The Youth Opportunities Program (YOP) has clients from various backgrounds, with various experiences and journeys worth mentioning. This story is about a client that states she had a “transformation in her life” after enrolling in YOP. Although this client had completed post-secondary education, various certification courses, and had previous work experience, she had low self-confidence and was not able to see her self-worth. In the initial 3 weeks of workshops, she was quiet, passive, and had difficulty identifying her skills. As part of the YOP requirements, clients are to complete a minimum of 3 counselling sessions with a clinician at Family Services of Peel. This client was reluctant to participate in the counselling, but did so anyway as it was part of the program requirements.

Priya came to the Youth Opportunities Program (YOP) with hopes of gaining more work experience in the Canadian labour market. As a visible minority and newcomer with a lack of Canadian work experience, she felt that they will become obstacles in finding suitable employment.

Nonetheless, she was excited to begin the 3 weeks of group based employability workshops, as she was optimistic about the new skills she would be learning. The YOP team saw Priya’s commitment throughout the 3 weeks.

Being a newcomer, having a lack of employment experience or a lack of education are all possible barriers to employment. When some or all of these factors are present and there is additional mental health barriers, some clients may experience additional difficulties in their search for employment.

This was the case with Adam. He had pursued post-secondary education in Canada, had difficulty finding employment that was of interest, and was dealing with some mental health barriers. His performance in the workshops was great overall, he was very attentive, worked well with his peers, and took detailed notes.

Sam’s journey with Family Services of Peel (FSP) began in 2016. Here is an excerpt from his speech at the 2017 Annual General Meeting. I found FSP at a time when I had little hope with employment. Every day I would come home from school and spend hours applying to positions that I was qualified for. As time went on, I was not hearing anything in return.

Some family dynamics, such as a parent working abroad or a parent working late hours often have negative impacts on the parent child relationship. This was the case with the Caden family. The dad’s over involvement with his career and job meant less time with the children which resulted in rapidly deteriorating father-children relationship. For example, the kids did not acknowledge his presence as a father figure when he was home because they were so used to depending on their mother and had built a strong bond with her.

The Quon family joined the F&ST program with the intention of building a closer relationship over the 8 weeks cycle. The mom wanted to have a closer bond with her son, and was unsure of how she could do so without being forceful. She found that communicating with her son was difficult and he was having trouble expressing his feelings.

After completing the 12 week Partner Assault Response (PAR) program, Stefan wrote a letter explaining his journey in the program. He said that before joining the program, he felt angry and resentful about having to attend. Stefan blamed his partner, the justice system, and the program facilitators. He wrote that the 12 week program had greatly impacted his life, and it had been a learning experience he would never forget.

Lynn was dealing with dual diagnosis, housing issues, and increasing debts. She is very creative, was always helping others, and had interests such as art shows and concerts, which were becoming exceedingly costly. Lynn had also accumulated debts that surpassed $1000. In addition, she had spent a lot of her life in and out of shelters and hospitals. Instability in her housing situation as well as budgeting issues left Lynn in a difficult spot.

Dina connected with Family Services of Peel because of an abusive relationship. She began attending the group for women who have been or are currently in abusive relationships, as the start of her journey to healing.
She stated that a sense of calming relief surfaced as soon as she had the initial phone conversation with the agency. Dina said there was a glimpse of hope for her future. After attending the women’s group, she moved on to attend individual counselling.

Imagine being sent to a foreign country, not knowing what the future holds and not having support. That was the reality for Marvin. He had been in Canada for a week and was still uncertain about what the future held for him. When Marvin came to register for the Youth Opportunities Program (YOP), he disclosed that he had been working odd jobs just to make ends meet. Marvin had a Master’s Degree and his goal was to obtain a position in the IT industry.