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 Invest in Citizenship - please join us for Canada Day again this year! WRYM has an Anonymous Donor who will match your donations specifically designated “Citizenship” As many of you know, much of the program of the Windsor Residence for Young Men is founded on citizenship: teaching our guys to meet their own needs, social responsibility, with rights come responsibilities – not entitlement, education, work ethic and the continuing support of our “family”. PLEASE NOTE - if you wish to donate to Invest in Citizenship in another fashion, options are available on our WRYM Your Help page - please be sure to specify "Citizenship" or "Invest in Citizenship" in your note so that matching funds may apply. Did you know? The Windsor Residence for Young Men only assists those male homeless youth who want to “get off the street”. Its program was designed by those involved in our criminal justice system and broke all the research theories prevalent at the time. Specifically, “Housing First” does not work for youth without life skills; and, definitely not when our community does not have public housing available. WRYM’s program is 90% successful, now qualifies for a high school credit; and, its concept is becoming recognized across Canada. It remains the only supportive transitional housing program for male youth in our community, while there are three for young women. It functions on the principle that “You can give a man a fish and feed him for a day; or, you can teach him how to fish and he will feed himself for a lifetime.”  Homeless male youth 15-25 years of age are 8 times more likely to die “on the street” than their peers; but, they are hard to “hug”. Male youth 15-25 years of age are the most violent demographic in any society; but, they are also the largest group to present with the most serious injuries and wounds at Ontario’s emergency wards. They also silently suffer 38% of the sexual assaults within that age range. As of May 1st this year, there were 235 homeless people on the streets of Windsor. On average we get about 45 off the street each year by teaching independent life skills, modeling a functional family, and accessing, not duplicating, existing specialized community services to meet the needs of “our guys”. We teach them how to stand on their own two feet; and, they are using them to walk away from the negative peers and abuse they would otherwise have to accept to survive on the streets.  About 1/3 of “our guys” are re-united with family, 1/3 are placed in supportive living due to intellectual and mental health challenges, (usually both), and 1/3 go on to truly independent living. A former resident, now an employed graduate engineer, sits on our Board of Directors. We are funded by the individual and corporate citizens of our community. All administration and most maintenance is provided voluntarily without charge by professionals in their own right. Our entire budget, presently at $364,000, is $25,000 less than the Downtown Mission spent on Public Relations in 2016. If we are to continue, however, we need your help now. Thank you!
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