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Do Local Good is a podcast created by United Way of the Alberta Capital Region and the team of volunteers on the GenNEXT Cabinet. We feature stories and people from the Edmonton region to inform, inspire, and invite others to join us in building resilient and thriving communities. Listen in to learn about some of the local good already happening, and how you can be a part of the force for good!
00:00:00:00 - 00:00:24:05
Unknown
Welcome back to Do Local Good, the podcast where we explore how we are building a stronger Alberta Capital Region,
one conversation at a time. In our careers, we talk a lot about resilience and grit.
We grind to get that promotion, to close that deal, to build our network.
But what does grit look like when you're fighting just to get to the starting line?
00:00:24:07 - 00:00:54:00
Unknown
Today we are talking to YOUCAN Youth Services. They have a philosophy called Relentless Outreach.
They work with youth who often have fallen through every other crack in the system: employment, education, housing.
And they help them build a road to work. If you're a young leader or employer, you need to listen to this.
This isn't just about social work.
00:00:54:02 - 00:01:17:18
Unknown
It's about unlocking an incredibly resilient, untapped workforce right here in Edmonton.
Welcome, everyone. Go ahead and introduce yourselves. Hi, I'm Ryan, I'm one of the facilitators over at YOUCAN Youth Services, and I have been working with these guys now for about six weeks.
They're on to their last week next week. Hi. My name is Kiana.
00:01:17:20 - 00:01:25:20
Unknown
I'm 23 years old, and I am at YOUCAN, trying to figure out my life.
00:01:25:22 - 00:01:46:18
Unknown
Hello.
My name is Mursal. I'm a YOUCAN program participant. I think that's the right word.
Yeah, a little nervous, but I'm here today. That's awesome.
Well, to start off, guys, we wanted to give the listeners a little bit of a high-level overview of YOUCAN.
Now, a good way we thought to do that would be to focus on your values and your actions.
00:01:46:20 - 00:02:11:18
Unknown
Now you have this phrase or this slogan being "Our Support, Their Success." We love that.
That being said, internally, however, you have this phrase being "Relentless Outreach."
Now to a young listener, a young professional listening, that's a very powerful statement.
That being said, a little bit curious to hear more about that secret sauce.
Of relentless outreach and how that looks day to day for you guys when you're working with youth that, well, might not trust the system quite yet.
00:02:11:20 - 00:02:30:10
Unknown
Yeah, and you're completely right. A lot of youth still struggle to trust that system.
And I think the difference between YOUCAN and maybe some other programs is we don't just give up. We don't give up.
If you stop talking to us, you ghost us.
Maybe you don't come to a program for a day.
We're going to come knock on your door and we're going to say, hey, where are you?
00:02:30:10 - 00:02:48:07
Unknown
What's going on? Are you safe? Right. And we'll continue to come back and try to get you back into that program, because at the end of the day, the youth, sometimes they may give up on themselves.
Right? And it may be hard for them to walk through that door because other systems have failed them.
And we understand that.
00:02:48:07 - 00:03:10:12
Unknown
We know that not every system is perfect.
And we want to show them that YOUCAN can help them through that and that we can make their life better, that they can have a full-time job.
And even Kiana going through the program just now, when she first came to us, she got in, she got in, and she started in her first week and she wasn't ready.
00:03:10:12 - 00:03:31:14
Unknown
She came and told us she wasn't ready.
And maybe you want to tell us a little bit more about that? Yeah.
I had decided that I wanted to try YOUCAN, because it had been on my mind for a while.
And then I kind of just realized that I was not fully able to commit and be as present as I needed to be for the program.
00:03:31:16 - 00:03:57:13
Unknown
I had a lot of life stuff going on.
I had just came out of a DV situation, and so it was really difficult for me to kind of navigate everything.
And I actually had Claire and Sebastian bring me into the office and just ask me like, what was kind of going on, let them know.
And they made it so I could come back to YOUCAN and actually be with the program once I was ready to do so.
00:03:57:15 - 00:04:20:13
Unknown
That's excellent. No, thank you for sharing. And just based off that, you know, one thing we'd mentioned earlier is I'm aware like Relentless Outreach, obviously it's applied to all, but it's probably not standardized.
