From Crisis to Confidence: Young People Thrive with Help from YMCA HBB’s Youth in Transition Worker Program
The Y is a charity that ignites the potential in people. We believe everyone deserves to feel like they belong, and that everyone has the innate potential to thrive. That’s why our Youth in Transition Worker programs are so impactful. With the guidance of our compassionate staff, young people going through difficult situations find support. They connect with health services, learn life skills, find housing, and discover what they want to do with their future.
Hear directly from some of our Youth in Transition participants who are learning to let their light shine.
*All names have been changed to protect their privacy
Story #1
I started meeting with *Agatha after [a close family member] got sick to help me find work and finish school. My [family] wasn’t able to look after me anymore and I needed to leave the house I grew up in to stay with friends.
Agatha helped me get in touch with a housing worker who has found me a place to live. Agatha also helped me replace my birth certificate, apply for Ontario Works, write a resume, and apply for jobs.
If I hadn’t met with Agatha, I would have gotten frustrated with school and stopped going. She helped me meet with people from the school and keep trying. Agatha has come to appointments with me and helped make sure that I connect with the right people for services. She has also helped me plan for my future and think about what is important for me to work towards.
Story #2
Since I became connected with Agatha, I have been able to make progress towards my goals. She has helped me learn to book medical appointments and has attended them with me when I’ve been too anxious.
Agatha helped me find a doctor offering gender-affirming care that I would not have been able to find otherwise. [With this doctor’s care], I feel more comfortable, and my mental health is improving.
Agatha has also supported me to connect with therapy and employment help and has personally helped me to work on job search skills, like resume writing and interview preparation.
Now that I’m connected to the right people. I feel more confident managing my health and moving forward with my goals.
Story #3
Around April of 2020 right as COVID was becoming an official pandemic, I had what probably seemed like a totally random mental health crisis. During this time, you taught me a lot about advocating for myself, about putting my health first, and you made me feel like you really cared about whether I got my life on track.
You fiercely advocated with me in a time where I felt helpless, and you became a role model for me. If I didn’t have the kind of support that you were able to give me, I [don’t think I would have] pushed myself so hard in school and work. I think about the way that you supported me during that time, and I come back to it when I’m struggling.
I remember how hard you worked to understand me in a time where neither of us fully understood why I felt the way I did, and you gave me so much space to talk it out and feel my feelings.
I’m proud of both of us—you, for showing me how hard people can empathize and care and the value of working in the field, and myself, for looking up to you in that time and holding on to the idea that everything could and would be okay.
