Colwood bistro serves up life skills for region’s at-risk youth
An investment in giving vulnerable and at-risk youth important employment and life skills at a coffee shop can help provide healthier futures, turning youth away from drugs, alcohol and dependence on social assistance.
Launched in December 2013, Skookum Food and Coffee in Col- wood is a social enterprise effort by the Pacific Centre Family Services Association. The coffee shop is open to the public three days a week.
While the youth-centred eatery offers high-quality, locally focused food and beverages, its more important role is to provide troubled youth with an opportunity to garner life skills in a safe and supportive environment.
“The enterprise is in response to a lack of a long-term investment in youth in the West Shore area,” said Mitzi Dean, executive director for the association.
“The program, targeted toward young adults 15 to 22, comes at an important transition age for them. Participants are looking for a springboard to launch them in a career.”
The association’s Skookum Skillz is a free, 12-week program for youth to gain hands-on work experience in the café, as well as weekly training in different skills desirable in the hospitality industry. People enrolled in the course learn Food Safe, first aid, barista training, latte art, knife skills and customer service. They also learn resumé/job readiness skills and take Ready to Rent courses.
The program is administered by the Pacific Centre Family Services Association, which has been serving families in south Vancouver Island for 47 years.
While the organization offers a range of services from cradle to grave, Skookum Skillz addresses the needs of young adults who have had to overcome other issues in their lives, such as anxiety and social isolation.
The program is run by a facilitator who is both a chef and a youth counsellor, a unique combination tailor-made for the role of mentoring young adults.
Funding by the Victoria Foundation will enable the program to become more self-sufficient, to expand the enterprise through catering and community events, which in turn will provide a greater diversity of experience for its participants.
“It is an investment in youth that makes them more employable, more confident and much more likely to contribute in a meaningful way to the community,” Dean said.
The bistro is open 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday at 345 Wale Rd. It is on Facebook. For more information, go to pacificcentrefamilyservices.org.