Steinbach Youth for Christ Executive Director Rueben Singh is celebrating 20 years of service with the organization, reflecting on the changes he has witnessed and the ongoing impact of their work with youth in the community.
Singh said while some challenges remain consistent, there have been notable shifts over the years.
“The groups change over the years, but consistently 30 to 40 youth a night,” he said. “And post-COVID, now it’s 50 to 60, sometimes 70 youth a night. Certainly, changes there.”
He added many youth continue to come from difficult backgrounds, including single-parent households, struggles with the law, or experiences with addiction. However, the way these issues present themselves has evolved.
“We used to get a bit more aggression. Now, we have more anxiety, more depression, things like that, than we probably used to,” Singh said. “And so, you have to adjust in how you navigate those things and the training for your staff and volunteers.”
One of the ways Youth for Christ has responded is by tracking data to better understand the needs of the youth they serve. Singh said this includes monitoring food security concerns and identifying conversations related to suicide.
“That then helps us form programming, whether to help provide food or, in the case of suicide, all of our staff are trained in a suicide prevention course called ASIST,” Singh said. “And that's helped formulate as we see those needs what do our staff need in order to be able to serve and care for the youth that we interact with?”
When asked what has kept him committed to the organization for two decades, Singh said the long-term impact of his work continues to motivate him.
“Investing in our young people, I think, is the big part,” he said. “The longer staff are here, the more we get to have people come back who were one of the first or second youth we interacted with and have those interactions now and be encouraged and hear the thank yous and reminisce together. Seeing that investment now has an actual long-term impact is very rewarding, very encouraging, puts a lot of wind in your sails.”
Singh offered some advice to parents and caregivers on how to best support youth, stressing the importance of engagement and consistency.
“The best thing you can do is engage with your youth, have conversations with them,” he said. “Be parents, not best friends. It's a tough thing, right? We love our kids. I have teenagers myself. You want to enjoy that time with them and foster those relationships, but we're parents. That's an important piece of it.”
He also emphasized the value of allowing youth to experience failure as a means of building resilience.
“If they have opportunities to fail in a safe environment sooner, then when they become adults and they're going to face more challenges, it's not so debilitating,” Singh said. “You have to let them fail, but then walk with them and encourage them and say, hey, why didn't that work out? You can advise other ways. They still have to own their decisions, and that'll be a big part of being a healthy adult too.”
For youth who may be struggling, Singh encouraged them to seek out support.
“Know that there are people that love you, care for you when things are challenging,” he said. “There are people that will listen. And if you aren't aware of those people in your life, seek them out because it is so important to have a network of people that will help care for you and help you along.”
In addition to its work in Steinbach, Youth for Christ has been expanding its reach, including the opening of a youth centre in Blumenort in October 2023. Singh said the centre, recently named The Mill, has seen strong community support and engagement.
“It's going well, around 30 to 40 youth a night,” he reported. “A couple nights a week they do a drop-in, and a girl's night another night of the week. Then they do special events. And they do some stuff with the schools out there as well. Lots of things going on and the community has really, really rallied around it, which has been so encouraging to see.”