| Purpose : |
The organization wishes to make a continuum of existing services accessible to “unsupervised” young people aged 14 to 22 years, and add common activities for interventions that are specific to the problem of street gangs and delinquency. Interventions will be focused on young people experiencing a sense of isolation during periods of significant transition in their life: from childhood to adolescence, and from adolescence to adulthood. To do this, a multidisciplinary team (streetworkers) will be assigned to raise awareness among young people at risk and guide them during these major changes, to ensure they make socially acceptable choices enabling their development.
The organization wishes to hire two community workers who will work in concert, each targeting a particular age group, i.e. 14-17 year-olds and 18 22 year-olds. In addition to checking the places where these young people gather, the community workers will offer them awareness and prevention activities, which will also be provided in the school environment. Young people targeted by the project will be directly involved in defining the workshops and organizing outdoor activities like soccer and basketball, for which they will participate in the evaluation process. High-risk young people and those already involved in delinquent activities will be invited, in small groups, to camping trips to reinforce interventions with them. Weekends will be planned with emphasis on teambuilding and developing their positive sides, which they must discover and build on to become an active force in society.
Various activities are planned, such as awareness workshops in neighbourhood schools and community centres, as well as reflection workshops on the negative attitudes and beliefs conveyed by the Gangsta Rap culture, which promotes violence and bullying. The organization expects to help reduce crime against persons, crime against property and loitering complaints.
In operation for 16 years, the Centre communautaire jeunesse unie de Parc Extension will coordinate this initiative, but the activities will be conducted in close collaboration with its partners: PEYO (Park Extension Youth Organization), the delinquency committee of the Coalition jeunesse de Parc Extension, Neighbourhood Police Station 33, the Bureau consultation jeunesse de Parc Extension and Héberjeunes de Parc Extension.
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