North End youth go online

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This article was published 01/04/2014 (4399 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

North End youth had their say, and the community listened.

A product of the North End Youth Forum in March, 2013, NorthEndYouth.ca went live on the morning of March 27, with the official launch taking place at the North Centennial Recreation and Leisure Facility (90 Sinclair St.).

The website, developed by the North End Community Renewal Corporation (NECRC) in partnership with Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development Canada, the Province of Manitoba and the City of Winnipeg, contains five main categories:

• Careers and learning (local job postings, resume and interview tips, educational opportunities);
• Health, family and safety (healthy living, crime prevention, health care services information);
• North End Youth Council (news articles, blog posts, photos, youth forum);
• Sports and recreation (City of Winnipeg recreational programming information);
• Neighbourhood Places (interactive map of the North End);

“There’s a lot of barriers in the North End, transportation, access to the plethora of organizations we have to offer, there’s just so many and you can easily get overwhelmed, so we really wanted to find a central place where all of these things can flourish,” said Michael Sugawara, NECRC employee and NorthEndYouth.ca website content manager.

“NECRC has done a great job at being that stepping stone for the youth. That’s one of their main goals, to engage the youth of the North End, and to make sure they have a voice in the community, so what better place to spearhead such a project than them?”

Sugawara said the launch of the site is just step one, and that NECRC will continue to regularly consult with North End youth to build and improve the website.

“The youth have been coming up and are so excited and energetic,” Sugawara said. “They want to propose new ideas for the website. They want to write articles for the website. Moving forward, it’s just going to continually evolve and really, be whatever we need it to be.”

While youth-led and youth-focused, Sugawara said NorthEndYouth.ca is for everybody.

“It’s the youths’ way of coming out and saying ‘Hey, we’re here, we want to help, but we also want your help as well’,” Sugawara said. “It gives a great venue for all age groups and all cultural backgrounds to come together and work for a better North End.”

Michael Champagne, a North End activist who co-hosted the North End Youth Forum with University of Winnipeg director of indigenous inclusion Wab Kinew, said he’s thrilled with NorthEndYouth.ca

“I’m excited because now we have a place online where the rest of the world gets to see the North End that we get to see every day,” Champagne said.