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Grand Bank Main Street Youth Centre
Submitted by Travis Parsons

The Main Street Youth Centre was established in 1996 when a local businessman (who volunteered as an auxiliary police officer), along with the local sergeant identified a need in the community to have a safe place for young people to hang out. The popularity of this youth centre made national news as it was one of the first such places in Canada.

In 2001, the Main Street Youth Centre was moved to a new location in town and became a member of the Community Youth Network (CYN) of Newfoundland and Labrador.

At the Main Street Youth Centre, we mainly serve youth from ages 12- 18, but also offer programs and activities for youth ages 7-11and 19- 29. Our centre strives to be the hub for all youth engagement in the Grand Bank, Fortune, and Lamaline areas. All CYNs are different. Our CYN has had great success in a few unique areas.

We developed a very detailed ball hockey league in 2006 that allows youth to be drafted to a team in junior high, and remain with this team for all of their high school years. This program is designed to be all inclusive as everything is free. We have seen successes with confidence building, setting and achieving goals, as well as helping some students improve their school attendance.

In November 2010, we established a “Film Group” where youth come together to plan, shoot, edit, and premiere short films. We started out with a short film about military based video games, followed up with a bigger production in the theme of a ‘haunted youth centre’. Based on these successes, we partnered with the local high school in Grand Bank to obtain funding from Eastern Health to develop a 30 minute documentary style dramatization about a local young man who suffered a horrible accident after a night of drinking. This film reached over 4000 views in less than a week. It was filmed with approximately 80% of cast and crew being 18 and under, and helped inspire more young people to get involved with the program.

On the heels of the success of our latest short film, we again obtained funding to create a series of promotional videos to showcase the Grand Bank Summer Festival. The youth involved in our film group worked alongside community volunteers as the CYN was a partner with the Grand Bank Special Events committee for this project. So far it has been a success by how the youth have connected to the adult volunteers who are the backbone of our community.

It is with funding from organizations like Eastern Health and the Wellness Coalition that helps make such programs possible. Without their support, we wouldn’t be able to tell the stories that can make youth think about the risks of drugs and alcohol, or not be able to connect youth and adult volunteers together to create something to improve a sense of community. These valuable opportunities are what make our youth centre a success.

To view any of the Main Street Youth Centre’s film projects visit http://www.youtube.com/user/GrandBankCYN

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Trinity Historical Society
Submitted by Daphne Clark

During the Summer of 2013, the Trinity Historical Society hosted a 7 week summer program for children ages 6 – 15 entitled ‘Take a Hike’. The children decorated their own knapsacks to carry along on hike days with a first aid kit and healthy snacks along with their own re-useable water bottles. Before we began our hikes we invited special guests in – Sarah Morgan came along for the first week and she gave a great presentation to the children regarding composting and recycling. We set up our own compost bin and made a square foot vegetable/fruit garden where the children planted squash, tomatoes, peppers, herbs, watermelon, raspberries and strawberries. Each week, after tending to the garden and compost bin, we hiked various trails around the Trinity Bight area, a first time for many children. The trails included: Gun Hill, Fort Point, Kerley’s Harbour and Skerwink. Along the way we photographed our findings and sights to use in a scrapbook that each child got to design and make themselves which they took home at the end of the summer program. A collection of items such as flowers, rocks, shells, etc. were also collected to use in various art projects that we did over the course of the program as well. Before each hike the children also got to prepare and take along a healthy snack.

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Eastern Region Committee Against Violence
Submitted by Tracey Fleming

Eastern Region Committee Against Violence Inc.(ERCAV) is a non-profit, voluntary committee, made up of individuals from both government and community that meet regularly in the Clarenville- Bonavista area of Newfoundland to discuss issues relating to violence.

ERCAV is dedicated to raising public awareness on the issue of violence and to ensuring that victims of violence receive fair and equal access to much needed support services.

ERCAV is one of 10 regional committees funded by the Provincial Government’s Violence Prevention Initiative, to assist with the coordination of violence prevention activities in the region. Some of ERCAV initiatives throughout the communities are our annual community walks against violence that occurs every September in Clarenville, Bonavista and Arnold’s Cove.

