Congratulations to the Spring 2019 Canada Life Youth United grant recipients:

Active Bodies (John Howard Society)

• Open to children in the Huron and Boullee communities aged 5-12; the focus of this project is to provide children with the opportunity to learn about their bodies and the importance of staying active throughout their life.
• Through this project children will have the opportunity to learn about the science behind being active and the impact it has on our wellbeing.
• Through this program children have an opportunity to increase their self-esteem, build positive relationships and gain education on health. These skills translate into helping them become contributing members of society.
• Group sessions will include some of the following topics: fueling our bodies, being a good sport, myths around diets, breathing and stress, exercise and happiness.
• Impact Area: All that kids can be and Healthy People, Strong Communities

London Promotes Health and Wellness (Life*Spin)

• This is a grassroots, youth-led food security initiative. LPHW aims to address the unmet needs in the Old East Heritage District of London and intervene in the cycle of poverty by empowering low-income and marginalized groups to overcome the unique circumstances that challenge their opportunities.
• This program is led by volunteers enrolled in Health Sciences at Western University and Nursing students at Western.
• It is a program dedicated to helping youth, low-income families and seniors in London enhance the different aspects of health and engage them in a wide range of activities such as collective cooking classes, senior socials, youth education/empowerment forums and programs for pregnant and nursing moms.
• This program highlights the message that health is not limited to the physical, but rather encompasses multiple, interrelating aspects, including mental health and social well-being.
• LPHW is responding to the needs of the Old East area based on a community survey that indicated that access to food and healthy food/collective kitchen events was among the top programming activities that the community wanted to see more of.
• This year they are hoping to increase the impact of their healthy-based events by providing nutritious meals to more families and individuals. They have also increased the number of collective cooking events; including offering one specific to seniors to help break down barriers of social isolation and engage them in nutritious, easy to make recipes.
• Impact Areas: from poverty to possibility, building strong and healthy communities

Learning it Together (University of Western Ontario- Faculty of Health Sciences)

• A volunteer-driven program that aims to improve early literacy, numeracy and healthy living skills through mentorship and role modeling.
• The participants are children from low-income families who have little opportunity for after-school programming or extra-curricular academic assistance.
• LiT pairs a dedicated university student volunteer with a London elementary school student in grades 1 through 3. In a group setting, mentors and their buddies participate in an interactive youth-designed program designed to challenge students to participate actively in their learning and development, ultimately building self-confidence as well as concrete skills. Participants also learn about healthy choices and take part in building their own healthy snacks as part of the program.
• This year LiT is expanding by adding an additional school site, bringing their total sites up to 11 (includes schools and housing communities), which incurs additional costs of making new program kits and training even more volunteers.
• Program is designed by student volunteers who are responsible for volunteer coordination, fundraising, program planning, and recruitment (volunteer and participant).
• Goals are to enhance interest in reading, and to increase personal hygiene knowledge, social skills, and literacy skills. The one-on-one mentoring allows each volunteer to tailor the program to the needs of their buddy.
• Impact Area: All that kids can be, building strong and healthy communities

NRC Youth Voice Tour 2019 (Northwest London Resource Centre)

• The Northwest London Resource Centre recently established a youth council.
• Their aim for this project is to visit Neighbourhood Resource Centres that encompass youth programs in various cities (Windsor, Chatham, Kitchener/Waterloo, Hamilton, and Toronto).
• Through these visits the youth will exchange ideas and empower one another through knowledge share. These youth will be able to collect valuable information that they can use to inform their youth council here in London and use as a catalyst to kick-start new projects and initiatives here in our community.
• This youth team will be travelling with staff from Northwest London Resource Centre and other NRC’s. They will also be accompanied by youth council representatives from other NRC’s in London.
• Impact Area: Healthy people, strong communities & all that kids can be

Dream it, be it Conference (YMCA)

• One day conference in April with approximately 60 newcomer youth in attendance.
• Goal of the conference is to inform and empower newcomer youth to achieve their goals and be all that they can be.
• Workshops will address various topics such as: post-secondary education, gender based violence, settlement information, mental health, etc.
• There will be a panel of 4-5 previous newcomers whose role at the conference will be to answer questions based on their own experiences and to inspire those in attendance.
• A successful professional who came to Canada as a newcomer will be invited as a guest speaker to share their story and motivates participants to thrive and succeed.
• Building off the Dream It, Be it Girls Conference that we funded last year, this team is now collaborating with multiple newcomer agencies in order to grow and expand this event.
• Impact Area: All that kids can be, healthy people strong communities

If you have any questions about the youth programs, please contact:
Jennie Malone 
Community Impact Specialist
Ph: 519.438.1723
Ext. 347
JMalone@unitedwayem.ca