Overview
The YMCA Community Action Network (YCAN) is an innovative national program that engages youth ages 15 to 30 across Canada to address community needs through service projects. The program, part of the Canada Service Corps initiative, supports youth with opportunities to identify and execute a local service project that is meaningful to them. Each service project will develop a network of community contacts and stakeholders, increasing the meaningfulness of the project, opportunities for youth development, and add value to the local community.
Objectives
- Youth developed and enhanced personal and professional skills;
- Increased youth civic and community engagement, including underrepresented youth groups;
- Stakeholders recognized the benefits of youth service; and
- Increased organizations’ capacity to support youth service experiences.
Instructions
The curriculum is designed as a delivery guide for the YMCA Community Action Network program. It aims to provide structure, activities to support its various stages, and a summary of the latest knowledge and tools from research and practice in order to assist with the development of service projects with the youth.
Key Highlights
This curriculum guide will focus on identifying activities and processes that are linked to the critical factors of autonomy, competence (skills), and relatedness (engagement) that support the development and deployment of personal and social skills. It will also focus on effective engagement techniques and activities for engagement, particularly of under-represented groups. The Engagement, Evaluation and Reflection activities will assist with the achievement of stakeholders recognizing the benefits of youth service and increasing organization’s capacity to support youth service experience.