Due to the heartfelt generosity of one of our donors, we were lucky enough to be able to give out long-stemmed roses today to the young Moms of Youville Centre.
Here at Youville Centre, Valentine’s Day celebrates the love between Moms and their babies.
It was so nice to be able to brighten their day with a beautiful rose, to remind them that Moms are special.
Many thanks to our lovely donor! You know who you are 
For the second consecutive year, Youville Centre participated in Community Action Day this December. Community Action Day (CAD) is a joint initiative between United Way Ottawa and Volunteer Ottawa that gives corporate and government employees the chance to get out of the office and roll up their sleeves to take action by volunteering with charities and non-profit organizations for a day.
This year Youville Centre was lucky enough to host a team of passionate women from The Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat who helped us prepare our centre for the holiday season!
This small group of caring, compassionate volunteers baked hundreds of cookies for both our Holiday Craft Day and our Christmas luncheon for the young Moms and their children. Especially for our students, the holidays can be a stressful time of year, so we enjoy giving them a little Christmas cheer, and volunteers allow us to do this.
These volunteers even went above and beyond, and fashioned a cookie in the shape of our logo for Staff to admire and enjoy!
After the tree was trimmed, the centre was decorated and the cookies were baked, this group of wonderful volunteers knew a lot more about Youville Centre and the services we provide. Youville Centre would like to thank The Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat for lending their employees to us, for a day of community action!
On Friday, June 17th, Youville Centre’s young moms received the gift of fashion from a local consignment shop, AMH Style. In a young mother’s life, thoughts often go to diapers, formula, doctor’s appointments and clothing for her child. It is rare that our young moms have the chance to shop for clothing for themselves, let alone for fashionable, current styles. Lucky for us, AMH Style, a consignment store in Westboro contacted us and came to the Centre to provide a little treat for our graduates and other students as they were preparing for summer.
Armed with purses, shoes, sunglasses, jeans and an array of other fashionable items of clothing, the AMH Style team went to work helping our students choose some new clothing for themselves.
“Thank you” was a common phrase heard that afternoon, as our students really enjoyed this special treat. Our thanks go out to Allison, Joanna and the rest of the team at AMH Style for their generosity, positivity and of course, their great sense of style!
On Thursday, June 2nd, 2011, 24 of Youville Centre’s young moms donned their graduation gowns and celebrated this momentous occasion in their lives. Graduation means so much to our students and their children. By completing their OSSD Diploma, these proud young women are taking steps towards providing a better life for themselves and their children.
On such a special day, our friends at Versailles Academy of Make-up Arts, Hair and Esthetics donated their services and helped our young moms prepare for this special occasion.
Many thanks go out to everyone who made this a very special day for our graduates. Youville Centre is very proud to be making a difference with two generations.
For a more comprehensive view of the graduation you can look in the News Section of our website, and keep your eyes peeled for our upcoming Summer Newsletter. If you would like to receive the newsletter, please email communications[at]youvillecentre[dot]org and request to be added to our mailing list.
Tickets are now on sale for the Shepherds’ Ooh ‘n Ahh Fashion Show and Auction in support of Youville Centre and Dress for Success Ottawa!
Join us on Thursday, October 20th from 5:30 pm to 9:00 pm!
Purchase individual tickets or buy a table of 8 for your group. *Corporate signage is available.
Tickets can be purchased online by clicking below:
*Please note, you do not have to have a PayPal account to use this service. Follow the instructions to purchase as “Guest” if you do not wish to sign up with PayPal.
You can also purchase tickets by phone at:
(613) 231-5150 Ext. 128
Hope to see you there!
Thanks to the Kiwanis Club of Ottawa-Vanier, this Mother’s Day we were able to offer a treat to our young Moms in the form of roses. The students really enjoyed receiving the roses and were grateful to be remembered on this special day.
Youville Centre also honoured Mother Earth with our annual Earth Day Cleanup. Students and staff worked together preparing garden beds, raking the lawn and disposing of nearby litter. It was great to see everyone pitching in to make Youville Centre sparkle.
Today was a special day at Youville Centre, as the students in our Collective Kitchen Class were instructed and inspired by two female culinary professionals from DiVino Wine Studio. Cooking Instructor/Event Manager Larissa Beznaczuk-Smyrnew and Chef Jessica Hendren showed our students how to cook a simple, delicious and healthy one-pot meal to serve at home.