ERCAV has had Micheal P. Gaultois, who is a motivational speaker, visit Random Island Academy and Anthony Paddon Elementary to talk to the students on “Bullying”. We have also had Anne Marie Hagan, who is a motivational speaker, come and speak to the towns of Clarenville and Bonavista on “The Power of Forgiveness”. We have our annual “Purple Ribbon Campaign” in November on “Respect Women”. In the fall ERCAV did up packages of books on diversity and differences and distribute them to our local schools in the region. During February ERCAV will go into the schools throughout the region and host a number of “Stand Up Against Bullying” activities with the students. ERCAV, with a number of other partnerships, had the play “Spancel” performed at the Clarenville Events Centre in July 15 for our seniors in the region. ERCAV believes that we all share responsibility in violence prevention.

Community + Awareness = Change

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Plate Cove Recreation Committee
Submitted by Rhonda O’Driscoll

We have been offering a recreation program for the past two summers. Floor hockey and volley ball was offered twice a week to two age groups this summer.

With funding from the Wellness Coalition, we were able to buy hockey nets, hockey sticks, and goalie gear for the floor hockey program. Our committee partnered with St.Marks School to offer our
recreation activities. We also offered a summer day camp three mornings a week for kids 10 and under. Respect, fitness, and fun were the main goals of these programs.

As the finale to our summer programs we offered a “Fun in the Sun” event. This included games, face painting, and a barbeque for everyone who participated in our summer program. Funding from the Injury Prevention Coalition allowed us to provided bicycle helmets for 10 youth while promoting the importance of helmet use. This event, despite the rain, was enjoyed by all.

We also organized our second annual Music and Friends Festival. This is the social event of our summer. People of all ages came out for an evening of Newfoundland music by local talent. This weekend ended with a community breakfast that was well attended and many took advantage to socialize with friends and family. I must say our committee put off a fine spread! Our committee is hoping to provide some activities to the adults in our rural area and with the support of the Wellness Coalition, our volunteers, and our community partners we will make this a reality. Partnerships can make anything happen!

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Meet a Coalition Member
Submitted by Marjorie Sparkes

GATHER (Generating Awareness Through Healthy Eating and Recreation) is an initiative of the Random Age Friendly Communities Wellness and Leisure Subcommittee that was funded through the Provincial Wellness Grants Program, Department of Health & Community Services.

GATHER provides a comprehensive wellness program for seniors in Clarenville through opportunity to participate in social, educational and recreational activities.

Space for the program is provided by the Town of Clarenville at the Bill Davis Chalet. This drop-in activity welcomes participants every Tuesday and Thursday afternoon from 1:30 to 4:00 p.m. Initially, a coordinator was employed to implement a program of planned activities.

Physical activities are promoted at each meeting, starting with an exercise regime of stretching exercises and walking. Further opportunity is provided for physical well being through use of the community walking trails, bowling, curling and swimming. An introduction to shallow water aerobics, Tai Chi Chih, martial arts and yoga was enthusiastically embraced by the participants. Regular meetings provide opportunity to learn and further develop new skills such as knitting, crocheting, rug-hooking and quilting. These activities have also provided the additional bonus of service to the community, as Izzy dolls were knit and donated to I-Cross for distribution to children by Canadian troops overseas. Finger puppets, cast socks and pillows were donated to the local hospital. These projects have reinforced feelings of self worth and demonstrated the wide range of capacities and resources older people have to share.

Educational sessions are a routine component of the program and reinforce seniors’ willingness and ability to embrace new ideas and knowledge. Using the, community resources available, sessions have been presented to increase awareness of many topics such as fraud and elder abuse.

Other activities such as board and card games are planned just for the fun of it! Bus tours are another.

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Baccalieu Trail Seniors Resource Centre Satellite Office
Submitted by Marie A. Ryan, Regional Coordinato

The Baccalieu Trail Seniors Resource Centre Satellite Office located in the, Spaniard’s Bay town hall, opened in April 2009. We provide service to seniors and family members in 60 plus communities along the Baccalieu Trail. Since opening, the satellite office has formed great partnerships with other agencies and organizations which enable us to provide a wealth of information and educational programs to seniors. The office has received over 650 senior’s requests and calls to date.

We are not a senior’s social club or group, but an organization that can provide services to assist all seniors enabling them to make decisions that will enhance and support their well-being and live independently. The Satellite office also offers programs promoting social inclusion and education.

We wish to thank the Eastern Regional Wellness Coalition, Community Foundation of NL and the many partnerships we have formed since our opening. Without their assistance our services and programs would not be possible. We strongly believe that the seniors in our rural communities along the Baccalieu Trail have benefited from the Baccalieu Trail Seniors Resource Centre Satellite office. We recognize that the services we provide assist seniors with invaluable information. Seniors are welcomed to call our office for any type of information and if we don’t have it in our database, we will get it!