Parksville supportive housing residents get boost towards independenc

Project Rise gives hope for the future through lifeskills, pre-employment training and work placements for people who have experienced homelessnes

In a move to support people who have experienced homelessness find avenues to independence, Island Crisis Care Society has started a new program called Project Rise, intended to give a new chance to supportive housing residents move towards self-sufficiency.

Project Rise will give pre-employment and employment skills training and work placement opportunities to people who have experienced homelessness but are now ready to re-integrate fully into community life.

Many individuals who have experienced homelessness and concurrent challenges have gaps in their experience and learning around key areas of community navigation and integration.

Through early breaks from formal education and derailing experiences of adversity and trauma, many have missed learning essential skills as diverse as financial literacy to communication and conflict resolution – how to connect effectively with other people, and then move forward towards gainful employment.

Project Rise will aim to fill this gap through a three-phased program offering first lifeskills, then more specific pre-employment  and employment skills training.

“Many of the people who come to ICCS programs have had significant gaps in their opportunities to learn and to succeed. Even when they feel ready to move out of programs and live on their own, this gap can be great,” says Corrie Corfield, Assistant Executive Director of Island Crisis Care Society.

“Project Rise is like the bridge that can help people move from supported living to real independence in the community.”

The first pilot round of Project Rise training is funded through a grant from BC’s Ministry of Social

Development and Poverty Reduction, supporting 6 individuals with barriers to employment go through a 12 week program to help them move towards independence.

Building on this pilot, Project Rise is planned to expand in 2022, offering more placements with flexible options to meet people where they are on their own road to independence.

“It’s about giving people a chance,” says Stephen Cochrane, Project Rise Coordinator, “validating that they have worth and letting them know that whatever setbacks they might have faced in the past, they have it in them to succeed.”

Cochrane talks with emotion about one recent participant who earned a first aid certificate in the first weeks of the program. “She was so excited. It was the first certificate she had ever earned, and it made her feel proud of herself in a way she was never able to before.”

Another participant, Leslie, puts it even more simply. She wants to be able to get a job, after being out of work for a number of years. After attending an early session of the program, she affirmed her participation, “You still can learn something, right? That’s why I joined. Yeah, it’s all beneficial to me.”

After the first six participants complete the first round of training this December, Project Rise will start to expand in both Parksville and neighboring Nanaimo, where Island Crisis Care Society also works, with a  focus on lifeskills and pre-employment training, leading into longer term work placements.

To make this happen, ICCS will need partners in both communities who recognize the potential in joining together to create a stronger community, in which all of its members have the support they need to thrive.

They are seeking short term investors who can make a difference here and now and businesses willing to host work placements in the future.

For more information on Project Rise, go to: www.islandcrisiscaresociety.ca/programs/project-rise