But then there's outreach towards each participant is probably going to look a little bit different depending on kind of each of their circumstances.
Now, do you guys have an order of operations that you kind of go through to determine what flavor of Relentless Outreach that you would apply to a particular candidate based off their circumstance?
00:04:20:15 - 00:04:42:09
Unknown
That's a really good way to put it, actually, like a flavor.
And I think every it is every youth is like case by case, right?
Every single person individually is different. Right. And we do kind of have to adapt and kind of cater our services as an outreach worker to kind of help each youth individually.
And I know, sometimes, you know, you look at your caseload and you think, are you really busy?
00:04:42:09 - 00:05:02:22
Unknown
But then there's other times when you have maybe five kids, they're employed, they're working full-time, and they're actually working Monday to Friday during regular hours.
Right. So it's even harder to see them. But, the bonus when they're working too, is we get to talk to the employer.
And so, you know, not every it's just kind of like a parent, you know, you don't always tell your parents, oh, I was late to work or I didn't show up.
00:05:03:00 - 00:05:19:18
Unknown
Right. But we hope that the employer contacts us and says, hey, they didn't show up today.
And that's when we get engaged. We immediately jump in there and we're like, hey, we're coming to your house.
What's going on? Even if they don't answer the phone, we're still coming down. We're going to knock your door.
And honestly, if they don't answer, we'll go to the neighbor.
00:05:19:20 - 00:05:38:18
Unknown
We'll talk to your parents.
We have every individual fill out kind of an eco map is what we call it, and we don't want to call.
But if we can't get ahold of you, that's our next go-to is to start calling people on the list you've given us to make sure you're okay, and also to see how can we get you back to the job, how can we get you back to program?
00:05:38:20 - 00:05:57:05
Unknown
And I think each youth is so different in that regard.
And there's a lot of youth that get a full-time job, and all of a sudden they're like, I've never had a job.
What do I do? Yeah, right. And some of them end up going down to part-time because they realize, you know what, I'm not ready to just jump right in.
00:05:57:05 - 00:06:15:20
Unknown
And that's okay.
Right. And there's other youth too, where I had a youth actually in particular.
And throughout the program, he was stellar. He was always on time.
He actually arrived an hour early before program even started, and he'd sit outside waiting for us sometimes because not everybody came that early.
And I remember talking to him because he was actually my client.
00:06:15:20 - 00:06:38:07
Unknown
I worked one on one with him, but he was so good at hiding all his problems.
And then by the end of the program, I got him a job. And he did one day.
And then all of a sudden he couldn't go back. And immediately I'm like, hey, what's going on?
Like, let's talk about it. And it took probably about four conversations of me going there like four days in a row just talking to him.
00:06:38:07 - 00:06:59:01
Unknown
And finally we found out he had so much high anxiety that he was puking every morning.
He couldn't even get through the door of his apartment building without barfing.
And it was so tough hearing that because I never noticed it.
Throughout program, he was on anxiety meds throughout program, but he had run out and he couldn't get any more, you know, the funding, right?
00:06:59:01 - 00:07:17:13
Unknown
And that's exactly when we went and we talked to Sebastian, our manager, and we were like, hey, man, he needs medication.
And we immediately like, that's just part of our program. We look at that as that's a need for employment.
He needs medication to work. Let's get on it. And we got him that.
And it took him probably about three months to feel ready.
00:07:17:17 - 00:07:38:11
Unknown
And you know three months.
That's outside of our 12 weeks right? That we follow up with them.
But I still talk to him today because I think one of the biggest things we like to tell all the youth is it's a community.
It's not a one-stop shop. Right. So at the end of your 20-week journey, if you still need help, come knock on our door, see how we can help you.
00:07:38:12 - 00:07:57:06
Unknown
I had a youth recently come back because he lost his certificate from Road to Work and he's like, Ryan, I have no idea how to get this.
And we literally made one phone call and he already now knows where to go.
And he went and did it. And that's the whole point is like sometimes you might have a random question in life and it's like, we want you to come back and ask us if you need help.