It is our goal through Collective Kitchen to provide nutritious recipes that are easy and affordable for our young moms and their children. For under $100, Jessica and Larissa were able to show our students a tasty and healthy meal that resulted in 15-20 servings. By following the recipe below, our students can now create this meal at home and still have leftovers available.
The dish was a Chicken Curry Pot, and while learning how to make it, the students also learned all about exotic ingredients such as coconut milk, curry, cilantro and bok choy. Jessica and Larissa were also able to give our students a glimpse of the culinary world from a career perspective by sharing their unique success stories.
Many thanks to Larissa and Jessica, and to the entire team at DiVino Wine Studio for lending us these talented young women this morning! Youville Centre thanks you!
Recipe and Nutrition Info:
Chicken Curry Pot
Serves 6
12 bone-in chicken thighs or 6 chicken breasts
2 tablespoons canola oil
2 onions, chopped
1 carrot, peeled and chopped
1 celery, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
¼ cup brown sugar
½ cup raisins
1 can chickpeas
3 cups of chicken stock or water
1 can coconut milk
2 cups spinach, bok choy or other greens
1 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons curry powder
½ cup frozen green peas
½ cup rice
½ cup chopped cilantro
salt and pepper
Directions:
NUTRITION INFORMATION
On Wednesday, January 12th, Youville students were the lucky recipients of a personal cooking class from Chef Katie Brown, Chef de Cuisine at Play Food and Wine (Steven Beckta).This visit was part of a weekly program here at Youville Centre called Collective Kitchen. Part of the Parenting curriculum, Collective Kitchen teaches young parents how to cook healthy, affordable meals for themselves and their children using nutritious, tasty ingredients.
This week’s recipe featured tuna cakes with roasted root vegetables and sweet and sour onions. Chef Katie enjoyed spending time with the students and was open to asking many questions not only about the ingredients, but also about life as a young female chef.
RECIPES:
Tuna cakes
Makes 4 Patties
2 cans drained chopped tuna
3 whole eggs, separated
1 cup bread crumbs
1/2 cup chopped green onions
1/2 cup chopped celery
Salt and pepper
Vegetable oil for frying
Sweet and Sour Onions
2 whole onions, sliced thin
2 tbsp vegetable oil
3 tbsp malt ( or any preferred ) vinegar
2 tbsp water
Salt and pepper
Roasted Potatoes and Root Vegetables
1 potato
1 sweet potato
2 carrots
2 parsnips (we used celery root instead)
Vegetable oil
Salt and pepper
Parsley (if available)
Combine tuna, egg yolks and 1 white, 3/4 cups of bread crumbs, vegetables and seasonings. Heat oil in frying pan and coat patties with egg whites, then remaining bread crumbs. Fry patty on each side for approx. 4 minutes until golden brown and warm in the middle.
Peel and slice vegetables to a similar size, then potatoes to similar shape, but smaller. Toss with oil and season to taste. Put into oven at 375′ for approximately 15 minutes, turning and tossing, after ten minutes. Toss with chopped parsley. Place serving of roasted veggies with one patty and top with sweet and sour onions.
The finished product resulted in a healthy snack for Youville’s young mothers and an informative lesson from an inspiring young woman who is succeeding in the world of work. Thanks again to Katie for her time and talent!
Our recent Youville Art Gallery Event showcased the talents of the students who chose to study Art in the summer school program.
All of the art was quite original and well-crafted and some of the most striking pieces were the sketches of the children here at Youville Centre. Congratulations to all of the art students! May you continue to use your creative talents in the future.
Thanks to the mighty watering skills of our wonderful Youville children, our organic vegetable gardens are growing nicely! The garden beds are the result of a program here at Youville Centre called Planet Youville, where our students and their children are participating in a recycling program and an organic garden project. Planet Youville is a result of the generosity of the Nuclear Waste Management Organization and the assistance of Sandy Hill community members and the Canadian Organic Growers‘ project, “Growing Up Organic“.
With their own two hands, the children and their mothers alike are learning how local, sustainable agriculture can have a positive impact on their health and their community. A strong sense of self-sufficiency and leadership comes from getting your hands dirty in a garden, as I’m sure anyone with a green thumb would agree. Our gardens even have a unique pattern, as the little ones themselves sowed the seeds! Everyone is looking forward to the bounty of fresh vegetables and herbs that these gardens will produce over the summer while our students achieve their Phys Ed. and Art credits.
