NET WORTH The vital St. George’s YouthNet program gives kids in need a safe haven—and as Sarah Mateshaytis (BJH ’12) and Evey Hornbeck (BJH ’12) find, it was founded in a spirit passed down through generations of King’s students.
Behind this mural-painted fence is a place of wonder and safety for youth in Halifax’s north end, and much of that comes from the King’s community. (photo by Ian Gibb)
F
ilming a documentary for an art gallery screening, or tending a herb garden and producing homemade salad dressings—these aren’t opportunities most kids usually get. But between the bright, craft-covered walls of St. George’s YouthNet, they’re just some of the many opportunities the program offers to kids living in Halifax’s north end. A volunteer-based lunch and afterschool program for kids in grades primary through junior high in the Uniacke Square neighbourhood, YouthNet provides kids with experiences they otherwise would often miss out on. “We give them a space where they can go after school when they may not want to go home for reasons of poverty,” says Natasha Conde-Jahnel (BAH ’07), a former King’s residence don, and current program coordi-
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Tidings | winter 2013
nator. “We try to offer genuine friendship.” And while the University of King’s College has always had a presence in the program—all four paid staff are King’s alumni or students, and many volunteers come from the King’s fold—this past year, the King’s connection has grown even stronger. “We’re really looking for volunteers who are not necessarily just looking to volunteer, but to get to know people and to support them in that way,” says current staff member and former volunteer coordinator Jesse Blackwood (BAH ’04). YouthNet took flight in the mid-1990s under the leadership of current King’s chaplain Rev. Dr. Gary Thorne, who was the rector of St. George’s Round Church. He envisioned a program that focused on positive, mentoring relationships with kids and providing opportunities for them to excel and succeed.
But over the years, Blackwood says YouthNet has slipped away from that, moving more towards a youth drop-in centre model. “There were a number of ways in which we weren’t doing what we set out to do in terms of building friendships,” he says. So Blackwood took advantage of his residence platform as the current don of Middle Bay to rally first-year King’s students to volunteer with YouthNet in the fall of 2011. This built on the annual Christmas gift drive, already a tradition linking King’s residences and YouthNet. Their recent effort to bring in more firstyear students was borne of the hope that those who volunteered would choose to stay involved with the program for years to come. “There’s a lot of inconsistency in the neighbourhood and often a lack of stability, and also a dearth of opportunity,” says