, Our World parenting course. During circle time, photos of moms and babies are taken by our staff and printed out immediately. In the second half of the class, students work on their scrapbooks using the photos taken during circle time. These photos show the bonding and attachment that is occurring between mom and baby, and they provide a visual history of the progress the young moms and children are making in the course. Inside the scrapbooks, moms write  birth stories, descriptions of their child’s personality, and letters to their child to accompany the photos and artwork.

Skylah scrapbookGuests thoroughly enjoyed the videos from the EMBRACE course. The students created these videos using iMovie software and with the help of volunteer Tesni Ellis, a graduate student at York University who has been a great help to us in the past year.

Each video was set to music and included voice-over from our young moms as they read letters to their child and made promises to them to always be there for them and protect them as they grow. In her voiceover, one of our young moms, Jordann, expressed the following to her daughter:

“Let me tell you something baby girl I will always be here for you no matter the time, place or the distance between us, when you need me I will fight and find a way to get to you at any time of day. I want you to know that you changed my life for the better. You taught me I can do anything I set my mind to as long as I work hard, it all pays off.”

Volunteers enjoy the videosOur young moms were so proud to share their videos with the donors, volunteers and community partners. The inspirational videos even caused a few happy tears to flow.

Student F interacts with donors and volunteers

Closeup of work on boardThis event was planned completely by the students themselves. It was a unique opportunity for our young moms to share their work with those who support them, and the guests left the event feeling proud of, and inspired by the love our students showed toward themselves and their children through their artwork and media presentations.

Without the following donors and volunteers, these programs would not be possible:

Me, My Baby, Our World:

  • United Way Ottawa
  • Walton Developments
  • TD Canada Trust
  • City of Ottawa Lemieux Island Water Purification Plant
  • Mr. David Bennett
  • His Excellency, Governor General of Canada David Johnston and Her Excellency Mrs. Sharon Johnston who donated to our Lending Library

EMBRACE Your Future:

  • TELUS Ottawa Community Board
  • The Martel Alliance
  • Tesni Ellis
  • Ottawa Police Services
  • Sexual Assault Support Centre
  • United Way Ottawa – Project s.t.e.p.
  • The Ministry of Children & Youth Services (MCYS)

Special thanks to the 25+ volunteers who give the gift of time to our young moms and their children through daily acts of volunteerism in our childcare, swap shop and administrative offices. In the words of Skylah, one of our students in the Me, My Baby, Our World program, the students thank you:

“We are grateful to the committed, caring group of volunteers from the community who give their time and talent to our children and us. The contributions of our ‘Volunteer Family’ make it easier for us to manage our family’s lives and focus on our school work.”

Christmastime at Youville Centre

Christmastime is a wonderful time of year at Youville Centre, with many special events for our young mothers and their children, generous donations from our wonderful community, and visits from helpful volunteers and guests to make the season bright. It goes without saying that without YOU, we would not be able to provide such a magical Christmas for our young moms and babies each year.

Please take a photo journey with us as we share with you how our centre celebrates the holiday season! This photo journey only highlights some of the generous donors who generously gave at this time of year — we are grateful to all who donated in the form of time, financial contributions, diapers, toys, clothing, bath products, baby products, special treats, gift cards, non-perishable food items and so much more!

Baking Cookies

Tree in lobbyOn Community Action Day, volunteers from Hydro Ottawa decorated the centre and baked Christmas cookies for our Christmas luncheon.*Stay tuned to our blog and upcoming newsletter for a story about a couple of very special guests who visited the centre and helped prepare us for the holidays!

Christmas CircleMoms, staff and babies sang Christmas songs at our Mom & Me Christmas Circle Event.

Pyjama Elf“The Pyjama Elf” (a.k.a. a new, passionate donor and her team) visited and provided brand new pyjamas for each mom and child in our centre.

christmas cheerWe were chosen as a beneficiary of the Christmas Cheer Foundation which enabled us to provide food vouchers for our clients so that they could provide for their young families over the Christmas break.

ottawa-food-bankThe Ottawa Food Bank provided holiday extras for our clients in the form of turkeys, hams and grocery vouchers so that our young moms could prepare a special dinner for their children.

Youstore toysOur students “shopped” in the Christmas You-Store with play “dollars” earned through our incentive program. This empowered our young moms to choose and wrap a gift or two to give to their child on Christmas morning.

BearsWe received our annual donation of Christmas teddy bears for the children from a group of loyal donors.

VolunteersOur faithful volunteers picked up, sorted, washed and organized all of the in-kind donations of clothing, toys and other items for our clients — and they did it all with a smile and a healthy portion of Christmas spirit!

Santa and child Christmas karaoke  Mom baby santa suit mom daughter eatingTELUS 1Last but not least, we hosted a Christmas Luncheon for our moms, their children and their partners or family members. Everyone enjoyed a tasty turkey dinner, and our special “Elves” from TELUS handed out gift cards to each of the moms! Also helping in the kitchen and serving tables were: board members, community partners, volunteers and staff. Christmas songs were sung and a great time was had by all.

