A taste home-cooked meal by Outreach and Youth Engagement’s chef!
The Outreach and Youth Engagement (OYE) Program at Choices for Youth (CFY) is often the first point of contact with the most vulnerable young people in our community. Every day, the CFY staff support youth through a hot meal to a meaningful conversation, from having a hot shower to access to a phone, from medical care to legal assistance – in all of this, OYE staff are consistently working to support youth with meeting their basic needs, inclusive of access to safe and supportive housing, clinical supports, and navigating other support systems.
In the 2021-2022 fiscal year OYE served 7,189 meals, facilitated 567 appointments with doctors and nurses, referred 135 young people to external and internal programs and saw a rise of 80% in SWAP (safe needle use/exchange) engagement. Through these numbers, we know that at-risk young people need targeted and strategic support in a low barrier environment. To achieve this, OYE offers a drop-in component five days a week where a meal is served, staff are onsite, and partner organizations are available to offer resources.
The money raised from the Dining Club NL Ticket Lottery will be used to support the OYE program, including the drop-in meal program, which helps provides youth with access to nutritious food that they need. At CFY, we believe a meal is more than just food on a plate – it is the start of a relationship to build trust and provide youth the support they need to achieve their self-identified goals.