Building safer and healthier communities is the mission of The John Howard Society of North Island (JHSNI).
The staff and volunteers of JHSNI strive to provide caring, compassionate programs for youth, families, and adults facing challenges in their lives. Their dedication was recognized last week when the agency won a Crime Prevention & Community Safety Award from B.C.’s Ministry of Justice.
JHSNI won the award in the Community Group/Organization category. RCMP Corporal Gus Papagiannis nominated JHSNI, highlighting two of the agency’s prevention programs, KidStart Volunteer Mentoring and Delaware Youth Internet Café.
KidStart focuses on the positive development of children and youth ages 6-18 who could benefit from having stable, committed, and caring adults in their lives.
KidStart connects children and youth with carefully screened and trained adult mentors. These volunteers spend three or more hours with their “mentee” each week.
‘Delaware-We are Always There’ is the name and slogan chosen by the participants in Campbell River’s Youth Internet Café. Delaware is a drop-in program that offers young people ages 13-24 a healthy start to the morning, a nutritious breakfast, literacy and pre-employment skill building, and connections to health programs and other services. The program is available five mornings a week in JHSNI’s Activity Centre in the Campbell River Community Centre.
“We are thrilled to have won this award. KidStart and Delaware do not receive core government funding, and depend on grants and community donations to operate,” said Wendy Richardson, JHSNI’s Executive Director.