Thank you to EVERYONE who helped us at Youville Centre provide a magical Christmas for our young moms and their children. We wish all of you a healthy, safe and happy holiday season!

TELUS Day of Giving Benefits Youville Centre

All photos by Justin Van Leeuwen ~ JVL Photography

On Saturday, May 25th, 2013, 30 plus TELUS Ottawa employees donned their t-shirts and jeans, rolled up their sleeves and participated in the TELUS Day of Giving. With a motto to “Give Where You Live”, this community initiative was yet another socially responsible way that TELUS is giving back to their community. Led by passionate Youville Centre supporter Shannon Gorman, the TELUS employees pitched in and performed the following tasks inside and outside the centre:

  • Painting our Collective Kitchen
  • Painting our Sunflower Crib Room
  • Washing windows
  • Cleaning the Toddler Play Yard
  • Collecting trash from the school grounds
  • Planting herbs and other edibles in our Youville gardens
  • Raking leaves, collecting branches and other yard waste

TELUS Ottawa employees and their families worked together to get these tasks done in record time! We are so grateful to each and every one of them for taking time out of their day to help make Youville Centre a little brighter!

Special thanks to Shannon and Meredith for being great examples and rallying such a great group of volunteers! Please enjoy these photos from the day, taken by local photographer Justin Van Leeuwen.

Youville Students Thank Volunteers and Supporters with a Special Tea

On Thursday, February 28th, Youville Centre’s young mothers hosted a very special Appreciation Tea for volunteers, donors, and partners who have supported Youville Centre in immeasurable ways. The entire event was orchestrated by the students as a way of expressing their gratitude to the wonderful people who support them and their children at Youville Centre.

As guests entered Kinsella Hall, they were greeted by a young mom and they received a special thank you card, made with love by our students. The cards had a heartfelt message of thanks and a photo of a young mom and baby that is currently enrolled at Youville Centre.

Tea was served by the students, and guests enjoyed a selection of sandwiches and baked goods that were decided upon and prepared by the young moms. A slideshow displayed photos of volunteers and current students and children for all to enjoy, and the room was cheerfully decorated with artwork courtesy of Youville Centre’s littlest artists, the toddlers.

Guests also enjoyed a surprise treat in the form of a “thank you” song performed by all of the students. It was heartwarming to see people waving their hands back and forth in time to the song and even a few joyful tears were shed.

The Appreciation Tea was such a great way to reward all of the selfless individuals who support Youville’s young moms and their children. It is because of people like you in our community that we are able to continue providing the best possible programs and services to our clients here at Youville Centre.

On behalf of all of the young moms and children of Youville Centre, we thank you!

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.

Youville Centre Volunteers Win Mayor’s Award for Volunteer Spirit

On September 20th, 2012, two of Youville Centre‘s wonderful volunteers were the honoured recipients of the Mayor’s Award for Volunteer Spirit at the VOscars, an annual fundraiser and awards ceremony hosted by Volunteer Ottawa. The evening had an “Oscar” theme, hence the name “VOscars”, and many volunteers were honoured for their contributions to local charities and non-profit organizations.

We nominated Rita and Jeanne, sisters who have been volunteering in our Food Bank program for the past 7 years (Rita) and 4 years (Jeanne). Rita and Jeanne are so committed to helping our young mothers and their children and they come to Youville Centre weekly to receive, unpack, organize and distribute food, diapers and household items that we are lucky enough to receive from the Ottawa Food Bank.

Although they have said to us that they are “spoiled” having the opportunity to help our young moms and their children, and that they volunteer to help, not to be recognized, we thought we would shine a light on their good deeds, and a VOscar sounded like the best way to do so.

It was thrilling for Jeanne and Rita when it was announced that evening that they had won in their category, and they truly enjoyed themselves at the event.

We are so grateful to all of our volunteers for the time and talent they lend to us at Youville Centre.

Congratulations, Rita and Jeanne!

Summer Success at Youville Centre

Everyone is familiar with the phrase, “school’s out for summer”, but here at Youville Centre our young moms soldier on through the month of July to earn one more Ontario Secondary School credit and enjoy a few fun, memorable experiences.

Each July, our students have the opportunity to earn a credit in one of two courses, this year’s subjects being Visual Art or Phys. Ed. Summer school is a great opportunity for some of our students to catch up, and for others to get ahead moving into the new school year in September.

The artwork that our young moms created this year was visually stunning and emotionally powerful — especially the portraits of their children. In addition to Art History and studio work, our students were also fortunate enough to visit the National Gallery of Canada.

We’d like to thank our Art Teacher, Sarah, as well as everyone who contributed their time, supplies and services to help make our Art program a success:

Phys. Ed. was a very busy program, with our students participating in everything from aquafitness to zumba, yoga and health studies, dragonboating and swimming, and other fitness-related activities. One highlight of the Phys. Ed. program was a day trip to a local splash pad where our young moms enjoyed a swim with their little ones!

Many thanks to our Phys. Ed. Teacher, Laura, and to everyone who made this program possible:

If you’d like to donate to next year’s summer school program, please contact us at communications[at]youvillecentre[dot]org.