INNER CITY YOUTH DEVELOPMENT ASSOCIATION
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Mission Statement
Our vision is to provide Edmonton's marginalized urban Indigenous and other youth with the support and education they need to help break the cycle of intergenerational trauma, poverty, desperation, and dependence that dominates their lives. Manifesting this vision enables our youth to stabilize their lives and reach an educational level and career choice that facilitates their transition to contributing members of society. Our mission is to provide Edmonton's marginalized urban Indigenous and other youth with preventative social service and educational programs that promote and facilitate independence and responsibility, empowering youth to become active, constructive, caring community members. Our purpose is to operationalize our vision and mission. To accomplish this task, social workers and youth workers in our Youth Engagement Program reach out to youth at the street level and offer essential support. Supports include daily breakfast and lunch, on-site food bank, counselling, housing referrals, medical and mental health referrals. In addition, our court navigator helps youth with current legal issues navigate the intricacies of the justice system and avoid further legal entanglements and criminal activity. With this wraparound support, we bridge youth into Inner City High School and offer necessary support as they make their way through school to eventual graduation. Our impact changes lives is evidenced by the many youths who add stability to chaotic lives, create plans to make positive changes in their behaviour, and follow through with the changes. The impact is measured by the number of former street-involved youth who engage in academic high school courses and graduate from high school. The impact of our work is shown by former program participants who, having completed post-secondary studies, are now social workers/youth engagement workers employed by our agency. The impact is measured in small changes that slip under the radar. For example, a former street-involved youth finding a full-time job or, as one young former participant said to me, "I'm the only one in my family who hasn't had their children apprehended by social services". The impact of these changes can be generational, adding incalculable benefits to our community.
About This Cause
Our Programs: The Inner City Youth Development Association (ICDYA), established in 1990, is the umbrella organization for the wraparound programming of the Inner City Youth Engagement program and the Association's independent Alberta Education accredited Inner City High School (1993). We established our holistic wraparound programming to provide Edmonton's marginalized Indigenous and other urban youth with tools and opportunities to break the cycle of poverty, desperation, and dependence that dominates their lives, enabling them to become contributing members of our community. Without exception, the majority of our population is drawn from the poorest communities in Edmonton. Some of our youth are sent from local reserves to Edmonton group homes and our programs. Between 80 and 90% of the youth we serve are Indigenous, and most are between 15 and 24 years of age. Approximately 10% live in group homes; 95% lack essential resources, 80 to 85% live in unstable/unsafe housing conditions and, approximately 90% are without parental support When they first register in our program, a small percentage of our youth are homeless. The Youth Engagement Program, a critical part of our wraparound structure, is designed to engage youth at the street level and help stabilize their lives by providing informal counselling and essential resources while supporting their transition to Inner City High School. The majority of our youth suffer from varying degrees of intergenerational trauma. Our mandate in response to the community's needs is to: • Respond to the needs of the youth we serve with respect and hope. • Provide youth with the resources, tools and attitudes to help stabilize their lives. • Provide every youth with a solid academic and arts-based education. • Provide every youth in our programs the opportunities, skills and resources to become contributing members of society. The following demographics are representative of our program participants and change little from year to year. Participants are from 15-24 years of age. The average age is 17-19. 85-90% are of Indigenous heritage 10 % live in group homes 95% lack essential resources 80-85% live in unstable/unsafe housing conditions 90-95% are without parental support When they first register, a small percentage of our youth are absolutely homeless The Youth Engagement Program, a critical part of our wraparound structure, is designed to engage youth at the street level, provide informal counselling and essential resources while supporting their transition to Inner City High School. Our engagement programs provide a daily hot lunch, transportation support, physical and mental health support, Indigenous cultural support, informal counselling, crisis intervention, legal support, addiction support, and housing referrals. We liaise with outside agencies to facilitate further supports where necessary. Students in the school program receive individual and small group supports to address their unique needs and bridge the gaps in their education. The mobility or lack of security in their young lives is attested to by the startling number of schools (10-27) they attended to reach the mid-elementary level in English and low elementary in Math. Our support and educational programming is designed to acknowledge and mitigate the above challenges and problems rooted in intergenerational trauma and desperate poverty. The creation and depth of our wraparound programming has enabled over 3500 of Edmonton's marginalized urban Indigenous and other youth to have the opportunity to leave street life behind, experience a degree of success in their lives, and look forward to a more hopeful future.