Left, executive director Dani Williams with Coun. Kevin Russell, who also sits on the board, and, right, with Mayor Ames Leslie. (Angela Brown/battlefordsNOW Staff) 

By Angela Brown

Farewell to Dani

Battlefords Concern For Youth gives positive report

Feb 22, 2023 | 9:41 AM

Battlefords Concern For Youth gave an update on its activities at Town of Battleford council meeting Tuesday.

Executive director Dani Williams said the youth engagement position has been seeing continued success since it was started in 2020, especially helping connect to youth at home during the pandemic period.

Looking at an overview of Concern For Youth’s fiscal year, from April 2022 to March 2023 to date, in total the non-profit conducted 2,779 hours of direct time with youth, either through individual mentorship or group programming.

“It’s an average of 278 hours a month that the staff have direct contact with youth, which is pretty crazy to me,” Williams said.

The aim is to make sure youth have “a voice and choice” in the programming offered, to ensure it’s something they want to do.

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The non-profit also collaborates with various community partners to provide more options for programming.

The organization has also started a new LGBT group.

“They [the youth] really like that they have a space for themselves,” Williams said. “I’m trying to get ideas of what they want to do in that two-hour period, once a month. It doesn’t seem like a lot, but it is something in addition to everything else. That’s been really cool.”

A Youth Readiness program is also available to help kids learn useful skills. For example, some youths are taking a babysitter class offered through the Friendship Centre.

“We are having fun, but we are also still learning,” Williams said.

Youth can also take part in life-skills programming and learn to make easy family meals.

There is also a cultural component, offering kids the chance to learn how to make ribbon skirts and ribbon hoodies.

Youth mentorship has also been progressing well, with 63 referrals this fiscal year. From that number, 29 youths are currently in mentorship, 18 have successfully finished their mentorship, and the remaining 16 either moved away or don’t wish to engage in mentorship currently.

“We had a lot of referrals through programming and that’s super fantastic,” Williams said. “They’ve gotten to know the staff,… and then that trust builds… I have seen so many youth in the last four years in a row achieve their goals,” Williams said.

The new youth engagement coordinator, Darylan Kotyk, also participated in the meeting. Her plans include creating a book from anonymously submitted stories, poetry, and drawings from youth, focusing on mental health.

“Every page would be from some other youth in the community…,” Kotyk said. “We would hope we can print it and give it to some of our schools and libraries, and youth that participate in helping with the book.”

Williams took the opportunity to announce she would be leaving her position at the end of March, after serving four years with the non-profit. A search is underway to find a replacement.

At the end of the meeting, Mayor Ames Leslie presented Williams with a hand-drawn picture of Town Hall as a gift of appreciation.

“We give it to long-tenured employees and people who have had an impact to our community, and you happen to be one of those people,” he said.

Leslie added that Williams has given kids in the Battlefords an outlet to express themselves that today’s society often takes for granted.

“I don’t think we necessarily listen to our kids. Thank you for creating that safe haven for kids to express themselves,” he said.

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Angela.Brown@pattisonmedia.com

On Twitter: @battlefordsNOW