The YouthCore Program

YouthCore is administered with the support of Coast Capital Savings Foundation, Telus Community Fund, the United Way of Greater Victoria, and the J.W. McConnell Family Foundation. YouthCore is the only youth-directed community capacity-building and engagement program in Victoria. The primary objective of the YouthCore Program is to provide diverse leadership opportunities for young people to get involved in their community as equitable stakeholders. In 2008 YouthCore engaged directly with over 400 young people under 30 yearsof age in the Capital Region.

YouthCore engages with the community through several mechanisms: the SPARK initiative, the Youth Service Provider’s Network, and the youthcore.ca and youthcoreprogram.ca web portals.

YouthCore is also part of a national initiative coined YouthScape. Victoria is one of five pilot communities in the initial phase of YouthScape. YouthScape is an exciting Canada-wide initiative to engage young people in creating long-term change. This movement is based on the idea that all young people can make important contributions to their communities that result in more inclusive, adaptable and healthy, diverse, protective, collaborative spaces and places for all members of society. YouthScape is creating the environment for young people to safely participate and contribute to decision making and planning in partnership with adults and key decision makers. For more information on YouthScape, check out www.youthscape.ca

SPARK Projects act as the heart and soul of the YouthCore program by providing hands-on learning opportunities that connect diverse young people with community allies; youth are empowered to create unique community action projects around issues they are passionate about and, in doing so, identify focus areas and generate strategies to run their own projects. A steering Committee grants successful projects the money that they need to get started and assistance in accessing community resources. Past and present SPARK Projects include:

• Sooke Skatepark Restoration Project
• Reynolds Secondary Soft Plastics and Styrofoam Recycling Plan
• Young Parent Child Care Centre
• Street Legal: a guide to your legal rights
• TAVmap: it takes a village – A resource map for young parents Victoria
• En Nuit: last busses and cheap food open past 10PM
• The Cost of Convenience – A documentary about plastic water bottles
• Get Growing: A beginner’s guide to gardening in Sooke

YouthCore also boasts a collaborative and comprehensive network of over 300 youth service providers. The Youth Service Provider’s Network is a collective open to all members in the youth serving community and was created by service providers for service providers. The goal is to provide the best service, leadership and opportunities possible for youth in Victoria through active collaboration, communication and relationship building. The YSPN believes that youth and the people who serve them are valuable resources who deserve affirmation and support. They are committed to reaching out to local service providers and youth workers in a variety of different service and education areas and welcome interested youth workers at any time. The YSPN meets quarterly to share face to face, to brainstorm solutions to emerging issues and challenges, and to develop new partnerships. They collaborate to facilitate the YouthCore.ca web portal (see below for more info) and work together to improve the profile of "youth" in Victoria and raise community and media awareness of youth related-issues, services, events, achievements, challenges and opportunities.

Our www.youthcore.ca website is an online consolidation of programs, people, services, and events available for young people in Greater Victoria. All of the information is maintained by youth and youth allies and can be viewed by date on our community calendar, through pictures and place on the map, or searched through needs and interests through our programs and places databases.

Our www.youthcoreprogram.ca website is an online resource that we use to consolidate and document resources, successes, barriers, relationships, and learning. It also provides an online community to garner feedback and generate ideas for genuine and meaningful collaboration and connectivity. Content is maintained collectively by users and moderated by YouthCore staff. Features include a directory of services and resources, and profiles on all past and present SPARK projects. YouthCore is always looking for interested volunteers, please contact Caitlin for more information by email at caitlin[at]lifecyclesproject.ca or through LifeCycles at 250.383.5800.