A Better Winnipeg Together

13
ALL THAT KIDS CAN BE
Vinnie does some after-school learning in Homework Club with Ray Eskritt, assistant director at West Broadway Youth Outreach.
Everything changes
We know that Winnipeggers are worried about the growing
challenges many kids and families in our city are facing, and
places like West Broadway Youth Outreach (WBYO) are helping
us address these challenges.
Through after-school mentoring programs like their Homework
Club and Cooking Club, WBYO provides a trusted,
dependable and consistent presence for kids like Vinnie.
“Vinnie has really latched on to the cooking club. He
lights up when he’s cooking,” says WBYO assistant
director Ray Eskritt.
Parents of the kids attending WBYO, “may be on assistance, or
they may be working two jobs to keep the roof over their heads;
they don’t always have somebody at home to cook for them.”
With a team of volunteers that include nutrition students,
the cooking club makes a nutritious meal that all the kids at
WBYO can eat.
“We want the kids to be able to feed themselves, to go grocery
shopping, to make stuff from scratch.”
Ray says the security and stability of WBYO, with staff and
volunteers that care, can make all the difference in the lives
of kids like Vinnie.
Kids feel “loved and cared for, and if you’ve lived your whole
life without a security like that, everything changes,” said Ray.
“The grades go up, the skills go up, the social activity goes up.
The financial support, the community support that we receive
— the kids feel it. They know that somebody cares. They know
that somebody’s there to help them. They know that there’s
food available for them. They know they’re not alone.”
Volunteers and WBYO assistant director Ray Eskritt take a break from cooking
a delicious meal with Vinnie.
UNITED WAY WINNIPEG ANNUAL REPORT 2015–16