Four Months to Change a Life

In April, Martin's parents decided they were leaving Canada.  Although Martin pleaded for them to stay, he was left in Canada alone, without somewhere to live or other family to turn to.  Being a student without any income, rental experience, or knowledge of the systems to help him, Martin was unequipped to survive on his own and turned to the Windsor Residence for Young Men for support.

While living at WRYM, Martin was able to eat 3 meals a day, take care of his personal needs, have a safe place to work on his schooling, and get support from our team to help him create a plan to overcome his homelessness.  Over 4 months in the program, Martin successfully finished his semester of school, AND gained employment.  We saw this young man grow exponentially, turning into a confident and independent young adult who became increasingly able to self-resolve day to day issues and challenges.

Although we are going to miss him, we are so excited to announce that he is moving into a private market rental on August 1st!  It's hard to imagine living in a country with no family, no income, and minimal life experience.  When you add homelessness into that dangerous mix, the odds of overcoming such extreme challenges seem astronomical.  BUT, because of this residence, our team, and your support, we are so thrilled that Martin beat the odds.

Moments like these are special for us, and we want to share the success with you.  Now our attention turns to the other 7 youth in the house, and all the others who follow them.  One at a time we truly are ending homelessness for youth.


WRYM'S Annual Golf Tournament - Sept. 10, 2023 @ Rochester Place Golf Course

If you are interested in a truly fun way to cap off your summer in 2023, please consider joining us for our golf tournament on Sept. 10, 2023.

Attached to this email is all the information for the tournament, as well as sponsorship opportunities for anyone who may be interested in supporting our work while also promoting their business.

As WRYM receives no municipal or ongoing government funding, we truly rely on our corporate, business, and individual sponsors to continue housing youth like Martin.

Thank you for considering joining us and we hope to see you out there.

INVESTing in Citizenship was a Great Success!

Thanks to you, we are excited to announce that our Invest in Citizenship campaign raised $47,055!  We find it incredibly inspiring that so many individuals chose to celebrate Canada Day by helping us give youth experiencing homelessness a chance to become healthy and productive citizens of our community.

On behalf of our entire team and the many youth we serve, THANK YOU!


What if Community was a Part of the Solution?

The Homeless Hub recently shared an interesting article about youth homelessness and ways a community can combat it.  Although WRYM is not technically a "host home", we think the ideas and lessons shared by the Homeless Hub in this article showcase why our work is so vital.  If you're interested to learn more, please see below.

https://www.homelesshub.ca/blog/what-if-community-was-part-solution-youth-homelessness?utm_campaign=hh&utm_medium=email&utm_source=newsletter


WRYM's Annual Golf Tournament - Sept. 10, 2023 @ Rochester Place Golf Course

We are so pleased to be running our 4th Annual Golf Tournament on Sept. 10, 2023.  All levels of golfers are welcome to sign up.

For those who don't want to golf, please consider joining us for a delicious meal and some fun raffle opportunities!!!

Additionally, if your business is interested in cost-effective advertising opportunities while also helping us end homelessness for youth, our sponsorship options are a fantastic way to expose your company to new potential customers and support the work we do at WRYM.
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🍁 By Investing in Citizenship Together We Become a Productive Community 🍁

June is Canadian Citizenship Month at The Windsor Residence for Young Men.

This year Greg Goulin and Brian Cohen have each pledged $10,000,  ($20,000 in total), to match your donations during the month of June, ending on Canada Day. If you wish to “meet their match” with a donation, mark it “citizenship."

Our program was founded and remains designed to produce productive citizens from impressionable but homeless young men who might otherwise become broken adults draining on our community resources, involved in crime, addictions, violence (domestic, chauvinistic and otherwise), and dependent on social assistance.  We do this by modelling a healthy family, sometimes the only family "our guys" have ever known, with respect for all, including oneself.

Homeless male youth 15-25 years of age are 8 times more likely to die “on the street” than their peers; and, males have a suicide rate 3 times higher than females. While males of the same age are the most violent demographic in any society, they are also the largest group to present with the most serious injuries and wounds at Ontario’s emergency wards. As well, they silently suffer about 40% of the sexual assaults within that age range.  They, too, have been the victims of domestic assault; but, hopefully we can model a functional family to learn from and prevent repetition.

We invest your donations in our guys’ future; but, they have to apply for admission and establish that they want to change their plight.  WRYM is not a shelter to attend for a bed and a meal; rather, its program is similar to a scholarship program sponsoring those who want to learn basic life skills while staying in school or employment, if not seeking to do so.

In other words, our guys have to give to get – that’s citizenship.

Consequently, our community also has to give to get productive citizens from homeless youth whose prospects only get worse the longer they are on the street.

Thank you for looking kindly upon these young men; because they have tremendous potential.  Even if they are “hard to hug” sometimes, they deserve a decent chance in life.

Note: Existing monthly donations, in-kind and donations for other purposes, are not eligible for “match”.  To “match” you can click on the donation square below or mail your cheques to the residence before June 30th.

 
🎉 Thank You to All of Our 50/50 Participants 🎉

Congratulations to Kimberly Rathbone, who purchased the winning 50/50 ticket and won $827.50!!!

What Our Graduates Say About WRYM

When a resident leaves us, we always reflect on the individual's journey to make sure they received the support they deserve / need. It is important to determine if our youth have any recommendations for how we could have improved the support they received or improved their time in the residence.  This occurs through our "Discharge Survey," where past-residents are given the opportunity to tell us how their time in WRYM went.  Listed below are some direct quotes we wanted to share with you:

"The program was useful and assisted with transitioning at a good time. I was provided with what I needed, while also given enough space to create/build independence." 

"WRYM helped me remember appointments and make a schedule that was appropriate. It gave me routine. I got my basic needs met."

"What I found most beneficial was life skill assistance (cooking, cleaning, transportation, advocating) from staff, and kindness. I feel like I grew up while being here in a positive setting."

"The staff and residents made me feel safe."

"I have supports to help when needed now."


​Thank you Plasman Inc.!

We are so excited to share that Plasman Inc. has invested in WRYM's Youth Independence Program, by donating an amazing "Smart Board", which will help us teach our life skill lessons through sharing multimedia and creating engaging group discussions. 

Below is a link to learn more about this exciting donation.  We cannot thank Plasman Inc. enough for their many years of support and friendship.

https://plasman.com/news/plasman-donates-smart-board-to-windsor-residence-for-young-men/


We have a New Flyer!

It isn't always easy to summarize the many ways our organization supports youth to help end their homelessness; but, we feel our new flyer does the job! Attached is an electronic copy for your possible interest.  Please feel free to share this with friends who may be interested, or with a youth / family that may be looking for support.  

Thank you for being a champion of youth experiencing homelessness and the Windsor Residence for Young Men.  Without your support, we could not help improve so many lives.