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Fifteen-year-old Olivia rolls her eyes. “But it’s so good now, they’re just going to change it” she says, referring to the grade eights entering the youth group where Youth Unlimited’s Sandra Reilly works. Reading Olivia’s face and recalling her backstory, Sandra suspects it will take a significant perspective shift before the incoming girls will ever feel welcome by Olivia. When she was in grade eight, Olivia experienced the pain of social exclusion. As a young, incoming grade eight, Olivia was on the fringes, hoping to befriend the older girls. Despite her efforts, she was met with rejection. Sandra was a...

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“I always assumed I’d know what the end of my rope would be like, but I didn’t. I’d seen and done horrible things—but this, this was the worst day of my life.” As a gang member, 17-year-old Matt Bergen had been in many dangerous situations before, but this was the first time he was unequivocally terrified. The police were closing in on him. “I knew I was in deep trouble,” says Matt. “I tried to end my life, but the gun jammed. I couldn’t believe it. So I prayed instead. I prayed a desperate prayer that if God was real,...

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Brittney Bertrand, 29, mother of two, was recently recognized by Metis Youth British Columbia as one of the five Metis Youth Role Models in BC for 2016. Brittney is being honoured for her efforts to promote healthy cultural engagement and balanced healthy living in her community. This enormous honour is most remarkable considering Brittney’s journey which has been anything but easy. Until eight years ago Brittney was entrenched in a cycle of poverty Young Brittney never knew when she’d next get to shower or where her next meal would come from. She tried hard to overcome the proverbial deck of...

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My House  Helps Youth Find Healing My first son Lucas was born on December 18, 2002. I have such vivid memories of the first time I buckled him up in his car seat for the inaugural drive home.  All those nasty statistics about motor vehicle accidents were flashing before my eyes as I took this fragile little life from the safety of the hospital and placed him into my little Honda Civic death machine. I recall snapping into an intense safety mode as I pulled out of the parking lot and onto the busy Vancouver streets. I’m sure I altered my driving...

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