Thanks to you and your support, we've been able to change the futures of vulnerable youth in Calgary!
Thousands of children in Calgary experience poverty and face vulnerable circumstances. Every child deserves access to a safe, free, and enriching after-school environment where they can feel supported, build relationships, and thrive.
That’s where we come in! Our goal is to provide children with a “home away from home” — a safe and welcoming environment where they have reliable access to nutritious food, engaging after-school programming, and opportunities to learn and grow.
YCC operates out of welcoming, warm, home-like settings within walking distance of school or home in vulnerable communities.
Every day after school and during the breaks, kids aged 9-15 run to our centre for healthy snacks, a conversation with a university student role model, access to technology, a chance to play a sport, take a free music lesson, read a book in a quiet reading space, and paint a canvass. After a hot dinner, served by a mom, they do a chore and take a cookie for the walk home (most of them to Calgary Housing).
We are open every weekday during after-school hours when youth are most at risk of getting into or causing trouble.
Police and studies show that with safe spaces like ours, crime goes down, high school graduation goes up, kids don’t get into as much trouble, gang membership goes down, and families are supported.
And it works because of the many, incredibly generous, compassionate people in this city who make Youth Centres of Calgary’s safe spaces a reality for many of Calgary’s youth.
Calgary Youth Centres proven model for positively impacting vulnerable youth includes the following guiding principles:
With these core systems in place and donor support, YCC has plans to open more centres in other Calgary communities in need.
Hello to the wonderful Friends of YCC, Summer camp is finally here and the kids could not be more excited. They crowd the steps of the centres every morning, waiting for the doors to open while staff prepare trays of fruit and breakfast food for the hungry campers. It’s not easy being a kid, even…
Dear Parents, Family and Caregivers to the kids of YCC! We hope you are having a wonderful summer!! Summer is NOT over, but I want to give you a little update on how things are going and what is upcoming at YCC. Here you go! 1. Kids, families, neighbours and school colleagues are invited to come to…
Dear Parents, Family and Caregivers to the kids of YCC! We hope you are having a wonderful summer!! Summer is NOT over, but I want to give you a little update on how things are going and what is upcoming at YCC. Here you go! 1. Kids, families, neighbours and school colleagues are invited to come to…
We believe that youth have the right to healthy ‘out of school’ support that sets them on a path to breaking cycles of poverty.
We empower youth to contribute to their choices and wellbeing, to their family, and to their community.
We embrace the unique identities and experiences of all and model respect for self, volunteers, friends, and property.
We value our position as a trusted grassroots community service, and we commit to accountability, transparency, and efficiency for responsible use of all our resources.
Locating in the most vulnerable communities, we reduce the financial, physical, and emotional impacts of poverty for youth and their families, giving youth a chance to grow and succeed by providing a safe and inclusive space where:
Join others who have made a significant difference in the communities of Ogden and Forest Lawn with the youth we serve every day!
Some of the ways you can be involved in changing real lives: