Katie Lowry honoured for commitment to employment
On Nov. 25, Quebec Premier Francois Legault announced the recipients of this years’ Youth Recognition Awards, a list which includes Phelps Helps’ own Katie Lowry.
“I’m very touched to receive the award,” said Lowry. “I’ve been working with Phelps and the community almost a decade and having this recognition for the time, energy, and work means a lot.”
The Youth Recognition Awards recognize achievement in five categories that are aligned with the targets of the Quebec 2030 Youth Policy; health, education, citizenship, employment, and entrepreneurship.
Both a youth worker and a young person were awarded in each category, with Lowry being recognized under the employment category for her dedication to young people’s success and support during their transition into the job market.
“Most importantly, it’s been a team effort,” she said. “It’s nice to have the attention being brought to the Townships, but especially a small town like Stanstead. It’s a great opportunity to thank the people working with us for their efforts and to highlight what a small community organization can do.”
Each category winner receives a trophy, a certificate, and a $1,500 bursary. The bursary is an individual prize to recognize the winners’ accomplishments, but Lowry said that, considering she makes regular contributions to Phelps Helps, a portion will likely be used for the program.
Over the years that Phelps Helps has been operating, the organization has grown from a small high school tutoring initiative to six programs focused on education and career support.
“The two co-founders were really asking what they could do to help young people reach their full potential,” said Lowry. “We wanted to provide individual support in the community. I think when you’re trying to achieve impact for young people you need to find someone they can trust and confide in.”
Lowry’s commitment to youth and the success of the programs she has helped develop has received support from not only her community and local organizations, but from other regions of Quebec as well.
“We work with about 250 young people a year,” she said. “All of this has been achieved through the hard work of the team and the support of our vision as well as our partners with other organizations.”
“The co-founders always had this big vision,” said Lowry, explaining that other regions of the province are looking to establish similar resources in their areas, baeds on Phelps’ success. “I was originally a classroom teacher and worked with Phelps on the side but, we quickly realized that the support we needed in the community was much larger then just an afterschool program.”
Lowry added that the program is ever-growing and always changing.
“We’re built on a model of collaboration, and that’s been a key point for us,” she said. “I knew that we needed to start reaching younger, bigger, and approaching the issues more holistically. The program quickly morphed into something much bigger, and we’re always growing and changing with the needs expressed by the community.”
Lowry added that the individual awards highlight the trust and support that needs to be built to be an individual working with vulnerable populations like youth.
“You need to be human, to have trust, if you want to invoke change,” she said. “There’s been around 300 young people that I’ve worked with individually and there’s success stories of all kinds. When you start working with the people in the area it becomes a passion. I didn’t realize how much it would grow, but it’s been a pleasure to grow with it.”