Foundation gets $1.6-M boost to keep kids out of gangs

A Winnipeg-based charity that works to combat exploitation is getting a financial boost from the federal government to help prevent youth gang involvement and gang violence.

Federal Minister of Public Safety Gary Anandasangaree announced Thursday the Joy Smith Foundation is receiving $1.6 million in federal funding to support a project that looks to prevent violence, gang involvement and criminal activity among at-risk and incarcerated youth.

The project, dubbed Limitless Futures: Empowering Youth Against Crime, aims to help youth aged 12 to 30 in Manitoba and Alberta overcome challenges that can lead to crime and gang involvement and to offer increased positive supports in their lives.

It will deliver weekly trauma-informed workshops in youth detention centres, group homes, alternative schools and other community settings.

“Young people need to know there are people who believe in them and opportunities ahead of them,” Joy Smith Foundation president and CEO Janet Campbell said.

“Too often, the youth we serve have been targeted and exploited by others. This project helps them recognize their own worth. We are grateful for this investment in young people and the safer communities they can help build.”

The funding comes from the federal Youth Gang Prevention Fund, which supports initiatives to prevent youth from joining gangs and supports those leaving gangs.

The Joy Smith Foundation, founded in 2011, is a national charity that works to combat human trafficking, sexual exploitation and forced labour.