Garden Gals paint on location
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pipeline posturinG doesn’t help
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rcMp class action suit Gains steaM
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friday
August 8 2012 www.newwestnewsleader.com darlene currie is gearing up, as it’s almost time to let the (Bc senior) Games begin. see Page A12
Tiles to be unveiled Friday To depict scenes from Columbia’s colourful past grant granger
ggranger@newwestnewsleader.com
MARIO BARtEL/NEWsLEADER
chris preston and despina stratidakis, youth outreach workers with i-rayl, hand out snacks to a group of kids on the concourse outside the Metrotown skytrain station. Bags of bright orange cheese puffs are particularly popular.
Reaching out, on the rails I-RAYL teams fan out on SkyTrain to make link with at-risk youth
that ride the elevated rail lines from Surrey to Vancouver to Richmond five days a week, 11:30 a.m. to 11 p.m., talking to kids under 19 years old, directing them to community resources, handing out meal coupons, transit tickets and snacks. The snacks are the key, says Preston, opening a dark blue/grey backpack filled with candy bars, juice boxes and bags of bright orange cheese puffs. “They’re a huge icebreaker,” says Preston, who’s been with I-RAYL for two years. “When we first approach kids, they have no idea
Mario Bartel Black Press
Most SkyTrain commuters give a wide berth to gaggles of loudtalking, gum-smacking, cigarettesharing young people. Chris Preston and Despina Stratidakis make a bee-line right for them. They’re one of two teams of youth outreach workers (three in the summer) with the Inter-Regional At-Risk Youth Link (I-RAYL)
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who we are.” But the universal language of free snacks creates a connection that can lead a troubled youth to the help they need to steer clear of a life of crime or other high-risk behaviour, give them the support and stability they might need. “You always try an approach to make conversation, build a relationship,” says Preston. The teams meet 700 to 800 youth each month. The four-year old program, which is unique in Canada, is funded by $360,000 from the
Ministry of Children and Family Development, and administered by Pacific Community Resources. The outreach workers tap into resources available to youth in the various communities along the SkyTrain lines, from shelters to social services to food banks to counseling to recreation and youth centres, as well as local and transit police. “Youth are so transient,” says Preston. “They’re traveling between communities and SkyTrain offers them a conduit. We’re meeting them where they’re at.” please see stEERINg, A3
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Take a stroll along Columbia Street and look up, straight ahead or sideways and it’s easy to see glimpses of the New Westminster thoroughfare’s glorious past. Soon it will be possible to look down and get a colourful view of yesteryear as well. Mosaic tiles depicting the Downtown’s history will be unveiled to the public on Friday and then laid down at strategic corners along Columbia during the fall. “They’re gorgeous, absolutely gorgeous. They’ll definitely add excitement and colour as you walk down the street,” said Downtown New Westminster Business Improvement Association executive director Kendra Johnston. “It’s amazing really.” Johnston sat on the volunteer committee that put the project together. It was funded by money endowed by the now-defunct New Westminster Community Development Society. please see sIMILAR, A4