A shirt hangs at RDP as part of the Climbing Tree conference's adapted Clothesline Project. (rdnewsNOW/Joh Hall)

By Josh Hall (Twitter: @Vancan19)

youth in need adding to their toolbox

Climbing Tree conference builds hope for young women, who pay it forward

Jun 2, 2023 | 1:13 PM

At Red Deer Polytechnic this week, the Central Alberta Child Advocacy Centre (CACAC) brought together 150 girls and young women, aged 14-20, for a transformative experience.

The Climbing Tree Mentorship program, a CACAC initiative, was the basis for the conference, in its second year.

Nicole Jones is the program’s coordinator, and CACAC Volunteer Coordinator; she says the one-day conference was, at its core, to give participants a positive day, something they may not get very often.

“Before we launched this program, we wanted to create something that could help young people who’ve been through the child advocacy centre, and offer them a bit more support following their formal involvement with us by pairing them with a mentor,” explains Jones.

Nicole Jones, coordinator for the Climbing Tree Mentorship Program, stands amongst the 150 shirts made for future young clients of the Central Alberta Child Advocacy Centre. (rdnewsNOW/Josh Hall)

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“For this conference, girls were selected by their high school counsellors because they may need more support in some way, be it social supports, or maybe they’re finding their academics are impacted negatively by things going on in their lives. It was a day to teach resilience, and see great things added to their toolbox to make them stronger and more capable.”

Jones says at the CACAC, they are finding young people don’t have the tools to be resilient when lousy things are happening. Included were lessons on positive self-talk, coping with anxiety, and dealing with triggers.

Jones also points out the worsening effects of social media and cyber-bullying on today’s youth, and that includes how to safely use location services on social media, which can lead the wrong people to where youth are.

“It’s not an easy world to be growing up in,” she says. “We also talked to girls about what they may want to do after high school, and what they’d need to attend an institution such as Red Deer Polytechnic. We had Move Your Mood here to express the importance of staying active and its connection to mental health; as well, Delmar College was here and dry-styled more than 80 per cent of all the girls’ hair.”

A shirt hangs at RDP as part of the Climbing Tree conference’s adapted Clothesline Project. (rdnewsNOW/Joh Hall)

Another major aspect of the conference was the Clothesline Project, a campaign popular on college campuses in the U.S., says Jones, to raise awareness of on-campus sexual assault.

The program was adapted for the purposes of this conference, says Jones.

A shirt hangs at RDP as part of the Climbing Tree conference’s adapted Clothesline Project. (rdnewsNOW/Joh Hall)

‘We had attendees design a shirt which will be given to a youth who eventually comes through the CACAC, once they’ve been given a forensic interview and met with our other partners. These shirts bear messages of hope and resilience, and we thought it was powerful that these young people, on perhaps the toughest day of their life, will receive a message of hope from someone they may never meet; just someone who has an anonymous message for them that they can get through it, they’re important and can keep going.”

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Additional invites for the conference this year went out to Ponoka Secondary, as well as Ponoka’s Brick Learning Centre, and Sylvan Lake’s H. J. Cody High School.

The Climbing Tree Mentorship program launched in 2022 thanks to a grant from Royal Bank of Canada.

For additional information, visit centralalbertacac.ca.