00:07:57:08 - 00:08:16:18
Unknown
And I think that's the whole idea behind that relentless outreach and that individuality.
Everybody needs different kind of supports, and we like to say we can try to do our best to help with any of those kind of supports that's needed, right?
Or connect you to the right person. No kidding. And I think that's a reminder too, like this notion of like, what's outreach?
00:08:16:18 - 00:08:51:11
Unknown
It's not theoretical. It's not, you know, simply theory or in practice, but it's deeply human and it's exactly, exactly.
So yeah, let's talk a little bit more about the 20-week journey and these programs like Verto and Road to Work.
How do they work and what are the differences between them.
So yeah, Road to Work.
We've had that going on for quite a few years now, and it's really trades-focused and it's about seven weeks in-house and then 12 weeks follow up and through Road to Work, you get a mountain of trainings from forklift skid steer to fall protection and all the basics.
00:08:51:11 - 00:09:16:22
Unknown
And it really sets up a youth. We spend about $6,500 on a Road to Work youth to get them ready for an employment.
And you look at that number and you think, what employer wants to spend that much on a brand new employee, right?
They don't. And that's exactly why there needs to be a program like Road to Work, so that that way they're ready for employment and that employer wants to hire them because they're certified, they're ready to work.
00:09:17:02 - 00:09:36:13
Unknown
They have the training. They don't need to spend another six weeks doing trainings or getting all prepared for that job.
Unfortunately, neither one of these, two were in Road to Work, but with Verto, it's about eight weeks long.
And as I think I said at the start they are in, the second last week going on the last.
00:09:36:14 - 00:09:58:06
Unknown
And how do you guys feel about that going into your last week?
I feel kind of sad about it. I mean, it's been an amazing journey.
And of course, I came back, after being in a different group, but I don't know, I think when next week hits, I'm just going to be honestly pretty sad.
Last day of work and I don't know, I'm going to be sad about it.
00:09:58:08 - 00:10:16:18
Unknown
I also say the same thing. I feel like I'm going to be pretty sad.
I came to the program kind of like iffy about it.
I came out of another program prior to it, and it didn't really work out for me.
So I kind of thought the same thing would be the same with this, kind of went into with a bad mindset.
00:10:16:18 - 00:10:35:00
Unknown
But I've seen that I've grown a lot.
So I'm very happy with the opportunity that was given to me. So thank you.
And I think that's a big thing to remember. You know, not every program works for every, every youth.
And it's kind of like you said, right? You have to cater that outreach and that relentlessness to each individual.
00:10:35:04 - 00:10:59:16
Unknown
Right. And I think that's the difference is right. You go to some programs and they're so strict.
Here's the sheet. This is what we have to follow. This is how the program works.
Whereas relentless outreach to us is just universal, right. We want to be inclusive and adaptable to all these different situations that youth like Mursal don't have to struggle and don't have to go to the next program to find that success.
00:10:59:18 - 00:11:18:23
Unknown
Absolutely. Now balancing, I guess, a follow up question to that would be, obviously there's the willingness to learn, but making sure you're not overwhelmed as well at the same time, does YOUCAN kind of have a process to make sure that, you know, a participant of the program is right in that sweet spot somewhere where they're feeling, I guess, challenged, but not necessarily stretched.
00:11:19:01 - 00:11:38:10
Unknown
Yeah. And I think that's kind of the accountability factor of that.
So, throughout the program right, we do pay them to be there.
And I always like to say I think of them as interns, right. Because an intern is an employee.
So they have to show up on time. And I think Kiana and Mursal learned that very quickly, that so that if you don't show up on time, that's immediately...
00:11:38:10 - 00:11:53:14
Unknown
Let's go have a conversation. Right. And it's kind of just like your boss would, right?
If you're showing up late every day, your boss is going to pull you into that office and say, hey, what's going on?
Like, do you want to work here right? And and that, honestly is usually the first conversation.
I think Kiana kind of experienced that her first go.
00:11:53:16 - 00:12:16:20
Unknown
Yeah, definitely. Yeah.
And yeah, there was that first week that I had been in the different the other program.
