Promoting Healthy Development for Children and Youth

United Way/Centraide Ottawa supports frontline programs, services and initiatives that are aimed at helping children and youth to reach their full potential.

Our solutions-focused approach is to contribute to long-term community-wide solutions, collaborating with partners, coalitions and networks. Our involvement in Success By 6 and the Children and Youth Agenda are examples of initiatives that enable children and youth of all ages to succeed.

Outcomes against which we measure success:

• Increased healthy behaviour for children and youth at risk
• Improved parenting knowledge, resources and skills
• Increased positive social skills, self-esteem and confidence
• Increased engagement in school and learning

Agency Programs Funded in 2009

Youth Action Grants

Introduced in 2001, Youth Action Grants provide support, funding and encouragement for young people to turn their ideas into action. Each year, grants of up to $2,500 are awarded to groups of 13- to 19-year-olds for hands-on projects they consider will make our community a better place in which to live. Funding recommendations are made by the Youth Action Panel and all projects are sponsored by a registered charity.

Youth Action Grants 2008:

Adult Training Centre	Ottawa Catholic School Board
Artère Théatre en 24 h	MASC: Connecting Artists and Learning
Born to Play Soccer	South-East Ottawa Community Health (SEOCH) / Centre de santé communautaire du sud-est d’Ottawa
Cross Over	South-East Ottawa Community Health (SEOCH) / Centre de santé communautaire du sud-est d’Ottawa
Day of Pink	Jer’sVision: Canada’s Youth Diversity Initiative
FUSE	Nepean High School / École Secondaire Nepean
Ottawa Celtic Girls Basketball	Ottawa Community Immigrant Services Organization (OCISO) / Organisme communautaire des services aux immgrants d’Ottawa
Random Acts of Kindness	Pinecrest-Queensway Community Health Centre (PQCHC) / Centre de santé communautaire Pinecrest- Queensway
Sortie éducative	Collège catholique Samuel-Genest
Traditional Helpers	Minwaashin Lodge
Walk of Life	Eastern Ottawa Resource Centre / Centre de ressources de l’est d’Ottawa
Youth Infringement	Ottawa Arts Court Foundation

Youth Action Panel Members 2008-2009

Kristina Proulx, Co-Chair
Kristyn Ross, Co-Chair
Rasha Al-Katta
Marie Coligado
Kayla Justinich
Kaylan Marfurt-Breakenridge
Nickoo Merati
Nadia Parvez
Aisha Paul
Cameron Pryde
Hardie Rath-Wilson

Youth Action Grants

Adult Training Centre
In this returning program, students from St. Pius X High School provide integrated social and recreational opportunities for youth and adults with developmental disabilities by hosting up to five dance programs during the year.
$1,000

Artère Théatre en 24 h
This project is about finding fun ways to promote and share the French culture.  Students from different French high school will have 24hours to put on a show for their community.
$2,500

Born to Play Soccer
Through a collaboration among three community houses, recreational summer programs will be organized for low-income families, with the goal to keep children and youth engaged throughout the summer.
$1,996.67 x 3

Crossover
This group plans to hold a public forum for secondary school students. The project will foster a cultural dialogue and exchange among youth, as well as serve as a support network for students caught in a cultural limbo.
$1,360

Day of Pink
The Day of Pink is an awareness campaign designed to encourage students to wear pink for a day — thus taking a stand against bullying, discrimination and homophobia in schools and the greater community.
$2,000

FUSE
This group plans to organize a series of events to integrate and orient Nepean’s incoming grade 9 students. The goal is to ensure they feel accepted, secure and have the tools they need to enjoy their high school years to the fullest.
$2,500

Ottawa Celtic Girls Basketball
The basketball project aims to empower young girls by helping them build healthy relationships in their community and keep them off the street.
$1,620

Random Acts of Kindness
To foster better relations between youth and adults in the Pinecrest community, youth will be committing random acts of kindness, ranging from shovelling driveways, to raking leaves to cleaning up.
$2,435

Sortie éducative
By creating different activities for underprivileged families to enjoy over the March break, this group hopes to provide the children with wonderful stories and memories that they can share with their friends.
$2,500

Traditional Helpers
Through workshops that focus on sharing traditions such as aboriginal dress and customs, the organizers of this project hope to engage aboriginal youth. 
$2,500

Walk of Life
This team plans to hold a day camp to promote multiculturalism in the school and community.  The objective is to foster a welcoming environment for the diverse ethnic cultures.
$2,455

Youth Infringement
The goal of this project is to empower young people to attain their vision for the community and themselves by providing artistic opportunities that encourage self-expression.
$2,450

Community-Wide and Special Initiatives

Ottawa’s Children and Youth Agenda

United Way/Centraide, in partnership with the City of Ottawa, has developed a Children and Youth Agenda. A community collaborative approach to planning and establishing priorities for collective action on issues related to children and youth, the agenda is a key component of our Children and Youth Impact Council’s action plan and one of the City of Ottawa’s 12 priority initiatives. The establishment of a community-wide leadership table has set the foundation for key stakeholders to work together towards a shared outcome focused on seeing all children and youth reach their full potential.

Contact: Danielle Grace, United Way/Centraide Ottawa, at 613-228-5782

Success By 6

Success By 6 is designed to ensure that early child development is a priority in the Ottawa area. A collaborative community initiative, it is made up of partners from the public, private and non-profit sectors who are committed to the success of every child in Ottawa. By working together, we will be a community where all children are able to reach their full potential.

Contact: Kelly Paolozzi at 613-683-3828 or visit www.successby6ottawa.ca

In addition to these community-wide and special initiatives, United Way/Centraide Ottawa is also involved in other community partnerships and alliances. In the area of children and youth, these partnerships include:

• Ottawa Youth Justice Services Network
• YOUTH Count (Services Network)
• Crime Prevention Ottawa/Youth Gangs Working Group
• Middle Childhood Matters Network
• Child and Youth at Risk Advisory Committee
• Child and Youth Health Network of Eastern Ontario
• Students Support Leadership Initiative
• Substance Abuse and Youth in School Coalition
• Ottawa Integrated Drug and Addiction Strategy