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Some of the original Big Sisters of Metro Toronto who founded YouthLink 100 yrs ago.

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YouthLink at TSX

YouthLink Thanks TMX for Invitation to Close the TSX

On July 16th, 2019, TMX recognized YouthLink’s contribution to helping troubled and homeless youth, and invited YouthLink to the Toronto Stock Exchange (TSX) to close the market. For those who are not familiar with a stock exchange, it is a market in which businesses engage in trade. TMX invites organizations to open or close the market to help these organizations be recognized in the media. 

TMX briefed YouthLink on the reasons they recognized the work we do with youth. They emphasized the importance of YouthLink establishing Scarborough’s only homeless youth shelter, and how many different services YouthLink provides to youth in Scarborough to help them lead better lives. 

What is YouthLink Youth Services?

YouthLink was founded as the Big Sisters of Metropolitan Toronto in 1914, and the organization has undergone numerous changes since its creation. The most notable changes occurred in the 1970′s, when Big Sisters was renamed to Huntley Youth Services, and in the late 1980′s, when Huntley Youth Services was named YouthLink. The services provided by YouthLink focus of helping he mental and emotional well-being of youth in Scarborough through counselling, educational programs, fundraising, and donations. 

What is TMX Group Ltd.?

TMX group is a Canadian financial services company that operates fixed incomes and energy market exchanges. Their services include listings, trading, and information and technological services for the international financial community. 

Also, on the TMX website they are also responsible for operating global markets, building digital communities, and analytics solutions that facilitates funding, traders, and investors. The Toronto Stock Exchange is a market TMX is responsible for. Additionally, TMX is also on in charge of the other markets such as the Montreal Exchange. 

Why has TMX Recognized YouthLink? 

One of the things TMX highlighted was YouthLink’s first ever homeless shelter for youth in Scarborough. This youth shelter has a total of 51 bed, with 41 of them being permanent beds, and the other 10 are temporary beds for youths who require emergency accommodations. Evan Back, YouthLink’s Director of Fund Development and Brand Building, explained the need for a youth homeless shelter to CBC News’ Taylor Simmons.

"It's estimated that there are over 2,000 youth in Scarborough that are homeless," Back said. "There's all kinds of really sad stories, and it's worth the investment."

The poverty rate of youth in Toronto is, unfortunately, higher than most of Canada. According to a Laurie Monsebraatan, Toronto Start article. 1 in 4 kids in Toronto currently live in poverty. Furthermore, there has not been a homeless shelter in Scarborough since 2015 when the Second Base Youth Shelter closed down. 

As Evan Back said, this homeless shelter is a must for both Scarborough and Toronto. Before the YouthLink shelter was opened, the Toronto homeless youth shelters were at 95% capacity.

How Much has YouthLink Helped Youth?

The reason why YouthLink got the honour of closing the TSX was largely due to how many youths were helped by YouthLink’s services. As noted on the YouthLink website, we have helped over 8,00 youth from age 12 to 24, and their families. We have also delivered over 100,000 encounters with youth that needed emotional well-being, mental health, and intellectual support. 

The YouthLink What’s Up? Walk-In counselling service was at the forefront of helping youth. This free counselling service is available for youth up to the age of 24, and deals with issues of mental and emotional health. An example would be teens not talking to their parents or guardians, or the youth may even isolate themselves from the rest of society. These issues are dealt every day by YouthLink’s counsellors and social workers working in Scarborough.

Another major factor contributing to YouthLink’s successful encounters with youth is that our youth shelter includes a dog kennel. Many youth on the streets have dogs (or other pets) as their only companion, and the dog kennel allows youth to keep their beloved dogs with them while being accommodated at our shelter. 

Evan Back told CBC, “You see a lot of kids on the street with dogs. The dog is the only soul on this planet that hasn’t broken their word to them or hurt them, or abused them, and these kids will not come in off the street for help without their dog. So we didn’t want those kids, those youths to slip through the cracks.”

Furthermore, dogs and cats can get vaccinations at the shelter for free! YouthLink are not only helping homeless youth off the street, but also understanding street youth and what their needs and wants are.

The homeless youth shelter and the What’s Up Walk-In Clinic were two reasons why YouthLink were recognized by TMX Group Ltd. as a prominent force helping troubled youth in Scarborough. 

A Big Thank You to the TMX Group Ltd.

On behalf of all YouthLink staff, we thank you for this rare honour of closing the Toronto Stock Exchange. It has been a privilege, and an honour to be on this stage. More importantly, we are incredibly grateful for giving YouthLink the brand recognition, and exposure. We hope that through this opportunity many were able to learn about, and use YouthLink’s services.

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A timeline for the remaining events this year here at YouthLink. Join us when you can and help support the Scarborough community!

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Thank you supporting Scarborough Youth!

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Peterborough Police looking for missing 19-year-old

Last seen in Victoria Park

PLEASE CALL 911 IF YOU SPOT ELIO!

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Always keep growing 

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Big Sisters Association Role in Making Children’s Lives Easier

The Big Sisters Putting Youth First

The Big Sisters Association was the original name of YouthLink. During that time span, the Big Sisters created several initiatives to keep youth happy, and to keep them in a good environment. 

Th Big Sisters always put the lives of young girls before anybody else. A problem they often faced were parents who did not prioritize their children, or parents who did not allow their children to celebrate Christmas. As a result, the Big Sisters have come up with a lot of initiatives including getting gifts for kids on Christmas, and providing counselling for teenage girls. 

