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Youth Action Projects

These are some of the youth projects McCreary has undergone over the years. All of them had youth staff involved and youth input into the planning and/or reporting of the project. Meaningful youth participation is a critical component in all McCreary youth projects.

Current & Ongoing Youth Projects
YAC-Link... getting a YAC started

YAC-Link is a great resource for anyone who is interested in organizing a Youth Advisory Council (YAC). YAC-Link is a partnership between 3 YACs that pools resources and experties in developing a resource to help others start and sustian a Youth Advisory Council.

> MORE on YAC-Link
Next Steps Workshop Toolkit

Funded by: Vancouver Foundation and The Government of Canada’s National Crime Prevention Strategy

The Next Steps toolkit is a project to enable communities and young people to respond-to and act-on the newest research about youth health in BC. Incorporating new data from AHS III, Next Steps is a series of workshops where participants work on a health action plan for their community based on local strengths and health priorities using interactive and hands-on exercises.

> MORE on Next Steps Workshop
The B4

Organized and run by McCreary's Youth Advisory Council, the Breaking Barriers & Building Bridges (B4) is a youth-for-youth weekend conference that provides workshops in skill development and general issues important to youth. In addition to the variety of skills offered, the B4 is a great opportunity for youth to network with youth from all over BC and to have a lot of fun.

Check out the B4 page for details on this year's B4.

Past Youth Projects
From the Inside Out: Promoting Resilience in Early Adolescence

Funded by: Population Health Fund, Health Canada

Healthy Youth Development: The Opportunity of Early Adolescence. This report aims to bridge the gaps among youth health research, policy, and programming for young people aged 11 to 14.

From the Inside Out: Workshop Toolkit. Over a 16 month period, McCreary partnered with three communities -- North Surrey, Moricetown, and Ulkatcho (Anahim Lake). A series of workshops was conducted in each community involving young adolescents (aged 11 - 14 years) in a number of activities such as community mapping, recreational, and creating a community project of their own. These activities encouraged skill development, leadership, cultural awareness, community connectedness and healthy choices. A report summarizing the experience is available in pdf format for downloading

> Download report in pdf.
Next Step - 2000

The Next Step was a process in which youth were given the opportunity to respond to the data of the 1998 BC Adolescent Health Survey. Through youth-led workshops, participants were given the opportunity to identify health issues in their communities and make suggestions for improving the health of youth.

> ORDER report
The Aboriginal Next Step - 2001

The Aboriginal Next Step gives Aboriginal youth the opportunity to respond to data about Aboriginal youth in school in the report, Raven's Children: Aboriginal Youth Health in BC. Similar to the provincial Next Step, Aboriginal youth are given an opportunity to voice their health issues through youth-led workshops.

> ORDER report
YACShops

YACshop's are a series of 6 workshops developed by McCreary's Youth Advisory Council. They include:

  • So You Wanna YAC
  • Introduction to Leadership
  • Taking Leadership to the Next Level
  • Team Building
  • Communication
  • Creativity & You.

Created as resources for facilitators of varying experience levels, these workshops build on the capacity of young people to network and participate in their own communities. You can order just one or all six.

> DOWNLOAD workshops

Dr. Project

This youth driven project focuses on the experiences that youth in care have accessing health care services in BC Young people in care were asked to rate the medical services on items such as their experiences with doctors in a variety of settings. In response to the issues identified, a list of recommendations is provided suggesting how to make the medical health care system more easily accessible by youth in care.

> ORDER report

 Dr. Project
The Open Door

Many youth feel that they are discriminated against due to their age and encounter closed doors, rude treatment or unfriendly attitudes. The Open Door assesses the "youth friendliness" of services in communities around BC as rated by youth. This project functions to raise awareness about potential youth discrimination and provides suggestions on how to build more "youth-friendly" communities.