Each day after school, hundreds of NDG youth walk through the doors of their community center to participate in after-school programs. There, they find much more than just a place to do their homework: they find a healthy meal or snack, trusted adults, enriching activities, and a safe space to grow.
Today, these essential programs are threatened.
The Depot is joining forces with the NDG Youth Roundtable (TJNDG) to call for action in ensuring adequate and sustainable funding for community after-school programs. One of its subcommittees, the Homework Help Committee (Comité aide aux devoirs – CAD), brings together four community centers (Loyola, Saint-Raymond, Walkley, and Westhaven) as well as the NDG YMCA to coordinate after-school programs.
Essential programs for youth and their families
These programs are a safety net for families in NDG. Without significant investment in these programs, they are at risk of closing as early as the start of this coming school year, and their closure could have dire consequences for children, families, and the community.
The most recent neighbourhood studies show that youth in NDG need access to free or low-cost programs to ensure their educational success and social integration.
The programs offered by the Homework Help Committees’ five partners constitute essential services for NDG.
The programs serve children and adolescents whose families face multiple factors of vulnerability: financial insecurity; limited proficiency in one or both official languages; newcomers; single-parent families; food insecurity; youth under the care of child welfare services; and limited mobility (public transportation).
A safety net for close to 200 youth
Each school year, the CAD’s five partners serve more than 150 children and 40 teenagers from priority neighborhoods in NDG.
More than 20 facilitators and youth coordinators, some of whom are former participants, support youth daily, build trusting relationships with them, and become inspiring role models.
Community centers provide welcoming, safe, and inclusive spaces where young people have access to healthy food, develop social and emotional skills, improve their relationship with school, and form meaningful connections with other youth.
Why The Depot is taking action
The Depot is a proud partner of these community centres.
In fact, our flagship program, Boîte à Lunch, grew out of a similar initiative launched in 2003 by the TJNDG. While Boîte à Lunch merged with The Depot in 2015, we continue to maintain a strong partnership through our healthy snacks program — which provided more than 76,000 healthy snacks to children and youth last year — and by offering Boîte à Lunch workshops and summer camp activities at these community centers.
For us, supporting these programs means supporting youth, families, and the health of our neighborhood.
Take Action Now!
Click the button below to open a pre-written email. Simply replace the text in brackets with your information, then send it!
If you only have time to send one email, we recommend writing to Stéphanie Valenzuela, Mayor of the Côte-des-Neiges–Notre-Dame-de-Grâce Borough, since the borough plays an important role in supporting community organizations and local youth programs.
If you have a few extra minutes, we encourage you to send the same message to the other elected representatives who serve our community: