Regional Voices

From Saskatchewan

Self Awareness for Young Parents

by Tamara Reis

The program Self Awareness for Young Parents, was developed and is facilitated by the Dimension 11 team, a human resource firm with a head office in Regina, Saskatchewan. The purpose of the program is to integrate healthy belief systems into families’ lives. First the parents are trained, which will help establish healthy habits in the children and future generations.

The program examines participants’ current belief systems, defining the positive and negative beliefs in their lives. The participants learn how to develop and foster those positive beliefs. The ability to focus energy on the positive aspects of their lives enables participants to have the strength and understanding to move forward in the healing process.

The next step is to start the healing¹. Imagine you were driving your car down a crowded highway, with beautiful scenery in front of you. Would you be able to reach your destination successfully if you were looking in the rear view mirror the entire time? NO! Not only would you likely drive into the ditch if you did not look ahead, you would also miss the beauty of the journey.

Life follows the same rules. One cannot look in two places at the same time. How much you look forward is directly linked to how much you choose not to look back. Thus, the reason it is so important to assist people to heal through their past, so that they can focus on their future.

The self awareness program takes an in-depth look at each individual’s negative belief systems and teaches every participant to assess where those beliefs originate. Once an individual can define the roots of negative beliefs, he or she can begin to change them.

The program teaches participants that the sole purpose of past mistakes is to learn from them. Once the lesson is learned, people can let go of the understanding that those mistakes define who they are. It is said, “We are the sum total of our experiences”. I say, we are the sum total of our ability…or inability to learn from our experiences.

Self Awareness for Young Parents is a combination of cultural, personal and spiritual awareness, healing, positive choices and healthy habit building.

In addition the twelve week program covers other topics, which include, but are not limited to:

• Goal setting
• Budgeting
• Time management
• Behavioural styles
• The importance of wills
• Addiction counselling
• Self-esteem building
• Assertive communication
• Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs
• Power of apology

At the conclusion of the classroom portion of the program, continuous follow-up allows the individuals to be more successful as they have a support system in place.

Written by Tamara Reis. Tamara Reis specializes in customer service, productivity, balance and human development. She draws on the experience gained in management and human resources to help build, expand and grow companies and their people. Tamara inspires people to realize their inner potential. For more information on Dimension 11 programming please call 1-800-303-2315 or e-mail information@dimension11.com.

¹ For more information on a new initiative called Returning to Spirit – Residential School Reconciliation Inc., please contact Anne Taylor at 403-244-3963 or through email anne@returningtospirit.org.

From Quebec

Tune In To YES

by Allison Eades

On May 29th 2007, YES Montreal held its first fundraising event in the form of a benefit concert entitled Tune In To YES. Over 300 people were in attendance at the beautiful Corona Theatre in Montreal. Hosted by Andy Nulman—with performances by local musical guests—the evening of friends, food and fundraising was an absolute success.

Having never hosted a fundraising event before, the undertaking of such a large scale event a mere two weeks after another major YES event, presented a few challenges. Everything fell into place with the help and devotion of a motivated planning committee and staff members. For that we cannot express enough gratitude. The event ran flawlessly, and inspired over 300 guests, while raising well over $24,000.

In preparation for the event, door prizes, raffle items and major gifts were collected from local companies, who agreed to donate prizes as a means to give back to our organization. A total of 21 silent auction lots were prepared with a variety of prizes ranging from a gift basket of assorted wines to a custom-made pair of jeans by Parasuco. The silent auction earned over $5000, while over $1000 was raised through sales of raffle tickets.

The highlight of the evening was the diverse musical performances, which included SueSoul, Montreal’s newest R&B sensation, and Joanne Griffth, YES Montreal’s 2004 Artist Grant winner. Headlining the event was Lorraine Klaasen—an eclectic performer extraordinaire. Lorraine’s dynamic stage presence and remarkable showmanship left the guests unable to contain their smiles while the infectious rhythms took control of their bodies. Bringing the evening to a close was an impromptu finale, which united the three musical guests and the entire YES Montreal staff on stage for a quick rendition of the song, “Proud Mary”.

We would like to take this opportunity to thank everyone who attended the event, and who contributed in various ways. Your enthusiasm made our first fundraiser an exciting and memorable evening, but above all, an incredible success. Thank you!

Allison Eades is the communications and marketing coordinator for Youth Employment Services (YES) Montreal. She can be reached at ae@yesmontreal.ca.

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