April 7 – 13th is National Volunteer Week (NVW) across Canada. It is a time to celebrate and thank Canada’s 12.7 million individuals who give their time to make the lives of others, and our communities, better for us all.
Yorktown Family Services volunteers’ are an integral part of our commitment to our clients and communities. They assist with delivering programs at our Infant, Child and Youth Mental Health Centre, our West Toronto Youth Hub, our Shelter and Violence Against Women Programs as well as fundraising initiatives like our Bingo Fundraising Program.
Yorktown appreciates our volunteers’ care, compassion, time and dedication in support of our clients, staff and communities.
We asked our staff and managers to highlight some of the remarkable volunteers that gave their time to assist Yorktown in enabling our clients to bring positive change to their lives and here is what they said:
Sari Burkes, Manager Prevention & Quality Improvement- Infant, Child, and Youth Mental Health
Tal Levin-Rotberg is one of our current volunteers with Yorktown’s Baby Love program. She has supported the group of participants and their babies in a 12 week group focused on promoting security and the parent-child attachment relationship. Tal brought warm energy, commitment and a keen interest to her role. We hope to see her back with us!
Maria Jesus Docando, Child Advocate Worker- Violence Against Women Services
Kristina Nawrot, an ECE student from Humber College, began her placement in the CAW department in January, 2019. Kristina demonstrates positive communication with children, their mothers and the team. We’re happy to have Kristina join us two days a week supporting the CAW team in providing case management and group activities with the children. She is an important member of our team as she assists with the planning and implementation of inclusive programming for children and has strong conflict resolution skills. Kristina uses positive non-verbal communication techniques and considers the individual needs of children and supports our team to provide better and more efficient services to the clients. Kristina’s energy is contagious and it is a joy and pleasure to have her on our team.
Andrea Josephs, Child/Youth Advocate Worker- Violence Against Women Services
Kalia Morgan is a 10 year old ex- resident. Kalia returned in February of 2019 to volunteer for our Black History Month Celebration. Kalia, is full of life and has enthusiasm for helping and supporting others. When asked if she would volunteer to teach dance to our youth at the shelter, Kalia eagerly accepted. Kalia is creative and innovative. We are grateful to Kalia for bringing her energy and talents which inspires all of us. We know that Kalia has a bright future ahead of her.
Harry Au, Child Advocate Worker- Violence Against Women Services
Working in pharmaceutical sales, but always with a heart to give back, Aaron Kim approached Yorktown to dust off his dance skills and share the joy of movement and breakdance culture to youth. Offering a workshop for the children at the shelter, he engaged the youth to tap into their creativity to get their bodies moving into the breakdance flow. Connecting to Aaron’s encouraging and positive spirit, even the self-proclaimed “non-dancer” youth couldn’t help but break into dance!
Tania Zupanic, Counsellor- Violence Against Women Services
Joanna Dydula, an MSW student from York University has been doing her practicum at the shelter three days a week since January 2019. Joanna brings a calm, positivity to the work with clients. On International Women’s Day Joanna planned and facilitated a Women’s Day Craft Workshop for the residents. The workshop was a hit and inspired many. Thank you Joanna for supporting the Violence Against Women’s Services team to provide services to women and children.
Vhil Castillejos, Youth Mentorship Program Coordinator- West Toronto Youth Mentorship Program
The Youth Mentorship Team would like to recognize our passionate volunteer mentors who consistently commit their time in supporting our youth in the community. As mentors, they have worn many hats including being friends, coaches, advisors, and cheerleaders to the young people we serve. Their roles – from helping youth get better marks to being a pal whom youth can talk to at rough times – have been extremely essential in guiding young people towards a direction of success and wellbeing. Collectively, they have contributed a huge amount of time, effort, and love not only to the success of the program, but more importantly, to the lives of the youth in our community.
Yorktown is grateful to the dedicated volunteers who have chosen to invest in our agency and the clients that we serve. To our incredible volunteers: THANK YOU!