I was good for I think maybe the first two days, three days.
And then I just it wasn't working for me. And immediately I think the second day that it wasn't working for me, Sebastian and Claire called me into that office, and they were like, what's going on right now?
00:12:16:22 - 00:12:38:05
Unknown
And then we had a whole conversation. How did you feel going into that office?
I was a mess. I was definitely a mess. I was very anxious.
Immediately, as soon as I sat down, I just started crying because I knew that there was so much going on in my brain and so much going on at work.
As like, everyone was getting started at work and I really didn't want to lose
YOUCAN is an opportunity. So I was just completely freaked out.
00:12:38:05 - 00:12:58:08
Unknown
And you said you were in a different program. What do you mean by that?
I was actually we YOUCAN just moved to downtown.
And before they were at a different building, I had joined that program.
I got accepted into, I think it was Verto
00:12:58:08 - 00:13:20:19
Unknown
Six that I was in. Yeah.
And it was Pre-Verto. Yeah. And then I ended up having that conversation with Sebastian and Claire, and that was when I don't remember what it's called.
Pre-Verto. Yeah. Yeah. They put me in Pre-Verto. So that way, Claire worked with me for the last I think three months or so before I went into this program for YOUCAN.
00:13:20:21 - 00:13:44:15
Unknown
And anything that I needed from Claire, whether it was going to the hospital or just getting ready to come join again for the next intake day, banking stuff, whatever it was.
Just needing someone to talk to. I would just call Claire and she would come and meet me.
And then I told her that I was ready to join again and came into intake, and then here I am.
00:13:44:17 - 00:14:03:07
Unknown
And so Kiana, actually, interestingly enough, was, almost like a pilot. So Claire really wanted to support Kiana.
And that's kind of the relentless part is we didn't want to give up on her, but we knew she wasn't ready and she knew herself.
She wasn't ready. And but as you said, like you were. So you didn't want to give up that opportunity.
00:14:03:07 - 00:14:30:06
Unknown
You were like, oh, this is my only chance, right?
And that's why Claire was like, she literally said to Sebastian I'll take her on.
And at first we're like, no, we're removing her from program. She's not ready.
And Claire's just like, no, like I'm going to take her on outside of program and get her ready.
And we actually recently just got funding to actually make Pre-Verto a reality so that it's not just Kiana that gets to go through that, and we'll be having a part-time position.
00:14:30:06 - 00:14:52:13
Unknown
Start with that very soon. And the idea behind that is they if we identify someone that is like just on the cusp of being ready, they will throw them into Pre-Verto and they'll help you with like whether it's housing, whether it's, like you said, going to the hospital, helping with maybe just having a conversation like you need some motivation or maybe even like I had one kid just recently.
00:14:52:15 - 00:15:11:05
Unknown
He didn't have a routine. He came in and first day fell asleep in class, and, our, our construction partner, big Tim, who runs our Road to Work, shop time.
He comes up to me, he's like, Ryan, he is not ready.
And I was like, what do you mean, what's going on? And Tim's like, Ryan. He's snoring.
00:15:11:07 - 00:15:31:11
Unknown
And so we went and had a conversation with him and I was like, hey, man, like, I think you're ready, but you need a routine.
And so we actually asked him to come back to next intake, which is tomorrow.
And we said, and I've worked with him about three weeks now and just kind of I told him, just text me every morning when you wake up, man.
00:15:31:13 - 00:15:59:04
Unknown
Just so like you can have that accountability.
And he's actually successfully been waking up now every day at about seven, six, seven and going to sleep at a better time.
Like 9 or 10 instead of his typical like 2 a.m., and then try to get to YOUCAN for seven and it's like, that's not going to happen.
Yeah. No, I definitely I'm very grateful for the fact that Claire, I don't know how to completely word it, but whenever I think of Claire, I just think of her as being like my person.
00:15:59:06 - 00:16:19:08
Unknown
And whenever anything is wrong or any bad feelings come up or anything, I just immediately, I'm like, I need to go talk to Claire.
And before I, I wasn't always like that. I was kind of anxious and nervous. And YOUCAN.
