SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE
While officials try to come up with solutions to Yellowknife's homeless problem, representatives of an Alberta organization say they have a tangible idea for helping local young people avoid a life of homelessness and addiction.

George Tuccaro, commissioner of the NWT, left, with Robyn Webster and Al-Karim Khimji, both from the Duke of Edinburgh Award Alberta chapter, in the commissioner's office last week. The award offers young people an incentive to get involved in activities that better their community. - photo courtesy of Al-Karim Khimji

Robyn Webster and Al-Karim Khimji of the Duke of Edinburgh Award Alberta chapter met with NWT Commissioner George Tuccaro last week to discuss ways of expanding the program in the territory.

The Duke of Edinburgh awards is an incentive program for young people to volunteer and get involved in their communities - to do things for others that benefit everyone. The incentive is a bronze, silver or gold award - the gold award is presented by a member of the Royal Family or the Governor General of Canada. It's open to youth ages 14 to 25 and has been in existence since 1956. It was launched by Prince Philip, the Duke of Edinburgh. It is now in 140 countries and has had 45,000 participants in Canada.

Webster and Khimji met with the commissioner to brainstorm ways to expand the program in Yellowknife and the territory. All three agreed the program can really show young people they can better their communities and enjoy themselves at the same time.

"There are four aspects of the award: volunteering, hobbies, physical recreation and an expedition," said Khimji.

Khimji said participants are involved in a wide range of activities - things like volunteering at local seniors' residences, learning traditional music, joining a local sports team or going on a hunting trip with members of their community.

There have been small pockets of involvement in the program in the NWT in the past, said Khimji, but he said he wants to see it become a fixture across the territory.

Tuccaro said it is about giving options to young people and showing them that trying to better their community can not only help others but instill some much-needed self confidence.

"We need to give our young people an opportunity to build their self esteem," Tuccaro said. "We need to give them opportunities to experience their own leadership and that will help them to grow and see the world in much better light."

Award officer Robyn Webster said that the best way to expand the program in the NWT is to get it into the schools. To that end both she and Khimji were meeting with school board officials in Yellowknife to gauge their interest and show them the benefits of the program.

She said that by showing young people a different path into adulthood, youth can learn a new set of skills they will benefit from for the rest of their lives.

"We're hoping to build healthy habits at a young age - developing well-rounded young adults who will carry on with those habits into adulthood," Webster said. "We definitely find that they carry on with community service. They are able to gain experience for their resumes and move forward in a career development capacity."

Both Webster and Khimji say they are not only encouraging groups in Yellowknife to get involved in the award program but also to explain to adult leaders why they should embrace it as well.

Tuccaro said this award program has his full support and he hopes it will continue to expand in the North, even after he steps down as commissioner on May 10.

Tuccaro said that the problems that Yellowknife is seeing right now - homelessness, addictions and a lack of hope - is exactly what this program is trying to prevent.

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