Mandate and Mission Statement
Aunt Leah’s Independent Lifeskills Society helps foster children and mothers in need on their journey to self-sufficiency.  We provide supported housing, job training, and coaching on the essential skills that many of us take for granted.  Aunt Leah’s prevents teens from becoming homeless and prevents young mothers from losing their children to foster care.

Accreditation:
In the summer of 2008, Aunt Leah’s received confirmation that we have earned a Three Year Accreditation.  This is our second time in earning our Accreditation for a 3 year period, however this time not just our Support Link Program went through the process.  We are now proud to announce that all of our programs are accredited, including Support Link, Thresholds, The Link, and Training Programs. 

Our survey was conducted by CARF International.  Their website says, “Accreditation is a good sign that an organization cares about delivering quality services to its customers. You can think of accreditation as a "seal of quality" that the organization's services have been awarded because they have delivered positive results. 
CARF-accredited service providers meet the highest national and international standards for quality.” 

Our final CARF Survey Report states, “The organization provides services to youth who have multiple and complex issues.  Its’ ability to successfully support them to a true level of independence is very commendable.” 

Thank you to staff, board, program participants and our stakeholders who helped us through this process.

For more information about CARF: http://www.carf.org

Aunt Leah's Core Values

1. All behaviour has meaning and is the human tool for communication
2. Success is fragile and must be tended to and supported with care.
3. Celebration is essential to a successful life.
4. An Individuals artistic/soulful centre must be expressed and appreciated.
5. Entrepreneurial Spirit builds individuals and organizations.
6. 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
Aunt Leah’s Society was established in July 1988.  Gale Stewart, Executive Director, was a foster parent who knew that there was a need for extra support for youth who were approaching their 19th birthday and leaving government care.  They weren’t always ready for independent living. 

"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."  This housing project became known as the Support Link Program. 

Gale also founded Aunt Leah's House in 1988.  This program provided a home for pregnant and parenting teens.  When government funding was cut for programs of this type throughout the province in 2003, Aunt Leah’s fundraised to continue to provide the service to adult women.  The program operates out of the same location and is now called “Thresholds”. 

The incorporation of Aunt Leah's Independent Lifeskills Society led to the subsequent development of many other programs offering lifeskills and pre-employment training.  All in all, these programs add up to 15 homes for teens, 2 homes for youth over 19, 5 homes for adult women and their babies, plus one-on-one support, life skills workshops, pre-employment training opportunities, celebrations and outings for all participants.