Supporting and Connecting Youth Leadership & Resiliency Program

LRP runs all year long and focuses on the needs and wants of the program participants.

Youth in the SACY LRP program take part in activities including

• weekly resiliency and leadership development groups,
• monthly adventure activities and leadership learning, and
• monthly community service leadership learning.

All of these activities are facilitated by skilled youth engagement staff, but the details are driven by the youth in a specific group. The activities provide participants with regular opportunities for positive adult mentorship, positive peer engagement and social emotional learning.

Contact Nasim Kalantari for inquiries about the LRP program at nasim.kalantari@vch.ca.

Volunteering opportunities give the youth participants a chance to demonstrate their leadership capacities as they contribute their time and energy to a cause that is important to them and/or their community.

Based on the interests of the group, various volunteer opportunities are explored throughout the course of the program.

Some volunteer opportunities include:

• involvement in community gardens,
• working with rescue animals,
• hosting community events,
• preparing and distributing holiday hampers,
• reading to elementary school students,
• participating in environmental cleanups/awareness campaigns, and
• creating a new way to give back to the community as a group.

Participants meet as a group with their facilitators on a weekly basis. These weekly groups are shaped around the priorities of the participants, their school and their community.

The groups range in focus from activities to skills to topics. Facilitators are also available to meet with participants 1:1 between group meetings, if necessary.

Activity groups may include:

• art projects,
• photography,
• workshops,
• team building,
• mask making, and
• drum making.

Skills groups may include:

• resume writing,
• self-care,
• post-secondary planning, and
• cooking.

Topics may include:

• goal setting,
• alcohol and drugs,
• sexual health, and
• relationships with peers, family and partners.

Taking risks is an important part of being an adolescent and being active/outside is an important part of being human!

Adventure activities give youth a chance to:

• explore their environments,
• discover and grow their leadership capacity,
• build personal strengths,
• try healthy risk-taking, and
• work on goal-setting within a therapeutic and supportive context.

Activities are planned according to the adventurous desires of the participants and may include:

• camping,
• outdoor life skills,
• hiking,
• skiing/snowboarding/snow tubing/snowshoeing,
• kayaking/canoeing/paddle boarding,
• biking/skateboarding,
• ropes courses, and
• rock climbing.

LRP enjoys growing our community and has several opportunities for youth to remain connected beyond their time in the program. These opportunities include:

• mentoring new LRP youth,
• special alumni events, and
• opportunities for volunteer references from LRP staff.

If you are LRP alumni, contact your school LRP staff to get on our alumni list for events and updates.