You can’t help but be bowled over the size and scale of the YMCA in Canada and the extent to which they are part of everyday life here for so much of the population.
But four days into our discovery visit what has really impressed me is the outlook and language of everyone we’ve met who works for the Y.
Regardless of what service they are involved in and the level at which they work within the Y in Canada, for everyone we’ve met it’s not about ‘can’t’, ‘weaknesses’, ‘obstacles’, it is about ‘can’, ‘strengths’ and ‘opportunities’.
To give just two examples from the visit so far, on Monday Don who heads up the amazing YMCA Academy in Greater Toronto talked about his pupils having ‘learning differences’ not ‘learning difficulties’, and yesterday the staff at the housing project in Vanauley Street YMCA talked at length about the resilience and strengths that the young people who have been sleeping rough have.
For the Y in Canada this isn’t just about the words they use, it penetrates through to all they do.
Their strategies at a national and local level are uncompromisingly and unashamedly bold and expansionist, because they are focused on the opportunities they see all around them not barriers preventing this.
Too often when we talk to and about the young people we work with in England we still focus on what’s wrong with them not what is good. They are vulnerable, disadvantaged and troubled.
Because how you see the world does make all the difference in how you approach situations, the reality is that this does impact on the work we do.
So the challenge going through my head right now and hopefully what I’ll be able get some answers to in the next few days is how can YMCA England, like the Y Canada has, take a leadership role in transforming the work we do from a deficit to asset approach?
I’ll let you know how I get on…
But four days into our discovery visit what has really impressed me is the outlook and language of everyone we’ve met who works for the Y.
Regardless of what service they are involved in and the level at which they work within the Y in Canada, for everyone we’ve met it’s not about ‘can’t’, ‘weaknesses’, ‘obstacles’, it is about ‘can’, ‘strengths’ and ‘opportunities’.
To give just two examples from the visit so far, on Monday Don who heads up the amazing YMCA Academy in Greater Toronto talked about his pupils having ‘learning differences’ not ‘learning difficulties’, and yesterday the staff at the housing project in Vanauley Street YMCA talked at length about the resilience and strengths that the young people who have been sleeping rough have.
For the Y in Canada this isn’t just about the words they use, it penetrates through to all they do.
Their strategies at a national and local level are uncompromisingly and unashamedly bold and expansionist, because they are focused on the opportunities they see all around them not barriers preventing this.
Too often when we talk to and about the young people we work with in England we still focus on what’s wrong with them not what is good. They are vulnerable, disadvantaged and troubled.
Because how you see the world does make all the difference in how you approach situations, the reality is that this does impact on the work we do.
So the challenge going through my head right now and hopefully what I’ll be able get some answers to in the next few days is how can YMCA England, like the Y Canada has, take a leadership role in transforming the work we do from a deficit to asset approach?
I’ll let you know how I get on…
Richard, I think you've captured nicely one of the Canadian YMCA's deepest beliefs about the best conditions for individuals to grow and flourish. Thanks for sharing these reflections.
ReplyDeleteMary Anne Roche
YMCA Canada
Richard, really great post, thank you.
ReplyDelete