Jeff Gray, the Executive Director of Antyx Community Arts, on CTV News Calgary to share the social snacking campaign and toolkit. Click here to access the full toolkit and to see more social snacking Tik Tok’s like the one shared in the clip, visit our Tik Tok page @socialsnackers!
Connections First: New Directions
Hello! As you may know, Burns Memorial Fund has assumed the management of the Connections First website. We envision Connections First as an ongoing central hub for all major natural supports work in Alberta.
Our aim is to create an online space where individuals and organizations can learn more about natural supports, access resources and guides for promoting natural supports in their community/organizations, and amplify the importance of this work through their own connections and networks.
By sharing this collection of common sources, information and resources, we hope Connections First both unifies and strengthens the natural supports work in the province and beyond.
Have any natural supports resources or projects you’d like to share? Please contact Kendall Quantz at kendall.quantz@burnsfund.com.
Currently on this page you will find informative blog posts about natural supports, mentorship, out of school time, and more from the Max Bell Foundation/Burns Memorial Fund policy fellowship. Stay tuned for natural supports project updates, resources, and opportunities!
Out of school time: What should it look like?
Here’s a great resource to help parents and caregivers consider the important characteristics of out of school time. The report includes key things to consider, recommendations on the types of programs to implement, and importantly, key programmatic considerations like evaluation, frequency and intensity.
Click on the images below to download a copy of the full report or the executive summary with recommendations.
Full report
Some great resources to share
Like everyone else, we’ve hunkered down a bit over the past 6 months or so staying safe and protecting our loved ones as best we can. And yet, even with the global pandemic going on around us, some great work and achievements have been happening concurrently.
We’d like to share some of that work with you to include in your library of resources.
The first is the Raising Canada 2020 publication “Top 10 Threats to Childhood in Canada and the Impact of COVID-19. “ Clearly a timely resource for us all to look at, and a good example of researchers and policy makers from across Canada coming together to pool their knowledge and resources to produce an excellent knowledge mobilization tool.
You can find more information and download the publication here: https://childrenfirstcanada.org/raising-canada
The other resources we are sharing come from UNICEF and are directed at understanding what shapes the understanding of the lives of children in developing countries. One of the resources, “Worlds of Influence: Understanding What Shapes Child Well-Being in Rich Countries” takes a global view, whereas the second resource, “Worlds Apart: Canadian Companion to UNICEF Report card 16” looks at the Canadian context in more detail. Downloads of these reports can be found below.
Worlds Apart: Canadian Companion to UNICEF Report card 16
Worlds of Influence: Understanding What Shapes Child Well-Being in Rich Countries
Do youth mentorship programs work? You bet they do.
Did you know that 45 per cent of at risk youth who have an adult mentor are enrolled in higher education? This is compared with only 29 per cent of their peers who do not have mentor.
Great piece Dr. Suzanne Tough and Dr. Nicole Letourneau in the Huffpost that digs deeper. Read it here:
https://www.huffingtonpost.ca/entry/youth-mentorship-programs_b_15828850
How compassion can triumph over toxic childhood trauma and stress
University of Calgary researchers Dr. Suzanne Tough, Dr. Nicole Racine and Dr. Sheri Madigan recently published an article in The Conversation Canada about the use of compassion in treating adverse childhood experiences (ACEs). It’s a great read and you can access it here:
https://theconversation.com/how-compassion-can-triumph-over-toxic-childhood-trauma-90756
Upcoming election: some good information on supporting children in Canada
Children’s First Canada has released some excellent resources to brief Canadians on some of the pressing issues facing children in Canada today. Download their election toolkit and read more about Children’s First Canada and their resources here: https://www.childrenfirstcanada.com/
Families in Canada Conference 2019
The Families in Canada Conference 2019 is being held Tuesday, October 8 at the Markin MacPhail Centre, Winsport in Calgary, Alberta. This unique and inclusive conference brings together people with lived experience and diversity who study, serve and support families locally and nationally.
For more information and to register, please follow this link: Families in Canada 2019
Can cities be resilient? Yes they can
Cool grassroots program for neighbourhoods in Edmonton!
This is a really interesting initiative that is starting at the neighbourhood level and working its way up. Some good lessons here. Please have a look at their website: https://www.edmonton.ca/programs_services/for_communities/abundant-community-edmonton.aspx
