Updated October 23, 2020
Good news! Aunt Leah’s Drop-in services have resumed! You can come hang out and connect with program support workers at Aunt Leah’s New Westminster office. There will be Specific program staff are available on each day.
SEFFY & Bootstraps
Monday Drop-in hours: 11AM – 4PM
Food Pick Up: 12PM-2PM
The Link Program
Wednesday Drop-in hours: 11AM-5PM
Food Pick Up: 3PM-5PM
Bootstraps, Branches and Connections
Friday Drop-in hours: 11AM-4PM
Food Pick Up: 12PM-2PM
Tuesdays and Thursdays – By appointment only
All virtual programming will continue as scheduled.
Due to COVID-19 Drop-in will look different:
Social distancing will need to be maintained at all times.
We can’t wait to welcome you back!
For more information on our current office work plan: Covid Office Plan Final
Sunday Haven – it is still happening in a modified version.
On Sunday please come no earlier than 4 pm. Dinner will be at 4:30.
Mental Health Support – Dan’s Legacy is committed to providing critical counselling and wrap-around supports.
Moms and Babies Group– meets virtually at 3 PM via Zoom. For more information, please contact Nubia Mancilla at nmancillareyes@auntleahs.org or (778) 874-7676
The Sharing Circle meets virtually on Mondays from 1 – 2:30 PM via Zoom. Join us to share, ground, heal and connect. Please email Autumn Moreno at amoreno@auntleahs.org for more details and to sign-up. View poster
Essential Skills Workshops – Due to the drop in nature of our Wednesday workshops, and the unpredictability in attendance, Essential Skills Workshops will be cancelled until further notice. Participants are still welcome to receive a warm meal for take-out, between 4:00 PM – 5:00 PM, while quantity lasts. Read More
Bootstraps Retail Training is accepting new participants. Bootstraps staff is available by phone and email to support youth to work on employment and training goals and be a listening ear. Retail training is a 10-week paid employment program for youth in and from care. Youth must commit to 6 hours per week (2 shifts). This program is a hybrid training opportunity that incorporates hands-on learning at Aunt Leah’s Donations Centre and innovative online training. Start Date: July 6th – Sept. 7th. See flyer here or contact Chris at 778-773-0298 or cwolff@auntleahs.org
Tutoring: Our tutoring partner, Frontier College, will be suspending all programs for at least 3 weeks starting March 16th 2020. For the time being, the SEFFY team staff can provide limited one-on-one support for youth who wish for tutoring support at our office, provided that both staff and youth are not exhibiting sign of illness.
Branches AYA Life Skills Program is accepting new participants.
Link Virtual Program Schedule
The Nurse Practitioner, Saje Crossen will be returning Wednesday , July 22. To book an appointment please call 604-283 3293 or call your support worker.
Hello! My name is Saje Crossen and I look forward to meeting you at the Wednesday afternoon Medical Clinic Aunt Leah’s Place. I graduated from UBC in 2011 and have been providing care for Aunt Leah’s Participants for the past two years via Fraser Health’s Indigenous Health Team. I am passionate about providing comprehensive, trauma-informed, culturally safe, non-judgemental, primary healthcare to clients of all ages. During COVID I am available for telehealth and in-person visits.
What services do Nurse Practitioners provide?
What to Expect/Expectations for Telehealth appointments
To book an appointment please call 604-283 3293 or call your support worker
Please be ready for your call from 5 mins before your booked appointment until 30 minutes after the booked time.
Please expect that the call may appear as a “blocked number”
Please do your best to be in a quiet, private space with minimal distractions for the appointment.
If you need to cancel your appointment please call 604 283 3293. Leave a message if there is no answer. Cancelling in advance allows us to see another Participant in that timeslot.
If you miss your call please call 604 283 3293 to reschedule.
If you need or strongly prefer an in-person appointment please let us know ahead of time. There are NO in-person walk-in appointments at this time.
You can gain complimentary Shaw Go WiFi access on your smartphone, laptop, tablet or mobile device by selecting WiFi and then choosing the ShawGo network option. A full list of locations is available at www.shaw.ca/wifi or by downloading the Shaw Go WiFi Finder App
Keep Learning is the online portal from the BC Ministry of Education. It provides suggestions for parents and caregivers to keep their children learning at home during the COVID-19 pandemic.
While school facilities are closed and move to virtual learning, Shaw has partnered with global education technology leader EVERFI to provide a free virtual education hub that all Canadians can access to support students, parents and teachers with additional virtual education resources for students K-12.
