EDMONTON - Kandy Paul is sober, and darn proud of it.
By the age of 12 or 13, hard liquor of any kind was her best friend. She smuggled vodka or rum into her school locker and drank in class. She went to sleep with a bottle at her bedside so she could gulp away her hangovers.
“I loved drinking. It was all I wanted to do,” Paul, now 17, said Saturday. “I hated the thought of being sober.”
She combined drinking with self mutilation, once severing three tendons in her wrist when she cut too deep. She overdosed several times and became familiar with hospital emergency rooms.
But last year, after her closest friend died in a car crash, she realized she had to change.
Paul was one of 20 young people accepted into the intense 15-week Verto Project, a group program offered through YOUCAN Youth Services that helped her take control of her life, and taught her employment and other skills to get back in school.
YOUCAN — Youth Organizing to Understand Conflict and Advocate Non-Violence — learned last week it’s receiving $1.5 million from the federal government specifically for the Verto Project.
The money means that over three years the organization will be able to accept approximately seven more groups of 16- to 21-year-olds into Verto, which means “turn around” or “change” in Latin.
It teaches participants resume writing and interview skills, conflict resolution through peacemaking circles, workshops about shopping on a budget and healthy eating habits, and computer training beyond Facebook and surfing for pornography, said Kyle Dube, executive director of YOUCAN.
Professionals visit to speak about working in the trades, addictions and labour law.
In addition, there’s intensive one-on-one work with a social worker, who keeps a long-term commitment to that young person.
“We don’t convince them (to join the program), they need to prove to us they need to be there,” Dube said.
For every group of 20 youths accepted into the program, Dube said his organization receives 200 inquiries and referrals from social workers, probation offers and police officers.
It takes about 120 interviews involving two weeks of meetings and homework to determine who is ready to learn.
Many of the young people come from troubled backgrounds and have lived in group homes or foster care.
Most have been involved with the justice system for offences such as shoplifting, assaults, gang activity, even manslaughter, and live harmful lifestyles, often couch-surfing and doing drugs.
Others simply do nothing. Dube said some don’t know what conflict resolution is when they come into the program.
Paul initially thought the program was a joke. She joined largely because she knew she’d be paid minimum wage, and could use the money to find a home.
Then, she started listening and taking the advice of staff. Instead of throwing her fist when someone insulted her, she simply ignored them and learned to suck up her pride.
She now works as a caterer at the Shaw Conference Centre and a server at a seniors’ centre, and she’s taking Grade 10 classes through the Fresh Start program with a goal of eventually becoming a registered nurse.
Of the 70 per cent of participants who complete the 15-week program, more than 95 per cent are working or in school six months to one year later.
Some graduates have gone on to jobs in construction, restaurants or Home Depot, Dube said. Others are at university studying nursing, general arts or political science.
Workers with YOUCAN stay in contact with graduates such as Paul years later and continue to express pride in every success.
“It isn’t their choice to be born in the situations they were. So much of what happened in their life is not their fault,” Dube said.
That changes when they reach adolescence and can follow another route. “We want young people to take responsibility for who they are. We do have high expectations of young people, because why wouldn’t we? That said, if they fall down, we’ll be right there to help them get up.”
In August, Paul checked herself into an alcohol treatment centre and has been sober for almost 90 days. She’s been asked to speak with and help other youth drying out, so she’s determined to stay clean.
“It feels good, but it’s very frustrating,” said Paul. “I have to deal with problems now in a different way.”
She’s proud of her choice.
“If somebody else did it for me, it wouldn’t be the same,” she said. “I need to be responsible.”
By the age of 12 or 13, hard liquor of any kind was her best friend. She smuggled vodka or rum into her school locker and drank in class. She went to sleep with a bottle at her bedside so she could gulp away her hangovers.
“I loved drinking. It was all I wanted to do,” Paul, now 17, said Saturday. “I hated the thought of being sober.”
She combined drinking with self mutilation, once severing three tendons in her wrist when she cut too deep. She overdosed several times and became familiar with hospital emergency rooms.
But last year, after her closest friend died in a car crash, she realized she had to change.
Paul was one of 20 young people accepted into the intense 15-week Verto Project, a group program offered through YOUCAN Youth Services that helped her take control of her life, and taught her employment and other skills to get back in school.
YOUCAN — Youth Organizing to Understand Conflict and Advocate Non-Violence — learned last week it’s receiving $1.5 million from the federal government specifically for the Verto Project.
The money means that over three years the organization will be able to accept approximately seven more groups of 16- to 21-year-olds into Verto, which means “turn around” or “change” in Latin.
It teaches participants resume writing and interview skills, conflict resolution through peacemaking circles, workshops about shopping on a budget and healthy eating habits, and computer training beyond Facebook and surfing for pornography, said Kyle Dube, executive director of YOUCAN.
Professionals visit to speak about working in the trades, addictions and labour law.
In addition, there’s intensive one-on-one work with a social worker, who keeps a long-term commitment to that young person.
“We don’t convince them (to join the program), they need to prove to us they need to be there,” Dube said.
For every group of 20 youths accepted into the program, Dube said his organization receives 200 inquiries and referrals from social workers, probation offers and police officers.
It takes about 120 interviews involving two weeks of meetings and homework to determine who is ready to learn.
Many of the young people come from troubled backgrounds and have lived in group homes or foster care.
Most have been involved with the justice system for offences such as shoplifting, assaults, gang activity, even manslaughter, and live harmful lifestyles, often couch-surfing and doing drugs.
Others simply do nothing. Dube said some don’t know what conflict resolution is when they come into the program.
Paul initially thought the program was a joke. She joined largely because she knew she’d be paid minimum wage, and could use the money to find a home.
Then, she started listening and taking the advice of staff. Instead of throwing her fist when someone insulted her, she simply ignored them and learned to suck up her pride.
She now works as a caterer at the Shaw Conference Centre and a server at a seniors’ centre, and she’s taking Grade 10 classes through the Fresh Start program with a goal of eventually becoming a registered nurse.
Of the 70 per cent of participants who complete the 15-week program, more than 95 per cent are working or in school six months to one year later.
Some graduates have gone on to jobs in construction, restaurants or Home Depot, Dube said. Others are at university studying nursing, general arts or political science.
Workers with YOUCAN stay in contact with graduates such as Paul years later and continue to express pride in every success.
“It isn’t their choice to be born in the situations they were. So much of what happened in their life is not their fault,” Dube said.
That changes when they reach adolescence and can follow another route. “We want young people to take responsibility for who they are. We do have high expectations of young people, because why wouldn’t we? That said, if they fall down, we’ll be right there to help them get up.”
In August, Paul checked herself into an alcohol treatment centre and has been sober for almost 90 days. She’s been asked to speak with and help other youth drying out, so she’s determined to stay clean.
“It feels good, but it’s very frustrating,” said Paul. “I have to deal with problems now in a different way.”
She’s proud of her choice.
“If somebody else did it for me, it wouldn’t be the same,” she said. “I need to be responsible.”
Source: The Edmonton Journal
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