Louis Tuesday – Supporting Winnipeg’s Bannock Lady

Join AYO and friends this Tuesday at 5pm behind the MB Legislative building, at the Statue of Louis Riel to support Althea Guiboche. This weekend her vehicle was vandalized and we are trying to find as many ways to support her as possible – please join us.

This is, as Althea says, in honour of the village!

Facebook event here: https://www.facebook.com/events/238977436251158/

Free Press article here: http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/local/bannock-lady-wont-be-deterred-221124391.html

You can SAVE this image and use it as your facebook banner if you want to show your FB support! On twitter check out #gotbannock!!

Tipi @ the Library with Ko’ona this Friday!

Come on down this Friday to the St John’s Public Library and learn about how to put up a Tipi with local educator and member of AYO! Supporters Ko’ona Cochrane!

Pitblado Lends Support to North End Opportunity Network’s “Back 2 School Bash” #B2Sbash

Thank You Pitblado!

We are grateful for the support of our community as we approach our Back 2 School Bash (#B2Sbash) this Saturday August 24th. In order to purchase school supplies we reached out to a variety or supporters and have so far recieved donations  from local law firm Pitblado Law. This will compliment the information we have for students on post-secondary, the opportunity f=to have free hair cuts, have their bikes fixed up, and now, send them back to school prepared and ready to learn with adequate school supplies and back packs. We are grateful for this support. To visit Pitblado’s website click here.

We Are Not Done Yet

We still have 2 days remaining and AYO!, NEON and Ralph Brown are doing everything we can to get more school supplies to share with our young people. At our last summer gathering we had well over 150 community members attend and we want to make sure that we can provide back to school support to as many of our kids as we can. This event is being led by the North End Opportunity Network, a group of elementary aged students from in and around the St John’s neighbourhood who regularly plan community activities and personally identified helping our neighbourhood kids go back to school prepared as a priority for them. For more info on NEON, click here!

We will be gathering any and all donations at the Meet Me @ the Bell Tower rally happening this Friday at 6pm, where our theme is ‘How to Stop Street Violence’. Please send us an email, a FB message, a tweet, or call Ralph Brown and let us know if you or your group are able to support. For more info on AYO! & the Bell Tower, click here

Thanks again to everyone for their support!

Love & Respect

MC, Organizer for AYO!

Becoming Youth Leaders – Wahbung Youth Forum August 29, 2013

SafeTALK Opportunity – Sept 12th, 2013

September 12   1:00 – 4:30pm @ 601 Aikins St – Main floor boardroom

What is SafeTALK? (check the original Alberta website here)

SafeTALK is a 3 hour workshop, where you will learn:

          To be Suicide Alert Helpers

          To be aware that opportunities to help a person with thoughts of suicide are sometimes missed, dismissed and avoided.

          To use the TALK steps (Tell, Ask, Listen and KeepSafe).

As a part of the KeepSafe step, you will find out where to connect persons with thoughts of suicide to Trained Helpers in the community.

This workshop is for EVERYONE and ANYONE interested in helping others in the community.

This workshop is open to anyone who want to learn how to become suicide alert helpers.

SafeTALK is a 3 hour workshop that would be a good fit for paraprofessional staff or natural helpers/Community Leaders.

Click Below to access the registration form and poster – contact JASPREET at 204-940-3681

SafeTALK Poster & registration form Sept 2013 – April 2014

Voices Looking for Volunteers!

Find below a message from Marie, from Voices: Manitoba’s youth in care Network. Interested? Call the office at 204.982.4956 if you are into it!

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Hello everyone!

September 20th to 22nd is our Voices Network Retreat at Camp Arnes, Gimli, MB.  This is a weekend of learning, laughing, and making connections for youth in and from care across Manitoba, ages 14 to 24.  Participation at our annual retreat has grown over the years, and in order to keep this weekend safe and fun, we need volunteers to serve as adult supports!

Volunteers must be age 24+ (20+ if you are already a registered BGCW volunteer, social work student, or child and youth care student), have their child abuse registry and criminal record checks completed (as of 2013), and be able to commit to spending the entire weekend with us (Friday at 4pm through Sunday at 3pm).  A mandatory volunteer orientation will be held on Monday, September 9th from 5-7pm.

Meals, accommodations, and a ride to and from Camp Arnes from the Boys and Girls Clubs of Winnipeg head office are provided.

Please call or email by Friday, August 23rd if you are able to volunteer.  If you are a social worker, and you are willing to attend the retreat with a group of youth you work, please let me know!

Thank you, guys, for helping to build an amazing community for youth in and from care in Manitoba.  You are the bees knees :o)

Congratulations! We Reached 1,000 Voices! (Keep Our Youth Safe 24/7)

 

 

 

CONGRATULATIONS WE DID IT! 1,000 VOICES!

 

You might recall that in the last few months there has been a very energetic young man (Romondo) leading the call from our North End community members that our young people need a safe space where they feel respected and loved 24 hours a day and 7 days a week. This call came in the form of a petition that stated if we reached our goal of 1,000 Supporters by July 31st that we would move forward on the idea that our youth need a safe space 24/7 in the North End.  Special shout out to Jillian Taylor and CBC Manitoba for covering this on the 5 o clock TV and radio news asking the world to support our cause as well. The final tally is still rolling in but we have definitely surpassed our 1,000 person goal. Thank you all!

Let’s Keep Going

Now that we have made our goal there are a few steps that we must take, together. These are some of the steps we are going to take, but if you are interested in offering an idea or suggestion please CONTACT US – this idea is property of everyone ion the community now and your voice is going to matter all the way through our journey to keep our youth safe 24/7.

• First, we are going to schedule an initial meeting with our three levels of government and share with them the support from our community and especially the will of our young people (Ross Eadie, Kevin Chief and Kevin Lamoureux have all individually voiced their willingness to meet with us on this issue)
• In September, we will connect with MB GAIN (Gang Action Inter-Agency Network) as they are working towards a gang exit strategy, and a 24 hour working group (with representatives the Winnipeg Police, Rossbrook House, Ndinawe, AYO & more).
• Continue to collect signatures online and in person and prove that our community supports this initiative

Thank You So Much

On behalf of Romondo Nilles, our many youth volunteers and the entire AYO Movement, we are so grateful for your support and vow to follow this initiative and keep you posted on our progress. Let’s keep up the momentum!

Love & Respect

AYO!

AYO July in Pictures!

It has been a very busy month for the movement in Winnipeg. Thank you to all the members of AYO Leadership who are working tirelessly, leading by example and creating opportunity!

@ the Main Street Farmer’s Market , 1 to 6pm @ 865 Main St

We had a lot of fun  this Water Wednesday moving and shaking to protect our lands & waters!

We even love to hang out @ Idle No More planning meetings

AYO is so pleased to be working with our community on a 20 foot Water Wednesday banner!

Jenna recently hung out with A Tribe Called Red and represents on stage at Oodena Circle with Keewatin Otchichak

And our youngest AYO Leader Romondo successfully reached his goal of 1,000 supporters!