June at Your YW

June 2020

YW Calgary is committed to supporting the safety

and well-being of community members.

Making plans and moving forward

Hopeful Re-emergence

June has arrived with longer sunny days, flowers blooming and people out and about in the spring weather. With it comes a sense of hopefulness and energy that is much needed as we, individually and as part of a community , re-emerge from the required closures brought by the COVID-19 pandemic.

At all five of the locations YW Calgary operates, spread across four Calgary communities – Inglewood, Bridgeland, Renfrew and Lower Mount Royal – daily activities have changed dramatically over the past three months. Safety and wellness have become even more the focus for staff and clients and ingenuity has been a consistent theme as we come up with new approaches to provide much needed programs and services in safe and accessible ways. None of this has been easy, a myriad of complex emotions simmer beneath smiles and determined faces – or face masks and shields – of the frontline team members who continue to work in YW locations each day.

Much of this is not unique to staff and clients inside any of YW Calgary’s sites – it can be seen throughout our neighbourhoods. Some of you have likely noticed different activities and behaviours in your local areas – less families in the playgrounds, more people looking for a safe place to rest and positive messages meant to buoy passersby. The pressures the pandemic has had on our financial, mental and physical health is also significant. Women and families who were vulnerable before are more so now. Routines and habits are significantly disrupted and our clients are feeling more isolated, all further adding stresses.

YW Calgary is closely following the Alberta Relaunch Strategy and making plans of our own that will align, while also taking into account the uniqueness of our facilities and the vulnerability of our clients. Our focus will continue to be on keeping the nearly 200 women and children who reside in a YW building safe and healthy while we carefully take steps to re-open closed doors and welcome back staff who have been working from home and ultimately, you our neighbours.

We at YW look forward to being able to welcome everyone back to our spaces very soon.

LEARN ABOUT OUR VIRTUAL SUPPORTS

A feast for YW Calgary clients

Teatro Cooks for Community Housing

On Friday, May 15, residents of YW’s supportive housing program received dinner prepared by a trio of master chefs including Teatro’s own, Matt Batey. In early May, restaurants had been preparing to re-open, but had to postpone as the date was pushed back due to ongoing COVID-19 concerns in Calgary. This left an excess of food for many restaurants including Teatro.

Julie Van Rosendaal, local food journalist and friend of YW, connected Teatro with YW Calgary and helped prepare 50 individually packaged meals for our clients in our three community housing buildings. Clients enjoyed a meal of salad, house-made focaccia, pasta Bolognese and dark chocolate mousse with roasted strawberries. We are grateful for our community coming together and the great relationships we have developed with those who support us in a variety of ways.

Our Community Housing team members and the master chefs were excited to pose for pictures while giving and receiving the donation of individually packaged meals. We are so proud of our YW team and are thrilled to have great community partners!

READ THE CTV ARTICLE

Full-time, part-time and drop-in spaces

YW Childcare Centre is Accepting Registrations

Since being required to close our doors in March, YW Childcare has been actively engaging with families by finding new ways to help them keep their young children engaged all day, while building virtual relationships with the kids. YW Childcare team members recorded songs and activities for parents and children to keep them busy over the past few months and received some great feedback:

“We want to extend our great thanks to the childcare staff for all the hard work in keeping our kids happy and safe. Our kids already miss going to daycare, but hopefully they'll be there again soon.” - YW Childcare parent.

YW is thrilled to be able to start welcoming families back to YW Childcare with the first phase of the Alberta Relaunch Strategy. We have options for full-time, part-time and drop-in spaces. Families can feel confident returning to the centre knowing that we are closely following Alberta Health Care requirements to limit class sizes, perform health screenings upon entry and increase sanitizing schedules.

Take a virtual tour and register today. Call 403.232.1594 or email us.

YW is here for the whole family

Group, Individual and Family Counselling

Everyone manages the stress and anxiety of our dramatically changed world in different ways. It's hard for each of us to get through this as individuals, but with the care and support of others, we can be successful. That's why YW continues to offer counselling sessions for the whole family. Sessions take place by phone or online and spaces are available.

"My anger and reactions to stressful situations brought me into the program. I have gained the ability to stop and think before reacting to stressful situations and arguments with family. This program has changed my life for the better and made me a better person for my son and family." - Taylor, YW Counselling client.

From group programs to individual and family sessions, YW Counselling is here to help you build a healthy future in a safe, supportive environment. YW Counselling helps you develop healthy relationships, positive parenting skills, stimulate mindfulness and reduce stress. We want to see women, children, men and families thrive.

Virtual workshops start June 15

Family Resource Network: Family Champions

Last month, we told you about Family Resource Network, an exciting new series of programs hosted alongside our community partners. Focused on the whole family, these free programs for parents and caregivers are up and running virtually with workshops starting at YW on June 15.

Here at YW, we offer YW Family Champions. This program teaches parents and caregivers how to tackle common issues and topics for children of all ages. Upcoming workshop topics include kids' mental health, healthy sleep routines, parenting styles and setting boundaries.

We also offer YW Families Forward, a free virtual home visitation program for parents. Build skills and learn problem solving strategies to enable effective and safe home environments for kids.

If you want to gain the skills and knowledge to strengthen the family relationship, teach children and teens to cope with trauma, build resiliency and foster well-being, register today. Call 403.262.0497 or email us with your questions.