Youth, Family Life, and Education

Stephanie and I were invited to join the Youth, Family Life,and Education committee in the Ivanhoe neighborhood. This is a community that is still working to recover from years of neglect and abandonment, but the members of the community association are very optimistic. Last week we went to our first meeting and were so encouraged by our time with our new friends. This is a community of people who are trusting God to make things happen, and bring the right people to make this a thriving community for families.

During the meeting we discussed how we could inform the families about the programs that are available for the youth, and decided that as a group we needed to get out and meet all the youth in the area. So in our next meeting we will be planning a neighborhood canvassing, then we will be going door to door to meet families.

The Ivanhoe community is in the center of the city, and is made up of 400 square blocks. Because of a number of reasons people have moved out of the community so there are only 6,000 people currently living in the area. We have also learnt that all of the schools in Ivanhoe have been closed. This means that within the 400 blocks that make up Ivanhoe there aren't a lot of options for kids. So we are excited to be on a team that will engage the youth and build relationships with them. We can't wait to see what the Spring and Summer will bring in Ivanhoe.