A report released by the United Way of Thunder Bay Friday states that youth organizations in the city are causing gaps in services by not working together.
“In Thunder Bay, over the years organizations are busy doing what they need to do with youth here in our community and they’re not necessarily engaging each other and working together in a collaborative effort,” said Sandra Albertson, director of community impact for the local United Way chapter.
By working on youth projects over the past couple of years, the United Way found there is an inconsistent effort by organizations working with youth and working on youth priorities in the community.
“What we found was that there was a need to bring people together to have a better understanding of what the youth priorities are here in Thunder Bay and also to have the opportunity to develop a youth strategy here in Thunder Bay,” said Albertson.
To address the issue, the United Way, the Youth Strategy Steering Committee and the Lakehead Social Planning Council developed the report YOUth: A Call to Action. More than 150 youth and 38 youth service providers and organizations participated in the research project.
There are 54 recommendations in eight focus areas in the report. The findings state that youth want to be engaged in the community.
“They want to be participants in recreation; they want to have an opportunity to be decision-makers in things that effect youth,” said Albertson. “We also found education is a priority to youth in Thunder Bay and they need the assistance to achieve graduation from high school and they want to see things put in place that will help them do that.”
Colleen Peters, chair of the Youth Strategy Steering Committee, said the results of the report were promising and hopeful. She said YOUth: A Call to Action complements other recently released reports.
“They really give light to the issues, challenges and barriers that youth face,” she said.
“Not just youth at-risk, but youth across the board, which is really crucial to recognize.”
Ensuring Thunder Bay is a youth-friendly community is one of the YSSC’s top priorities; ageism, discrimination and racism are key factors, said Peters.
“Youth want to feel safer in the city and transportation is also a huge issues that poses barriers to other avenues like education and employment for youth as well,” she said.
The report also validates and complements the work of the YSSC, Peters added.
