Helping people take charge

City Central

Winnipeg

In its 30th year, Taking Charge, a local non-profit based out of 276 Colony St., remains a stable resource for single parents and women — as well as their children — as they navigate education, parenthood and everyday life.

Established in 1995, Taking Charge is a two-year program which helps those who didn’t receive their GED return to education and graduate with their mature diploma, done with the help of Booth University College (290 Vaughan St.). Alongside its certified adult learning centre — which covers the bases up until Grade 12, when participants move to Booth — the non-profit will help with personal development, goal setting, and self-confidence, as well as covering topics such as applying for grants, registration forms, and career research.

Even more, Taking Charge’s big selling feature outside of the classroom is a nursery and daycare where the children of participants can play, be taken care of and fed warm meals while their parents grow and thrive, as well as a resource that helps the parents connect with other daycares — especially those that accept subsidies — once their time with the organization is done.

In 2024, the Taking Charge served 109 participants, cared for 110 children, and served 240 lunches, according to its annual report. As well, 67 per cent of graduates went on to enroll in post-secondary.

Lise Laflour, executive director, describes the ultimate goal as “to end the cycle of poverty.”

“We give them (participants) the ability to be open to returning to school,” she said, to open up and to thrive, as “ready and capable learners” right up until they’re ready for post-secondary.

“What we’re doing is helping empower people,” said Kristin Funari, communication and outreach co-ordinator, adding that, as a parent herself, there are always barriers in raising children no matter what socioeconomic background one stems from.

Some of the challenges participants often face is early pregnancy, intergenerational trauma, and addiction — barriers they face on a daily basis, Laflour said.

She said that there’s a lot of anxiety surrounding returning to school, especially when they’re taking care of kids at the same time, and that one of the best parts of returning to work each day is watching people transform during the two years they spend at the non-profit.

“I love seeing the transformation,” Laflour said. “When they (join us) in the beginning, they’re often shy, reserved … and once they’re ready for post-secondary, they’re a completely different person — confident, sure people that know what they want to do.”

Even more, self-assured paricipants will often share feedback on where they end up post-graduation, oftentimes becoming role models for the little ones they’re at home with.

Funari has been a social worker for 10 years, she said, and noted that the eventual willingness to open up are an indication of how comfortable people are in a space such as this one. She said that, in her experience running the social media, the endless flow of feedback has demonstrated how special the organization is to those who have passed through.

“It keeps us all going,” she said. “It doesn’t hurt to hear.”

And although Taking Charge has been active for three decades, new developments are still being made — the most prominent in the last year, Laflour said, is the jump to continuous intake, so that those who are interested can act at once instead of waiting several months for the next available date.

Kyla Fontaine, a former participant, credits the organization for connecting her with a community she wouldn’t have had otherwise.

“I found my calling,” she said, adding that at the time she had decided to begin pursuing her education again, she had hoped to become a hairstylist, but pivoted and is now studying education — through the Built from Within program — at the University of Winnipeg. This was partly thanks to reconnecting with her cousin, who was a participant at the same time, and spending time with the relative’s young children at the daycare.

Fontaine had struggled with addiction prior to joining the program, she said.

“In addiction, you don’t think about that stuff,” she said, referring to the family and elders she had connected with throughout her two years at the non-profit. She said that she not only found her light again, but realized she never lost it to begin with.

“It was truly a blessing,” Fontaine said. “All my friends I had down there … are either doing Down, or they’re gone. It opened my eyes.”

She recounted a memory in which she had an “out-of-body experience,” the same year she had lost her grandmother. Lying in bed, Fontaine saw herself in the third person, and knew she needed to make some kind of change.

Fontaine explained that, in her decision to go back to education, she turned to faith: “Faith in what you want for yourself … my validation matters to me.”

“I would say trust the process, have faith in your path and yourself,” she said, when asked what advice she’d give to people in the same position, adding that she hopes others can see her story as one of humility.

“It’s a great program,” Fontaine continued. “The support they have is incredible … do it, and focus and devote yourself.”

Taking Charge is a non-profit organization, and those in a place to donate can do so by visiting takingcharge.org

To keep up with the organization otherwise, follow @takingchargewinnipeg on Instagram.