And Claire just really helped me a lot. See that
Like, it's okay to talk about stuff and it's okay to ask for help when it's needed.
00:16:19:10 - 00:16:37:12
Unknown
Absolutely.
And having that shared a shared accountability, I think is very valuable.
And again, goes back to that notion of relentless outreach, whatever it takes.
Now, shifting gears just a little bit here, you mentioned your space or your new space.
Now that being said, I believe it's 16,000ft², which is no small statement at all, no pun intended.
00:16:37:14 - 00:16:58:07
Unknown
That being said, when we toured the space for the first time, we were pretty shocked.
You know, it didn't feel clinical or dry or institutional, you know, white walls, white floor. It felt like home.
And all the people touring us or touring from GenNEXT did say it felt like home.
And the interesting thing is home is not standardized and people talk.
00:16:58:07 - 00:17:19:06
Unknown
It's different. Everybody.
But we all said the same thing. With that, however, there was one thing in that physical space that really caught our attention in the main atrium.
It was a bell. I believe the bell was donated by Tim Hortons. If I'm. If I'm not wrong, but.
Yeah. Now you have this this ritual, if you will, where, when a participant of the program, receives a job, they, they ring this bell.
00:17:19:08 - 00:17:47:20
Unknown
You know, I think it's one thing to say it's, you know, about the journey along the way too not just the end result, but I think a lot of people do discount the importance of that physical symbology.
When you finally reach this milestone, this landmark, such as ringing a bell or signing something, whatever it be.
That being said, however, you know, kind of curious to hear more about the how this bell came to be, the importance of this bell and maybe, you know, from you guys as well, the value that you see in activities like that.
00:17:47:22 - 00:18:13:19
Unknown
So, yeah, I remember getting hired and Sebastian had come from the same place I did.
And he said to me, Ryan, we celebrate success here differently. You won't experience it anywhere else.
And at first I'm like, oh, he's just giving me that sell to like, you know, want to work here.
And then I experienced my first bell ring, and I'm sitting in the office at our old building and I hear the bell go off, and I'm just sitting there at my desk thinking, okay, like, I, I got work to do.
00:18:13:21 - 00:18:31:01
Unknown
And all of a sudden I see all the staff just getting up and starting to walk out the door and I'm like, what is going on?
And everyone's like, well, just come with us. And I'm like, okay, so I followed everybody and we're all, there's this youth just by the bell.
They've rung it and everybody's clapping. Everybody's cheering them on and congratulating them.
00:18:31:03 - 00:18:48:19
Unknown
And we're asking, you know, where did they work and where? Where'd you get a job?
When do you start? And they're so happy. Right. And that's when I realize the importance of that bell. Right.
It's. We may celebrate the small things and the big things in life, but sometimes we just pat someone on the back and say, hey, good job.
00:18:48:21 - 00:19:08:20
Unknown
But that bell ringing, it is like, so symbolic.
And it's just like, powerful, like it's it's interesting when you sit beside it sometimes and you just go, oh, really, really loud, right?
And you never realize how loud it is until someone gets in there and rings it like that right .
Hurts the ear drums a little bit. Exactly. Yeah. And but it's just so exhilarating getting that bell ring.
00:19:08:20 - 00:19:31:17
Unknown
And there is always that youth that doesn't want to ring it. Right.
And we just, we just continually tell them, hey, like it's an experience. You got to ring it.
It's it's just so powerful. And anytime it's rung, basically the idea is everyone in the building comes and will gather around that person and just cheer them on and congratulate them, because it's as they kind of say, it takes a village and we want YOUCAN to be that village, right?
00:19:31:17 - 00:19:52:00
Unknown
Because everyone needs it. Everyone needs a village around them. Mursal or Kiana.
Have you had a chance to ring the bell yet? I have not.
It's really like Ryan said when one of our coworkers actually just rung the bell the other day and just watching her, it like, I probably could have cried by it.
I'm not going to lie.
00:19:52:00 - 00:20:08:01
Unknown
It was just really emotional. Like, it just meant a lot.
Especially when you get to know the people that like you're working with and like, see how far they came it.
It means a lot to watch them ring the bell, and then it gets you kind of excited for like, when you get to ring it.
