After years of being unable to serve youth like they normally do, in March 2022, Youth for Christ Steinbach was finally able to open their doors and invite them in.
For Executive Director Rueben Singh, seeing youth back in their building was one of this year’s “biggest highlights.” He adds that around 30 youths come to connect and build relationships every night.
Other highlights include their golf tournament, dinner parties in October and their first in-person Christmas party in many years.
“We had over 100 youth come out and participate in that and they had a lot of fun. A snowball fight broke out. There's lots of laughter and good times. It’s been a good year,”
The impact of the pandemic is still clear for those involved with Backstage. Singh says that they are trying to reconnect with youth that they connected with prior to the pandemic. Many conversations about the struggles of being away from the community are still happening as well.
Ahead of 2023, Singh and his team have big plans in place.
“The biggest thing is opening up our centre in Blumenort, hoping by next fall that will be built and operational. We're really looking forward to some growth that way. Being able to serve that community in a new way would be really exciting,”
Singh adds that it would operate as an extension of the Steinbach location. However, he wants to make sure that it’s “tailored” to the community of Blumenort.
“It's a different community and the needs will be different to some degree there. We want to make sure that we address it properly. Let's look at the community. What does it need? And serve it well,”
Singh and his team are looking forward to continuing to grow and serve youth.
“We're just really excited to get back to even more, new normal, building those relationships, expanding network in the community, plugging youth into resources and continuing to build those relationships up.”
With files from Corny Rempel.