April 07, 2009
Coin ensures ongoing training
Heather Colpitts, Langley Advance
For the past six months, Michelle Balak and Chantel Van would leave their Surrey homes, board a bus and make the long trip to Langley to just get muddy, pull weeds and slog through creeks.
The young women are two of the most recent group of youths who have completed the Youth Enhancing Aquatic Habitat (YEAH) program run by the Langley Environmental Partners Society.
On Friday, Langley MP Mark Warawa delivered a cheque for $257,000 from the federal Skills Link program, while Langley Township Mayor Rick Green presented $126,817 in funding to ensure the program can continue for a ninth year.
The program pays the participants to learn life-changing skills. YEAH provides six solid months of training and life skills to youth ages 15-30 who are facing employment barriers.
"High school non-completion is our biggest barrier," explained LEPS executive director Nichole Marples.
Other issues can include single parenthood, gang involvement and at-risk youth.
LEPS is in the process right now of interviewing the 20 applicants for the 10 spots in the next course that's just starting.
Another 10 youth will be chosen for a second session in the autumn.
The program provides them with experience in all the work that LEPS does, as well as life skills such as conflict resolution, job skills, learning about self-defeating behaviours, employability training, and courses such as hazardous materials handling, FoodSafe, healthy eating, and first aid.
The non-glamourous parts of the job include weed pulls, landscaping, waterway restoration and more.
Despite the often mucky nature of the work, Balak couldn't say enough good things about the program.
"It's a life-changing thing for me," the student said.
The ebullient 19 year old went from having little regard for the nature around her and the environmental movement, to now being a burr under the saddle of her friends and family.
Balak jokes that she now challenges anyone around her if they litter or do something destructive.
"LEPS has probably been the most exciting work experience I've ever gone through," she said.
Balak's now planning her future and it includes a job relying on nature. She wants to put her artistic talents to work in landscaping.
It's part of the change that LEPS has seen each of the last eight years that it has been offering YEAH.
"Many students will either go back and complete their high school or go on to further education," Marples said.
She said about 60 per cent of the youth enter the program for the employment angle but by the close, many have a newfound respect and appreciation for environmental concerns. For some, it helps them decide a career path.
Marples recalled a young woman who went on to study horticulture at Kwantlen Polytechnic University after taking YEAH and will be helping out with LEPS this summer as a professional. Many former YEAH members continue as volunteers with LEPS, which tracks their progress after they complete the program.
More than 100 people have gone through YEAH. Together they have removed more than 50 truckloads of invasive weeds from Langley parks and green spaces, planted more than 4,000 trees and work at more than 40 different sites.
© Langley Advance 2009
