Nearly $20,000 in provincial funding was dispensed to the Boys & Girls Club of Thompson in an announcement by Kerri Irvin-Ross, minister of housing and community development, on Oct. 5.
"This program will open the doors of the Boys & Girls Club for three days a week, for five hours," explained Irvin-Ross. "What makes this program exceptional in my mind is that it's designed by youth and ran by youth, and they're telling us what they want in their community centre and in their Boys & Girls Club, and we're listening to them and we're making that difference. They're offering educational, recreational, as well as life skill development programs and opportunities."
The exact amount of the funding is $19,932, and it will be used to support a no-cost after-school program for teenagers aged between 13 and 18 called YouthBuild. "This room is filled with so much hope and vision and support for the future," said Irvin-Ross. "It's very overwhelming."
The money is being distributed through the Thompson Neighbourhood Renewal Corporation (TNRC), which in turn gets most of its funding from the provincial government through the Neighbourhoods Alive! program.
"We've seen investments in our parks and recreation, affordable home ownership programs, schools, and the Boys & Girls Club," said Dawn Sands, community development coordinator for TNRC. "These are the things that help provide quality of life for Thompsonites and for anybody who chooses to call Thompson home. We're happy to hear the announcement today. Once again, Thompson continues to grow and turn into a community that's very welcoming for all people who want to be here. The Thompson Neighbourhood Renewal Corporation is excited to be working with Neighbourhoods Alive! in the years to come as they continue to grow."
Other Thompson initiatives which have received Neighbourhoods Alive! funding include the city's annual summer traveling camp and the School District of Mystery Lake, which each netted $15,000, and a number of smaller, diverse projects such as the YWCA of Thompson, Wapanohk Community School, and National Aboriginal Day, which received a combined $50,000 in funding. Many of these initiatives were previously announced in the spring.
"They're building not only the future of those young people that they work with, but our future here in Manitoba, and that is a wonderful gift for the individuals that receive it, their families, and the community," said Irvin-Ross, who joked that she travels to Thompson so frequently she has lost count of her number of visits. "Over the last two years, through Neighbourhoods Alive!, we have supported 39 projects to well over $900,000, and those projects have done exactly what this program is doing - supporting encouragement and development of our youth."
Since its creation in 2008, Neighbourhoods Alive! has invested $975,215 between Thompson, Flin Flon, and The Pas, as well as additional money for southern communities.