Children’s Importance to the Big Sisters 

A problem Big Sisters commonly faced was finding an environment that a kid can succeed in. Dr. Blatz went into detail in one specific case about a child’s needs not being met. For example, a girl who is 11 years’ old was placed in several foster homes. They sound that the foster parents were unfit to take care of the girl as she had put her husband, and sons before her own adopted daughter. 

In his speech, Dr. Blatz said that children should always come first. He states that it is the parents’ responsibility to put their children before themselves, and protect them. The Big Sisters believed in this statement, as they did their best to make the girls smile, and be happy with Christmas. 

Big Sister’s Impact on Christmas 

When the Big Sisters was around, parents were not encouraging kids to celebrate, or talk about Christmas. The Big Sisters thought this was wrong, partly because Christmas should be a day of celebration for children. The Big Sisters Association saw Christmas as something that could bring a smile to a child’s face, and helped several girls in Toronto to celebrate Christmas.

The Big Sisters put a lot of effort and time for girls to get their Christmas gifts. According to Miss A. L. Brock “Our girls range in age from eight to eighteen.” There were 233 different presents wrapped, and delivered for each of the girls. An example would be Treasure Island, which was a “skating set” done by the Big Sisters Association for a girl. The Big Sisters Association would not stop there though and gave several presents to a school in Toronto. 

In 1927, the Big Sisters Association had a Santa Claus deliver presents to 300 girls from the Edith L. Groves Vocational School for Girls on Dovercourt Road. It was a massive undertaking by the Big Sisters Association to help young girls on Christmas. 

The Big Sisters made a conscience effort to help girls celebrate Christmas. They also promoted Christmas, and were partly responsible for making parents and kids alike understand what the spirit of Christmas was all about. 

Big Sisters Counselling and Volunteer Work

In one year, the Big Sisters helped 461 girls in Toronto (Big Sisters Work Aids Little Sisters). They helped teenage girls with their issues, and additionally, they helped uncles, aunts, parents, and grandparents of these girls understand the problems the girls face. These acts according to General Secretary, Miss Annie L. Brock, increased trust with parents and guardians of the Big Sisters Association. This legacy of helping teenagers has lived on and has been expanded to help teenage boys as well. 

The Big Sisters also did volunteer work throughout the city of Toronto. The Big Sisters would talk to little girls and engage in big sisterly acts. This selflessness can be seen in Pathways to Education Scarborough Village. This program by YouthLink helps youth get educated and give them a pathway to post-secondary education. An alarming percentage of almost 1/3rd of students do not graduate from high school. This program is trying to change that as almost 400 high school students have been helped by YouthLink. Also, like Big Sisters, this program requires the support and help of volunteers to serve high school students and help them get to post-secondary education.

Lastly, the Big Sisters took 79 girls in the spring and early summer months for a picnic to enjoy the warmer weather. This gives kids a good environment to enjoy and not worry about personal problems that might have affected their lives at that time. 

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The Origins & Legacy of YouthLink

The Origins of YouthLink

YouthLink was created as the Big Sisters Movement in 1914 by Hilda Burns. Burns was a social worker with the mandate to work with, and advocate for teenage girls referred to as offenders. 

When YouthLink was the Big Sisters Association of Metropolitan Toronto, it was a leader in girl’s mental health, and educational rights, as well as running extra curricular activities for girls to enjoy.

This was done at a time when women were not expected to pursue an education, and did not have many rights. For example, women were not allowed to hold office. The Big Sisters Movement paved the way for women’s rights in Canada, and helped usher several girls to have an education when they were segregated in the early 20th century.

Mental Health

Managing mental health was one of the biggest problems girls faced in the early history of YouthLink. At that time, men were increasingly taking advantage of and exploiting young girls with mental disorders. The Big Sisters were driven to emphasize the importance of mental health, and return these girls their voices to allow them to be heard. Lady Byng, the wife of former governor-general of Canada, Lord Byng, was a big advocate for protecting young girls from abusive men.  

The Big Sisters Association of Metropolitan Toronto had helped several youths with their mental health issues by engaging them in their communities through educational, and extra curricular opportunities. 

Education

One of the Big Sisters of Metropolitan Toronto’s biggest achievement was with giving girls the right to an education. From 1914-1947, the Big Sisters were giving financial aid to girls attending or desiring to attend secondary schools (Robinson H, Big Sisters Bulletin, Volume 1 - No. - Some Facts About the Scholarship Work of the Big Sister Association). Furthermore, a girl did not have to be a brilliant student to get to secondary schools, as the main requirement was to pass the entrance exam.

The Big Sisters Association of Metropolitan Toronto did not stop there thought, as they provided free lunches to girls who either had a working mother, or had some form of family illness. 

The Big Sisters provided girls with makeup, along with the free lunches, which emphasized their want to help girls find a place in the world where they are able to learn, and enjoy their life. 

Extra-Curricular Activities

The Big Sisters played a big roles in girl’s education, and giving girls a chance to explore themselves through extra-curricular activities. These extra-curricular activities were done under summer camps, which helped under-privileged girls living under anti-social conditions. 

These summer camps housed 125 girls on average for up to 2 weeks. These camps included dancing classes that allowed young girls to be kids, enjoy themselves, and to focus on life outside of their personal and mental problems.

Influence of YouthLink’s Origin in Canada

The Big Sisters Movement plays a major role in how YouthLink serve youth in Scarborough today, which is to help youth and their families in any way possible.

Giving young girls a pathway to secondary school, and advocating for mental-well being, and the creation of summer camps helped bridge the gender gap in Toronto, at a time where gender equality barely existed. 

It also paved the way for YouthLink to help as many people as possible with initiatives to help underprivileged youth in Scarborough, just like what the Big Sisters Movement did for young girls.