March 30, 2021 Update:

Our second Youth Community Action Project is coming to an end and it has been wildly successful. Thank you again to the Government of Canada for funding Youth CAP through the Canada-British Columbia Workforce Development Agreement and also to Kiwanis Club of Duncan for their support.

Ten youth participants were selected through an application process led by CMHA Cowichan Valley Branch Project Coordinator Ray Anthony. The project's objective is to provide participants with in-house, hands-on education opportunities to gain leadership/social skills such as team-building, communication, self-care/wellness, problem-solving, conflict resolution, goal setting, and action planning. These participants were tasked with weekly community service projects, working on Youth Action Week and partnered with the Shuswap Youth Launch.

We have included a link to the team's newsletter detailing their impressive 12 weeks of accomplishments. Thank you to Youth CAP participant Rhindhem Randhawa for putting this beautiful newsletter together for us.

and

The CMHA Cowichan Valley Branch is pleased to announce a new program delivered through the Open Door Youth Services Centre.

This new project - the Youth Community Action Project (Youth CAP) - will provide participants with in-house, experiential education opportunities to gain leadership/social skills such as team-building, communication, self-care/wellness, problem solving, conflict resolution, goal setting and action planning. Funding is being provided by the Government of Canada through the Canada-British Columbia Workforce Development Agreement.

The Youth CAP will also provide participants with an introduction to Mental Health topics such as anxiety, depression, and promoting self-care through an in-house, youth co-created/facilitated Mindful Wellness Workshop. Further, participants will learn how to access services and supports for themselves and their peers. Youth CAP will provide formal skills training including: Food Safe (Safer Food Duncan) and First Aid (Cowichan Valley Training Center). We will also provide training on how to use social media (Jillian Lawrence Inc.) to promote Mental Health Awareness and Education, and online/virtual youth supports. The in-house and formal training components of Youth CAP have been included not only to improve employability, but importantly to provide the skills necessary to maximize the effectiveness and impacts of the community service project work.

The CMHA-CVB is very excited to provide meaningful opportunities for Youth CAP participants to perform valuable community service to the most vulnerable members of our community. The community service component, supervised and supported by the Program Coordinator, will provide participants with experience for improved employment outcomes as well as increased access to post-secondary opportunities (entrance and scholarships). Through our excellent working relationship with School District 79, we anticipate that not only will school aged participants be able to continue with the project through September-December, they will also receive academic credit for their participation.

The CMHA-CVB looks forward to providing youth participants with the experience of a strong connection to their community and a true sense of value and belonging. We also welcome community ideas for potential service opportunities for our participants. We would also like to thank the Kiwanis Club of Duncan for sponsoring Youth CAP’s community service projects. Additional sponsorship opportunities are available and all donations will go directly towards the teams’ s community service initiatives. For more information, please send us an email.