00:20:08:02 - 00:20:31:07
Unknown
I see it as motivation, seeing how others react to when they start ringing the bell or it's just incites something in me.
I'm just like, oh, I want to, I want to be that person next.
And then also I feel happy for them also because I'm like, I saw how they first came in and how they behaved and seeing how much they've changed, even though I don't really know them them well, but seeing that evolution in them is inspiring.
00:20:31:09 - 00:21:00:18
Unknown
Honestly, it's really cool. So how did that inspire you?
I think for me, it just makes me also want to have that kind of accomplishment and I mean, again, when you're sitting there and you're watching them ring the bell, you want that same accomplishment, you want to be able to leave
YOUCAN and know that you're going to have some type of career and that you also leave with kind of like your own personal goals as well.
00:21:00:20 - 00:21:23:15
Unknown
Because obviously it's not just about working. That's a big part of it.
But YOUCAN also just helps with, you know, feeling better about, like, your own self-esteem, getting like therapy, help and everything else.
So I think that that kind of just, it just makes everything better and it makes you want to actually ring the bell and want to try for yourself and for others in your life.
00:21:23:16 - 00:21:49:03
Unknown
Sorry. Could you say the question? Yeah, go for it. How did that inspire you?
When you ring the bell or when you how how would you how does how does wanting to ring the bell inspire you and your program?
Well, keep it blunt. I really want to. I want to get a job, honestly.
And seeing others doing that allows me to be like, okay, if they're able to do, I can do it.
00:21:49:05 - 00:22:13:01
Unknown
And seeing like others, like my peers accomplishing their own goals kind of gives me that motivation to be like, okay, I can do it.
Also, because prior to the program, I tried other programs and it didn't really work out for me.
So so having those type of negative self-talk about, maybe you're just not good enough or you're not you're not well fit for these types of jobs like those type of thoughts.
00:22:13:01 - 00:22:31:23
Unknown
And this program kind of like dragged me from that saying, hey, listen, there's other people who are going through other things also.
And they're able to get a job. You can too. You just got to apply yourself.
And they said it to us a lot of times, like if you give us 100%, we'll give you 100%.
So I've seen others doing that.
00:22:31:23 - 00:22:49:06
Unknown
So that allows me to do the same thing.
So that's pretty inspirational for me. And I think that what you just said there 100%, if you give me 100, I'll give you 100. It's you know, we tell that to every youth.
But in actuality, even if you don't give me 100, I'm still coming in knocking on your door.
00:22:49:07 - 00:23:16:15
Unknown
And I had a youth recently. It was funny.
He was thrown under the bus by his mom, and he didn't show up to work.
And my first response is like, oh, okay. So, like, he is he up and she's like, no, he's still sleeping.
It's 1:00 and his shift was at 7 a.m. and so me and, Tim, our employment coordinator who builds those partnerships, we drove down and we knocked on his door and his dad let us in, and we went right down and just sat there and knocked on his bedroom door.
00:23:16:15 - 00:23:37:03
Unknown
And we're like, hey, man, wake up. We got to talk.
And he like, he gets up and he's like, why are you here? He was so shocked.
And, we just had a really professional, like, hard conversation with him and basically just told him, like, hey, man, like, this is your choice, right?
If you want to work, this is your shot, right?
00:23:37:03 - 00:23:54:15
Unknown
And a lot of these employers, they do give you a shot, right.
And they I would say some of them like Jason from Tim's, he he gives them like, pretty much every youth shot.
We, we have to tell Jason a lot of the time he's like, interview them, please.
But Jason wants to hire them all.
00:23:54:17 - 00:24:12:11
Unknown
And, we love Jason for that.
But it's something to that we want to remind him is like, not everyone's going to work out, and that's okay, right?
We've had lots of youth who sometimes they go into one job, realize it's not for them.
And that was part of the conversation with this individual.
And I now found out he wants to go to school.
00:24:12:11 - 00:24:36:16
Unknown
He wants to be a civil design engineer.
And he told me literally, he's like, Ryan, I never thought I could do that.
He's like, I didn't think I could go through that. My high school was not great.
