Student volunteers from Centennial College’s child and youth worker program are working to refresh the Pape Adolescent Resource Centre (PARC) in east Toronto with new paint, furniture and equipment to make the drop-in centre a more welcoming environment for youth transitioning into adulthood.
PARC provides a safe and supportive environment for youth looking for guidance as they move from the care of Children’s Aid to independent living. Third-year Centennial students identified the centre - which is operated jointly by the Children’s Aid Society of Toronto, Catholic Children’s Aid and Jewish Family and Child - as a community resource in need of support. The students embarked on a fundraising effort that has collected more than $12,000 in a few short weeks.
“As a youth in care, I lived with labels, with stigma, with a feeling of shame. I was an abused kid; I did not have a family,” recounts one former PARC client, who now studies at Centennial. “But at PARC I did not have to explain. All of a sudden, it was okay to be on my own at 18, okay not to have a family or go home for the holidays.”
On Thursday, April 21, students will be painting and working at the PARC house at 469 Pape Ave. to brighten the basement, renew the front porch and install equipment to help deliver the seminars and coaching its young clients are looking for.
Members of the media are invited to drop in and witness the transformation, and to speak with volunteers about their grassroots effort to enhance the Pape Adolescent Resource Centre.
When: Thursday, April 21, 10 am to 4 pm
Where: Pape Adolescent Resource Centre (PARC)
469 Pape Avenue, Toronto
(at Withrow Ave., 0.5 km south of Danforth)
For further information:
Media contact: Mark Toljagic, Communications Officer, Centennial College, 416-289-5000, ext. 7142 or 416-605-6012/mtoljagic@centennialcollege.ca