DMFS

• DMFS Update
  • About Us
  • Contact Us
• Training
  • Presentations and Training
• Funding Central
• MFSP Participant Survey
• Research
• C/MFRCs In Focus
  • Submission Guidelines
• Resources for C/MFRCs
  • Children's Deployment Support Program
  • Key Reference Documents
  • Forms
  • MFRC Board Orientation and Training Kit
  • C/MFRC Contact List
  • MFSP Logos
  • Second Language Training
  • Policies and Standards
  • Publications
  • Research
  • Deployment Support Database
  • Family Violence Prevention and Awareness
• Useful Links

Valcartier Youth Keep Busy Helping Others in Their Community

From getting together for casual movie nights to providing peer support for teens with deployed parents, the members of the Valcartier “Le Repaire” Youth Club know the importance of community spirit, and the value of support.

“The mission of the Youth Club is to create a place where teens 12-17 can come socialize, meet other teens and have access to youth counselors,” said Celine Thomas, Youth Program Coordinator at the Valcartier Military Family Resource Centre (MFRC). “It’s all with the goal of helping them develop their responsibilities, independence, and values.”

“Le Repaire”, which received funding and support from the Youth Model, is home to a busy Youth Advisory Committee, and provides an impressive number of services. The Youth Club is a hub for teens to turn to for information on social events, preventative workshops, employment, counseling, and leadership programs. They even have a “Street Counseling” outreach program, which sends counselors out into the community to talk to youth, providing guidance for teens that don’t visit the club but appreciate the support.

Among its busiest projects is the Youth Club’s volunteering program. In all, over 60 motivated teens volunteer through the club to help out in their Canadian Forces (CF) community and throughout Valcartier.

“Volunteering is a great opportunity for them,” noted Celine. “They learn to work with people, and develop skills that will be useful when they begin to work. For example, volunteering in our canteen gives them experience for working in a store or restaurant, and volunteering with our kids programs gives them experience to work for day camps.”

Currently, 10 young volunteers are also busy helping MFRC staff create a deployment support DVD just for youth, which will feature teens who’ve had a parent deployed speaking honestly to their peers about their experiences.

“It’s great because it’s not an adult saying, ‘I know what you’re going through’ but not really understanding. It’s one teen to another teen, saying ‘I know how you’re feeling right now,’” says Celine. “They really talk with their hearts. They give lots of information, and lots of advice and encouragement. I think it will help teens be prepared for deployment, help them cope and normalize their emotions.”

Celine is thrilled to have such great teen participants in projects like this one, and such excellent volunteers getting involved.

“We never stop thinking about what we could develop, what we could offer next.”