Open hearts. Honest conversations.

Volunteerism

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Open hearts. Honest conversations.

Youth Mental Health
Valerie is joined by Taylor and Venus, both members of this year’s Youth Leadership Advisory Board (YouthLAB). Each year Family Services of the North Shore invites 12 youth from across the community to learn about mental health issues. The YouthLAB takes all that learning and creates a public awareness project to share with peers.

This episode is for youth and adults alike. If you’re a young person, you’ll get some good tips on managing stress and talking to the adults in your life. If you’re an adult, Taylor and Venus provide insights on what it’s like to be a teenager these days, as well as ways we can interact in a meaningful way with the young people in our lives.

In this wide ranging conversation, we talk about such things as social media, post-secondary education plans, and tools and ideas for taking care of your mental health. We also talk about the realities of their lives, and the complexities of being a teen in our world today.

Show Notes:
  • People choose to volunteer for many reasons a few of which are:  wanting to be included and part of their children’s or families activities, a desire to give back to the community, they have time and want to fill it, they have moved into a new neighbourhood and want to connect with others in their area and make friends.
  • Volunteering offers a sense of belonging, of connecting, and of contributing to the community.
  • Family Services of the North Shore volunteers are involved in many of the services our Agency offers.  Some possible volunteer jobs are:  flipping pancakes at client events or programs, delivering groceries, making caring phone calls to community members in need, behind the scenes administrative support and more.
  • There are opportunities for everyone depending on your interests, skills, and the amount of time you have to offer.
  • Volunteering is fun!  Working with a group of committed people feels like good, meaningful teamwork.   At Family Services of the North Shore, volunteer teams look at a problem in the community and work together to figure out how to resolve it.
  • During the pandemic our volunteers helped us develop our grocery delivery program and the caring phone calls that are made to individuals who are particularly isolated right now.
  • Through this connection to clients our volunteer program is able to respond the needs that clients tell us about, so that we can move nimbly to assist with community issues, often in real-time, as they come up.
  • Everyone benefits from volunteerism; clients and volunteers lives are enriched by their interactions, and relationships between volunteers teams often lead to great friendships.
  • One of the other benefits of volunteering is learning about members of the community you might not otherwise meet, regardless of their economic situation, work, age, cultural background, everyone.
  • An important aspect of this work is also realizing that in life, sometimes we are givers and sometimes we are receivers and it is only circumstances that separate those two groups.   Many of our clients plan to become volunteers when they are in a better situation.
  • If you are on the fence about whether to volunteer or not “what are you waiting for?  Just do it.”
    • Resources:
    • If you are interested in getting involved as a volunteer, click here to learn more.
    • If enjoyed the podcast and would like to support our work, click here to learn about becoming a donor.
    • To access counselling for children, youth, and adults, email our intake counsellor [email protected].
    • Thrive Family Programs for parents of kids aged 0-6 are free of charge.  Virtual and outdoor options available.  To learn more, click here.
      • We would love to hear from you!
      If you have questions about this podcast or suggestions for our future podcasts.

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      Open hearts. Honest conversations.By Family Services of the North Shore