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Mandate and Mission Statement
Aunt Leah's Independent Lifeskills Society is dedicated to assisting youth and families in learning the necessary lifeskills for successful independent living.
Aunt Leah's is a dynamic and caring organization that responds to the needs of youth within the context of community. Our flexibility and creativity often put the Society at the forefront of new and innovative services.
 Aunt Leah's has attained CARF (Commission of Accreditation of Rehabilitation Facilities) accreditation for it's Support Link Program and through this has met internationally recognized standards of quality in the provision of outcomes driven programs and services to enhance the lives of youth in Support Link.
Aunt Leah's Core Values
- All behaviour has meaning and is the human tool for communication
- Success is fragile and must be tended to and supported with care.
- Celebration is essential to a successful life.
- An Individuals artistic/soulful centre must be expressed and appreciated.
- Entrepreneurial Spirit builds individuals and organizations.
- Community building ensures that we all have a place to go when we need support.
Case For Support: The Kindness Gap
It is surreal to write on the topic of foster children in their teenage years living on their own. Our minds and our hearts lead us to conclude that those with the least opportunities in life should receive the most support. But that is not how it is. The weariness of wondering why can take away energy that is better spent on equipping kids to be good tenants, good moms and dads, good community members.
Lifeskills Training is the mandate of the Aunt Leah’s organization. It guides the tasks we set out to do each day: preparing 17 and 18 year old children for their 19th birthday - a day that marks a radical and often abrupt transition into adulthood. For our young mothers it encompasses both this transition and the establishment of a small, fragile family unit.
The word lifeskills can roll off the tongue in a very clinical way. Really what we are talking about is the ability to do life well. This is a big undertaking for youth who have lost mom, dad, home and community and have had to adapt to all of the other liabilities that poverty brings. What kind of skills are involved? You must know how to look after your own personal care: look after your home, your finances, your children, your relationships; know how to be a good neighbour: and how to live within your community. You also need to have the skill and the confidence to work in exchange for an agreed upon wage. Finally you need to have the management skills to take that money and use it to feed yourself, pay your rent, look after those you love and invest in a small amount of healthy leisure.
Lifeskills are fundamental to establishing community. Without them, we become a society in chaos. This raises the question: “What happens to a youngster without family supports, who does not acquire these lifeskills?” The answer is profound. These courageous, sensitive, kind youngsters develop survival skills to replace what they were never taught. At best they will burden an already hampered welfare and health-care system, repeating the cycle of poverty for themselves and their children. At worst, they will support the “underground economy” – breaking into houses, robbing retail stores, becoming participants in the sex and drug trade and eventually entering our penal system.
Try to imagine a young child growing up without a nurturing family. Imagine this same child as a teenager before his/her nineteenth birthday – how frightening the future must be for them. Realize that all government supports have been removed – the challenge of
becoming a tenant, parent, neighbour and community member under these circumstances is daunting at the very least.
Teaching lifeskills is the tenacious belief in assisting one young life at a time. It’s what every mom, dad, grandparent, aunt and uncle passes on to the children in their care. For children who don’t have that kind of family structure to count on, Aunt Leah’s is needed to fill the kindness gap.
In the spirit of Leah,
Gale Stewart
Executive Director
 Gale Stewart, Executive Director Our History
Gale Stewart was the founder of Aunt Leah's House, a home for pregnant and parenting teens, which began offering services and care in 1988. The incorporation of Aunt Leah's Independent Lifeskills Society led to the subsequent development of such programs as Support Link, Thresholds, the Restaurant Training Program, Retail Training, The Cooking Club, Community Outreach, The Link, Independent Living For Families & Youth (I.L.F.F.Y.) and a variety of Community Art projects. Aunt Leah's has almost 18 years of experience assisting young people through a number of residential and non-residential services.
Gale talks about the early days of the Support Link Program:
"I talked neighbours and friends into using their downstairs suites for housing teenagers who were in care. At first this concept was rejected by the ministry but then I was given very hard to place teenagers. I think I provided care for 6-8 young people in this type of housing from 1986 to 1988. I was the support worker and checked in on them daily. Can you imagine?"
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