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Doc factory breeds confidence

Program benefits from United Way

By: Matt Preprost

Posted: 10/8/2011 1:00 AM | Comments: 0 (including replies) | Last Modified: 10/8/2011 11:18 AM | Updates

Ken Opaleke of the West Broadway Youth Outreach program has already graduated five doctors. His goal is five more. And you can help by donating to the United Way. (JOHN WOODS)

Ken Opaleke isn't near retirement yet, but he already has the building blocks to his legacy in place.

First, the 20-year veteran leader behind the West Broadway Youth Outreach program wants to establish a scholarship for kids. Then he wants to see the organization move out of its cramped space on Furby Street.

Lastly, he wants to see 10 children that have come through his doors work their way through medical school and become doctors in their community.

"I was horrible at sciences as a kid. I consider that very hard, so I made that one of my goals," said Opaleke, whose fifth future doctor recently started school and who already has identified other students who have yet to graduate high school.

"It isn't that I steered them to become doctors. What I see is not only a level of caring that just shines beyond other kids, I also see an aptitude for sciences. They're sponges.

"I make every effort to hook them up with tutors, and what happens is that they leaned towards that."

Opaleke's ambitions are the driving factor behind his program's philosophy that every child has a potential they can reach -- they just need a little push and positive reinforcement along the way.

Each year, the program sees more than 700 kids across the city participate in a variety of activities like homework clubs, cooking, reading, sports, day trips and summer camps.

"On paper, it sounds like a drop-in, it reads like a drop-in, but it really isn't," Opaleke said. "It's a life skills program."

Opaleke and his crew of staff and volunteers attempt to develop those skills through positivity and rewarding success.

For example, Opaleke also will only reveal his age to those youth who get straight As in school. Students who are successful are "treated like royalty," earning perks like Slurpees and ice cream. That serves as a motivator for other kids to work harder to be recognized and rewarded, Opaleke said.

If it sounds overbearing, Opaleke swears by its success. After all, he has five fledgling doctors to prove it.

"In their everyday life, most children are not hearing 'You're amazing.' To have those kind of words thrown at you on a regular basis, there's a wave of confidence and self-assurance that comes over a child," he said. "You see it in not only their behaviour, but also in their activities."

This year, the United Way contributed $92,000 to the organization.

That money helps maintain rental fees, snacks, a library and homework equipment like computers, Opaleke said. The money also helps cover staff wages.

The lack of funding would cripple the organization, he said.

"You remove that, it's like removing the heart from our program," Opaleke said.

For more information on the West Broadway Youth Outreach, visit www.westbroadwayyouthoutreach.com. For information on the United Way's 2011 campaign and how you can donate, visit www.unitedwaywinnipeg.mb.ca or call 477-5360.

Republished from the Winnipeg Free Press print edition October 8, 2011 B2

History

Updated on Saturday, October 8, 2011 at 11:18 AM CDT: added art

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