Mother’s Day is a very special time of year here at Youville Centre. By participating in this special initiative, your contribution will go towards helping us to continue to support our young moms and their children.

The first name of each mother who is honoured will be written on a paper tulip and displayed around our centre to show our young moms the wonderful support they have from our donor community.

How to Donate:

• Online: Click on either image above and it will lead you directly to Youville Centre’s Canada Helps page where you can donate online. Please tell us your mother’s first name in the Message/Instructions field.
• Mail/In-Person: Print out this page and fill out the information on the donation card above and either mail it to us or drop it off at 150 Mann Avenue, Ottawa ON K1N 8P4.
• Phone: Call in your information to (613) 231-5150 Ext. 128.

Thank you for considering this unique way of celebrating Mother’s Day! Please consider sharing this message within your networks.

Please note, tax receipts will be mailed to everyone who donates $25 or more (as per Canada Revenue Agency guidelines for tax receipts).

If you have any questions, please contact our Communications Officer at (613) 231-5150 Ext. 128.

Happy Mother’s Day!

School Council students with Executive Director Cindy Simpson and Board Members Megan Wallace and Tara Newman

On April 11th, 2012, Youville Centre students and staff wore their favourite shades of pink to raise awareness about bullying and discrimination. Youville Centre’s school council (comprised mostly of upcoming graduates) presented an honest, informative and dramatic multimedia presentation about bullying, suicide, discrimination and homophobia to the rest of the student body and Youville Centre staff.

From the official Day of Pink website:

The Day of Pink is the International Day against Bullying, Discrimination, Homophobia and Transphobia in schools and communities. The International Day of Pink was started in Nova Scotia when 2 straight high school students saw a gay student wearing a pink shirt being bullied. The 2 students intervened, but wanted to do more to prevent homophobic & transphobic bulling. They decided to purchase pink shirts, and a few days later got everyone at school to arrive  wearing pink, standing in solidarity. The result was that an entire school stopped homophobic & transphobic bullying.

The message was clear: anyone can bully, any can be victimized by bullying, but together we can stop it.

Each year on the second Wednesday of April, millions of people wear pink to remember that positive actions make a difference. And that the change starts with each one of us.

Youville Centre’s students’ presentation reminded us all to be aware of our thoughts, speech and actions, as you never know what someone is going through until you walk a mile in their shoes.

Finishing with the emotional and fitting song “Perfect” by none other than singer/artist Pink, the presentation left students and staff with a new awareness about bullying and discrimination.

Board Members and Community Partners were in attendance, and School Council students enjoyed lunch with our special guests.

A day at the slopes is fun for most students, but when a field trip to the local ski hill is not simply a day off, but also a chance for a young mom to be a teen again, it’s even more special.

Our students at Youville Centre took this chance to spend a day skiing, spending time together, challenging themselves and learning new skills on the hill. It was a day for connecting with each other, joking, laughing and enjoying some physical activity. It was a day for our young moms to feel happy, confident and alive!

If you would like to help make Ski Day possible next year, we are currently seeking snowpants, jackets, hats and mitts to support our next group of students. Contact Heather at (613) 231-5150 Ext. 128 if you can offer any assistance. Don’t forget to follow us on Twitter @YouvilleCentre  for news of the minute and other needs we have to continue to support our young moms. Thank you!

Do you or a family member or friend own a Kobo E-Reader?

If so, you can support Youville Centre simply by reading your favourite books!

SIGN UP HERE: http://www.kobobooks.com/readon_join

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.

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.

• New Venue: Ashbury College, 362 Mariposa Avenue (Rockliffe)
• Free Valet Parking
• Cash Bar Available

Tickets can be purchased online by clicking below:

PURCHASE TICKETS HERE 

*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.