Burnaby’s first and favourite information source
Delivery 604-942-3081 • Saturday, March 5, 2011
Hidden treasure in the museum vaults PAGE 13
Dancing like the wolves
PAGE 13
Your source for local sports, news, weather and entertainment! >> www.burnabynow.com A CLOSER LOOK: TEAM LOOKS FOR TROUBLED TEENS WHO HANG OUT AT SKYTRAIN STATIONS
Riding the rails to help save youth
L
ike many commuters, Natalie Harper boards the SkyTrain each morning, but for her, riding the train is her job. On a blustery afternoon, Harper and two colleagues – Greg MacCluskey and Chris Preston – board the westbound train at Production Way station. They wear black jackets, with the word “outreach” down the sleeve, toques pulled over their ears, and backpacks filled with items to help troubled teens – snacks, juice, toques, gloves, socks, ON MY BEAT resource guides, a list Jennifer Moreau of shelters, a first aid kit and condoms. The trio is part of I-RAYL – Inter Regional At-Risk Youth Link, an awardwinning group of youth outreach workers who “ride the rails” looking for lost and troubled teens. “We’re looking for those youth who are loitering, kind of looking for something that’s happening,” Harper says. I-RAYL helps kids, 19 and under, who are dealing with poverty, family problems, homelessness, mental illnesses and addiction. They may have dropped out of school or are trading sex for basic needs or drug habits. I-RAYL often connects the kids to other groups that help; like the Youth Hub and St. Leonard’s in Burnaby or the Purpose Society in New Westminster. The train hums along the Millennium Line, and the group gets off at Gilmore station. “The first thing we do is check out the platform,” Harper says. They are looking for kids left that don’t seem to be going any place in particular. Then they descend the escalator. “When we come down to the street level of the station, we look around,” Harper says. “We check out the bus loops.” There are five I-RAYL workers in total. They start their day in the New Westminster office of Pacific Community Resources, the organization the runs the
Jennifer Moreau/burnaby now
Keeping kids on track: From left, Chris Preston, Greg MacCluskey and Natalie Harper, members of the I-RAYL team, an award-winning outreach program where youth workers ride the SkyTrain lines, looking for lost and troubled teens. program. They usually split the region in two, with Metrotown dividing east and west. They spend the day riding the lines, covering Vancouver, Burnaby, Surrey, New Westminster and Richmond. Looking for at-risk youth is a bit like tracking wildlife. The team watches for
Free Electronic Recycling Bottle Depot (Full Refunds Paid) TV’s | Computers | Home & Auto AV Gear Sprap Metal and Waste Paper
604.299.3121 2961 NORLAND AVE., BURNABY
tracks – tags or empty beer cans, for instance – that may indicate teens have been in the area. Numbers increase when the weather improves, and youth tend to migrate all over the Lower Mainland. Some of the hot spots are around malls or SkyTrain stations that connect to main bus routes. Broadway station in
g
Get 2 of these meals for
14
$
99
This offer has no cash value and cannot be combined with any other offer. Expires March 31, 2011. Only valid at Nando's Burnaby, 4334 Kingsway Avenue (across from Earls) 604.434.6220
Vancouver, Metrotown and Lougheed in Burnaby and Surrey Central are all main spots where youth congregate. But Gilmore is quiet on this Wednesday afternoon, so they return to the platform and head east. When the workers do come across
Youth Page 3
YOUR BURNABY REALTOR
BRIAN VIDAS 604.671.5259
Brian Vidas Personal Real Estate Corporation 3010 Boundary Road, Burnaby
BrianVidas.com
www.
centre realty