December 4, 2012

Press Release for Immediate Distribution

Many young people have fallen through the cracks in Montreal, ending up overlooked and on the streets – it’s a public health issue that youth-focused community organization Head & Hands has witnessed first-hand through its unique Street Work Program. Funding for the essential program was cut last year, but Head & Hands has never given up on Street Work and the youth it supports. Throughout the next week, the organization is in tight competition for $87,000 in funding from the Aviva Community Fund – all they need is to get the word out so as many people as possible can vote online every day for the Street Work Program.

After getting almost 4300 votes from 1410 supporters in two weeks, Head & Hands has moved on to the semi-finals. The voting round is fast and furious – it ends on 12 Dec, so there’s no time to waste – thankfully, voting is easy and fast!

Forty years ago, Head & Hands began with a small Street Work program and over the years has expanded to offer numerous other health, legal and social services to youth in NDG and across the city. At the heart of the Street Work Program are youth at risk, from all walks of life, struggling to meet basic needs like housing, income stability, food security and health care. The usual support systems don’t work, but Street Work does. Street Workers connect with youth where they are – in the community, on the streets – to really support them in making healthier choices. They also provide essential HIV and Hep C prevention with clean needles and condoms, as well as safer-drug use and safer-sex education. Aviva funding will help get the program running again almost immediately, also allowing Head & Hands to build relationships with more funders, such as government agencies, private foundations and individual donors.

Since helping youth stand up for and speak for themselves is a huge part of what Head & Hands strives for, what better way to do that than with a video made for the Aviva campaign: in it, two former Head & Hands Street Work clients talk about their experiences, while Montreal Street Workers and Head & Hands staff address what new funding for the program will provide. Watch the video at https://vimeo.com/53334659. For more information and to vote, check out Head & Hands Street Work campaign competition page at http://www.avivacommunityfund.org/ideas/acf16385.

Contact: Cynthia Beaudry, Save Street Work Campaign Coordinator, streetwork@headandhands.ca , 514-481-0277

Click here for a PDF version of this press release.