New youth centre director has vision
Cheryl Zaw aims to support parents through programs such as free laundry
Stewart Burnett
Northern News Services
Thursday, April 6, 2017
INUVIK
A free laundry service is one way Cheryl Zaw is aiming to turn the Inuvik Youth Centre into more of a support system for families.
Meet Cheryl Zaw, the new executive director of the Inuvik Youth Centre. She aims to make the centre more of a family resource, starting with offering free laundry services. - Stewart Burnett/NNSL photo
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"We'd like to invite families to come by and do their laundry for free here if they can't afford whatever services are available commercially," said Zaw, who's taken over from Chloe Brogan as the centre's executive director.
One of her first actions as the new executive director was to use a grant to purchase a washer, dryer, washer soap and some replacement clothing.
The idea of supporting parents rather than replacing them is fundamental to her vision of the youth centre's role.
"Parents are the key role in the lives of youth," said Zaw, who would also like to start a Saturday cooking program that would give families food to take home for the week.
She calls the approach the least-intrusive alternative.
"The idea (is) that we don't do things for people they can do for themselves," said Zaw. "As much as possible, my approach is to look at ways we can help families to provide the best supports and care for their kids as they can, and (the youth centre) just being a supplement.
"So this might be a way for parents to get a few hours off to clean up the house or take care of some business.
"But it's not meant to be from the minute school's out to the minute kids go to sleep the full care.
"We're not parents to these kids."
Zaw comes North after working in Edmonton in a shelter that focused on finding homes for the homeless.
Work toward prevention
That job was very intense, she said, but now she would like to change sides of the issue and work toward prevention of people getting into those situations.
Zaw compared her previous job to pulling people out of a river at the bottom, whereas working with youth might be preventing them falling in up river.
She moved North just a couple of weeks ago with her husband and two young children.
Beyond her role at the youth centre, Zaw sees Inuvik as a learning opportunity for her young family.
"Looking at the North, it just seemed like a really attractive place to be," she said. "I wanted to learn more about Inuit culture.
"I thought in terms of this country, this would be one of the best areas to expose my children to an indigenous system of belief where that would be the majority and they would be the minority.
"Seeing that indigenous piece as central rather than being something on the edges or something that's looked down upon."
Beyond any further plans for the centre, Zaw plans to listen.
She hopes parents come in to use the laundry services, have a coffee and while the washer's spinning, tell her what other ways the youth centre can support families.
Zaw encourages parents to call or drop by the centre during the day to sign up for laundry use.