I didn't get good grades. And he just he even said he didn't graduate.
And I later found out he actually doesn't have an Alberta diploma, but he has a diploma from school, which I didn't know was a thing.
00:24:36:18 - 00:24:52:12
Unknown
And he's now like motivated. He called me yesterday. He's like, Ryan, can you come down here?
I need to I'm looking at NAIT. I have no idea what I'm doing. What do I do?
I want to I want to start upgrading. I want to go get this civil engineer course.
And I was like, let's do it. And I drove down there.
00:24:52:12 - 00:25:07:13
Unknown
I had a I talked to Rod, one of our coworkers, and I was like, hey, I need you to cover the class.
I got to go. I got to go. And, yeah, we figured it out.
I stayed with him till about 5:00 last night, and we got him kind of figured out, kind of figured out what path he wants.
00:25:07:19 - 00:25:25:13
Unknown
And today he's actually going to be doing the practice exam for Math 30-1 to see if he...
Because he wants to go jump right into that for upgrading.
I'm like, whoa, it's been five years since you've been in school.
Let's take the exam, see how you do, and then go from there.
That'll kind of gauge where he might need to upgrade.
00:25:25:15 - 00:25:55:10
Unknown
Yeah.
Do you find that sense of co-accountability for you guys has been very helpful?
Like in the moments where you might be doubting yourself or things like that, have you found that through program leads it's been very helpful that keep you accountable?
Yeah, 100%. I find it that like, I don't know if it's just me, but kind of like sharing that load with others kind of just allows me to fully express myself because I know that if I mess up, there's going to be judgment attached to it.
00:25:55:12 - 00:26:19:00
Unknown
And with that, I don’t want to get judged. So I rather do the task and I get it.
So that's like, this is pretty much a general idea of how I go about it. Interesting.
I'm gonna ask you to repeat the question if that's okay. Yeah, absolutely.
So when you're in a position where you might be like, you know, doubting what you're doing here and things like that, have you found that that co-accountability piece where, you know, again, there's outreach.
00:26:19:00 - 00:26:38:19
Unknown
Someone might be, you say, knocking on your door or just checking in with you.
You have a safe person that you can chat with.
Have you found that's been exponentially helpful in your progress, in your journey through the program?
Yeah, I definitely I mean, if yeah, if there's they'll reach out to you.
And if you don't answer, you'll either get another call, your friends will get a call or something.
00:26:38:19 - 00:26:55:04
Unknown
Something will happen that they'll try to get a note, notify you. And yeah, just being there.
I mean, you can even have conversations like I go up to Ryan and be like, Ryan, I really want to apply for this job.
Yeah. And then the next day I might get a little too lazy for second guess it, and Ryan will come up to me and be like, Kiana, what happened with that job?
00:26:55:04 - 00:27:00:23
Unknown
And he'll make sure that I'm held accountable for that. Right.
00:27:01:01 - 00:27:32:09
Unknown
So a lot of our leader, a lot of our listeners are going to be young leaders or young managers.
They're going to be entering that sort of job space.
And, while you boast an 80% success rate, which is incredible.
What has your experience been with employers who, who partner with YOUCAN and what would you say to a business owner or a hiring manager who is hesitant to hire a late, a youth who has been labeled low?
00:27:32:10 - 00:27:50:00
Unknown
Will you say to a business owner who is hesitant to hire a youth who has been labeled as high risk?
You know, that's a great question. And it is a struggle with a lot of employers, I think, because they they do label a lot of our kids as at risk.
And I think that's not the best label.
00:27:50:00 - 00:28:11:03
Unknown
And I don't think it's correct, because I think at some point in our lives we've all been at risk, right?
We've all maybe lost a job, been laid off, and maybe even had even further traumas. Right.
And it's just about getting back on your feet. Right.
And the youth that come through our program, we want them to be like the whole mantra is ready, willing and able.
00:28:11:05 - 00:28:33:23
Unknown
And when they walk through that door to come into an intake, we're looking for the ones that are ready, willing and able.
And what that kind of means is we want them to succeed in the program, and we want them to want that success for themselves.
