Youth HQ celebrates 50 years

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He said in terms of impact, he could share stories for hours.

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“What’s really cool now is we’re seeing generations of children and families who’ve now been involved with the agency,” he said. “We now have a big brother match who had a little brother who grew up and paid it forward and became a big brother. It’s been pretty cool to see the generations, as well as the families, who’ve been involved. Some of the families who were kids when they were younger, their kids are involved now.”

What’s especially rewarding, he added, is when a kid is in the program for so many years and returns at 40 years old to say thank you.

“There have been many examples of that,” he said. “They just want to remind me of how positive an impact the agency had on them. That’s pretty powerful stuff.”

In 1983, they brought on the Boys and Girls Club of Red Deer and established a youth and volunteer centre.

The next year, the Rotary Club of Red Deer established Camp Alexo, a youth camp near Nordegg that serves those ages 7-17 with a focus on teamwork and building confidence. In 2014, they did a “master rebuild” of the camp.

Johnston said it was launched in 1984 because of their strong belief in what an outdoor experience can do for a child growing up.

In 1991, Youth HQ brought on the 24-hour youth emergency shelter on 49th Street, which is still going strong today.

And in 2018, they rebranded from the Youth Volunteer Centre to Youth HQ, which serves as the umbrella organization for its local youth-serving agencies.

Most recently, they launched the Centre for Social Impact three years ago, which is a building dedicated to non-profit and charitable organizations. He said they’re still looking for tenants, but the vision behind it is to provide a place for charities and non-profits to work together and collaborate.

“Times have changed in how we deliver the programs and services over the years, but ultimately our goal is to positively impact the lives of youth,” Johnston added. “We have a strong belief that one of the best ways to do that is to empower the youth to discover their potential through new opportunities and experiences. But also to have the influence of a mentor in their lives as well, whether that be a big brother, big sister, or a caring volunteer that had an impact on them.”

As for the future of Youth HQ, they hope to do another 50 years.

“Our mandate is to look after the needs of children and families, so there will always be a need for that.”

To celebrate 50 years, Youth HQ will host a celebration event on Thursday, May 21, at Bo’s Bar & Stage.

Tickets can be bought at youthhq.ca and will be on sale until May 7.

“We’re doing a number of events throughout the year, but our big profile event will be the celebration on May 21,” he said. “We’re celebrating 50 years of Youth HQ, and to move forward, we need to celebrate our past, and we’ve created quite a legacy… We’ve invited people from many years back, in fact, we have our first board chair from 1976, who will be attending the event and some of the first matches with Big Brothers and big sisters. It’s going to be quite an eventful evening where people can reconnect.”