In June, Family Services of Greater Vancouver hosted our annual graduation ceremony for youth and their children in our COLTS program. Before we show you pictures of these cute little grads, we want to more properly introduce you to the program.
COLTS is for pregnant and/or parenting youth ages 13 to 26. By providing high quality, subsidized childcare services and supports for the youth, we help them to overcome barriers that often come with young parenthood. Participants are able to work toward completing their high school education at Richmond Secondary School, a goal that can be difficult to achieve without intentional, targeted services. Students attend the school with daycare onsite, with self-paced education and access to a dedicated support worker.
FSGV has been running COLTS since 1991. Named for the Richmond Secondary School mascot, a colt, this program hosts this annual family graduation to celebrate the milestones and hard work of the youth and their children. All of the parents and babies get to participate, regardless of whether the parents will be attending again the following years or moving on to other opportunities. It’s incredible to see the families’ support networks come out to celebrate alongside the grads. And the format for the ceremony is heartwarming – hearing about each child’s likes and dislikes (being told ‘no’ is quite popular) and learning about each youth’s passions and goals.
This program absolutely would not be possible without the amazing staff who pull it all together. This year, we want to thank and celebrate
- Elaina Coblin, RSB teacher
- Paula Curtis, RSB teacher
- Rachel Hrechka, Program Coordinator
- Rocio Bachet, Daycare Supervisor and ECE
- Sona Sandhu, ECE
- Vicky Lung, ECE
This team, and the ones who came before it, are changing lives for generations to come, one child and one youth at a time. The youth who participate in COLTS are such dedicated, resilient, and magnificent humans. Really they are the ones taking the steps to build brighter tomorrows for themselves and their children, our team is just there to support them every step on this part of their journeys.
Now let’s see those cute graduation pictures…