Because if you're not ready to jump back in and actually push through and get that job, you're not going to get it.
00:28:34:01 - 00:28:54:06
Unknown
And a lot of our employers like, we have great ones like Jason from Tim's, and then we have Lux Architectural, Delton Cabinets.
We actually had both those two Lux and Delton, basically hired an entire group of Road to Work, and we had a couple other employers be like hey do you got anyone?
And we're like, they're going to have to wait 8 weeks now.
00:28:54:06 - 00:29:17:22
Unknown
Sorry.
Because some some of these employers are just like, yeah, I need six people.
And we're like, okay, we got six. And because they asked first we're like, here you go.
And those kind of employers, they yes, not every one of those six works out. Right.
But an employer said to me, you're better at it than Indeed.
And I'm looking at them like, sorry, what do you mean, like better than Indeed.
00:29:17:22 - 00:29:40:23
Unknown
That doesn't make I was like, better than Indeed what?
And he said he went through 100 resumes and he brought in about ten people for interviews.
Only about five showed up for the interviews. And then he hired three of them.
Only one showed up to actually work, and he said, out of YOUCAN. He's probably hired.
I think at this point, eight youth, only two of them haven't actually worked out.
00:29:41:01 - 00:30:05:10
Unknown
So we actually boast a higher success rate than Indeed.
And it's because we really believe in the program. And just like you guys said, and like Mursal said, he wants to work, he wants a job and you need a job right?
And that's the whole point is these employers just need to look at the youth and say, you know what the reason they're in this program is because they are labeled as at risk, but they're not.
00:30:05:12 - 00:30:34:17
Unknown
They actually just need a job to actually get out of that risk and move on with their lives.
Would you guys agree with that? Yeah. Oh, yeah. I definitely think that that's the most accurate way to put it.
So we are running low on time here. But before we wrap things up, do you have one quick success story of how someone came through the program and really exemplified that story of being relentless?
00:30:34:19 - 00:31:02:21
Unknown
Yeah, I actually have a really, quite a good story.
We had a youth come through our program, and this story really surprised a lot of us, because you don't always see it with a lot of youth.
But here I'll read the story. So they wrote and this comes straight from the youth themselves.
I wouldn't define my time at Verto as a success. If I'm being honest with who I am and how I feel, I would define it as a struggle.
00:31:02:23 - 00:31:21:12
Unknown
But in that definition, there is a triumph.
The Verto program was the most giving and supportive environment I've ever been in. It is easy to be a success in a place where they make it impossible to fail.
And yet I struggled. I struggled to pull through and make it every day of the week.
I struggled at times to keep my cool with others.
00:31:21:12 - 00:31:42:10
Unknown
I struggled with my health, my sobriety, my patience.
And yet I still am here writing a success story, ready to to take the next step and transition into full time employment.
Despite all my reservations and myself, YOUCAN believed in me. They supported me.
The staff encouraged me even when I wanted to quit, and they guided me back to the program.
00:31:42:12 - 00:32:06:01
Unknown
So my success is, for the first time in my life, admitting my struggles and celebrating my triumph and the success.
I can only credit to Verto and YOUCAN. And now that ending when they say only for Verto and YOUCAN as our as our slogan says, it's our support, your success.
And we reminded her of that when we read that, we said, hey, this is this is not our success.
00:32:06:01 - 00:32:28:22
Unknown
This is yours. I think we can all learn something from that story of being relentless in that, that success that people get out of the program.
Huge thanks to the team at YOUCAN for their for the work that they do, and for partnering with United Way to make sure that our next generation succeeds.
Here's your digital handshake for the week.
00:32:29:00 - 00:32:59:01
Unknown
Next time you are hiring or looking for talent, challenge your assumptions.
YOUCAN works with employers to place these youth in jobs where they thrive.
We've linked their Road to Work program in the show notes.
Take five minutes to look at it and maybe your business is the next partner they need. I'm Nate.
I'm here with my co-host Josh and Mursal, Ryan and Kiana, reminding you that a strong community is everyone's business.
00:32:59:03 - 00:33:00:07
Unknown
Do Local Good, everyone.