Signing up (for free) with these four steps:
We have suspended our volunteer program, but will be updating prospective volunteers as to when we can safely use their help again. If you want to learn more about the volunteering opportunities with Aunt Leah’s and leave your name, please visit our Volunteer page
Thrift Store Updates
Aunt Leah’s Thrift store is accepting furniture donations at the warehouse by appointment only on Wednesdays and Fridays between 10AM and 3 PM. Please visit our Thrift Store page and fill out the form if you are interested in donating furniture at this time.
Our store is moving to a new location in October. In the meantime, we are working hard to build an online store. Stay tuned for the big launch and the reopening in our new store! Our youth and families can make arrangements through their Support Worker to access emergency household items and have them delivered to their homes.
For health questions or concerns, please contact your family doctor, a public health service or the HealthLinkBC helpline (dial: 8-1-1).
You can call 1-888-COVID19 for non-medical information on the virus covering everything from travel recommendations to social distancing. The new line should “allow 811 healthcare professionals to support more people who are experiencing COVID-19 symptoms or who require assistance with other health issues. The line will be manned by service representatives from 7:30 a.m. to 8 p.m. seven days a week, and information will be provided in more than 110 languages. You can alternatively text 604-630-0300 for COVID-19 information.
We encourage everyone to stay informed about the facts surrounding COVID-19 and recommend the following links to qualified authorities:
*This Page Will Be Updated With Additional Resources As They Are Announced*
Youth in government care will be able to stay where they are and those who have recently aged out of care will receive extra support, as government extends and builds on COVID-19 emergency measures. “This pandemic is not over. I want youth in care to be assured that they will be able to continue receiving the supports they count on and won’t have the added stress of aging out during these challenging times,” said Katrine Conroy, Minister of Children and Family Development. “Especially right now, youth in our care need and deserve to feel supported and safe and our government wants to make sure that happens.”
To ensure youth who are set to age out of care continue to have a safe place to stay during the pandemic, youth currently living in foster care, contracted residential agencies or with relatives through the extended family program, will be able to stay in their placements past their 19th birthday— and youth on Independent Living Agreements and Youth Agreements will continue to receive financial support past their 19th birthday — until March 31, 2021.
Updates to Agreements with Young Adults Program – October 5, 2020.
Letter from MCFD for youth on YAG or IL who may age out during covid-19.
Frequently asked questions answered by MCFD.
We are writing to give you an update about some changes to the Agreements with Young Adults (AYA) Program. Navigating the world as a young adult can be challenging, especially now. We are pleased to announce that the emergency measures put in place in March 2020 have now been extended until September 30, 2021.
These measures are in place so that:
Also, there are several new measures that will be in place as of October 1, 2020:
If you have questions, need more resources or would like help connecting with your family or Indigenous community, contact your social worker. If you need access to a phone and internet, the TELUS Mobility for Good (M4G) program may provide you with a free cell phone and data plan for two years. This will help you stay connected to the important information you may need during this time.
If you were receiving CERB, you may be eligible for one of the new recovery benefits retroactive to September 27, 2020 and available until September 25, 2021.
The Canada Recovery Benefit will provide eligible workers with $500 per week (taxable, tax deducted at source) for up to 26 weeks for those who are not employed or self-employed due to COVID-19 and who are not eligible for EI, or had their employment/self-employment income reduced by at least 50% due to COVID-19. This benefit will be paid in two-week periods.
Learn more about the Canada Recovery Benefit
The Canada Recovery Caregiving Benefit (CRCB) will provide $500 per week (taxable, tax deducted at source) for up to 26 weeks per household for workers unable to work for at least 50% of the week because they must care for a child under the age of 12 or family member because schools, day-cares or care facilities are closed due to COVID-19, or because the child or family member is sick and/or required to quarantine or is at high risk of serious health implications because of COVID-19. This benefit will be paid in one-week periods.
Learn more about the Canada Recovery Caregiving Benefit
The Canada Recovery Sickness Benefit (CRSB) will provide $500 per week (taxable, tax deducted at source) for up to a maximum of two weeks, for workers who are unable to work for at least 50% of the week because they contracted COVID-19, self-isolated for reasons related to COVID-19, or have underlying conditions, are undergoing treatments or have contracted other sicknesses that, in the opinion of a medical practitioner, nurse practitioner, person in authority, government or public health authority, would make them more susceptible to COVID-19. This benefit will be paid in one-week periods.
Learn more about the Canada Recovery Sickness Benefit
Please read these questions and answers for more details.
Please read these questions and answers for more details.
Aunt Leah’s Sharing Circle has gone virtual. Join Audrey Siegl and Sara Cadeau on Monday from 1:00 PM to 2:00 PM for this ongoing weekly circle to share, ground, heal and connect.
Please contact Autumn at amoreno@auntleahs.org to register.
The Federation of BC Youth in Care Networks – Fed Connects! Events will take place via Facebook on the Fed Connects group. *search Fed Connects on Facebook and request to join*
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