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- From: Leslie.Schentag@fquest.FidoNet.Org (Leslie Schentag)
- Newsgroups: alt.missing-kids
- Subject: SKID(Street Kids In Distress)
- Message-ID: <720990138.0@fquest.FidoNet>
- Date: 29 Oct 92 05:27:40 GMT
- Sender: Fredgate@fquest.FidoNet.Org
- Lines: 98
-
-
- Street Kids In Distress Association
- (SKID) DRAFT 92-05-30
-
-
- The name S.K.I.D. (Street Kids In Distress) identifies an organization
- dedicated to working with young people alienated from society.
-
- A street kid is a young person, usually between the ages of 13 to 30,
- who has become an outcast from normal life and is forced to find alternate
- means of survival. The causes of this alienation are numerous,but in almost all
- instances are the result of family, societal, or relationship trauma. A street
- kid is a victim. He or she is not, except in rare cases, not there by choice.
- Like most victims, the street kid is not able to effect change without help.
-
- S.K.I.D. has been formed to assist street kids with such basic needs as
- food, clothing and shelter. However, the provision of these needs is only the
- first step in a return to a normal and productive life.
- S.K.I.D has identified the following purposes:
-
- -to meet the emergency needs of street kids;
-
- -to provide long-term help in becoming a whole person, able to
- contribute to society;
-
- -to give street kids the opportunity to develop thier full
- potential through gainful employment, education, trade or
- career training;
-
- -to provide access to health needs including medical, dental,
- mental health and drug rehabilitation;
-
- -to provide access to legal assistance;
-
- -to provide street kids with access and support for thier
- spiritual needs;
-
- -to lobby all levels of government to improve the social judicial
- systems as instruments of assisting street kids effect life style
- change;
-
- -to work with law enforcement and government agencies in creating
- an awareness of street kids, the issues surrounding them, and to
- search for solutions to effect change;
-
- -to re-establish contact with family members whenever advisable
- and possible;
-
- -to promote public awareness of the Association and the plight of
- street kids in general;
-
- -to foster development of project similar to S.K.I.D in other
- urban centers.
-
- These purposes can be summed up in the two-fold objective of meeting
- the emergency needs of street kids in the downtown areas of Vancouver,and of
- providing access to long-term rehabilitation needs, made available in locations
- removed from the street.
-
- S.K.I.D. works with a street committee composed of non-voting members
- of the Association. A young person, desiring to change, and with some
- attainable and realistic short and long term life goals, is assessed by the
- street committee and, if found to be genuine in the desire for change,welcomed
- into membership of S.K.I.D. with access to the full services and support
- provided by the Association.
-
- S.K.I.D. is in process of incorporation under the Society's Act of
- British Columbia. Since formation in December 1991 S.K.I.D has been in contact
- with more than 25 street kids. Three street kids have been "rescued",thier
- lives changed, and returned to the possibility of full and productive lives.
- Eight other street kids are in process of seking suitable employment and/or
- completing thier education. S.K.I.D organized both a Christmas and an Easter
- dinner, open to all, at St. Davids Anglican Church, Tsawassen. Between 25-30
- street kids attended both events. Similar events are planned for the summer and
- fall of 1992. Although success cannot be claimed, the prognosis for S.K.I.D. is
- very encouraging.
-
- The immediate short term needs of S.K.I.D. are:
-
- -to open a downtown coffee shop, health care store front facility;
-
- -to be in a position to offer emergency, overnight shelter for
- street kids in need;
-
- -to provide a safe haven for street kids in a secure location.
-
- The long term needs of S.K.I.D. include a farm or ranch style facility
- with full rehabilitation and employment opportunities.
-
- The vision and purpose of S.K.I.D. are not new. The approach used
- is,however, different from that used by other organizations with somewhat
- similar aims. S.K.I.D. begins by getting alongside street kids; by meeting
- street kids where they are. A meeting bteween one street kid and another street
- kid - not a rescuer seeking for victims to be saved. S.K.I.D. accepts people
- for what they are, where they are, and begins to work from this position.
-
- This is a rough draft compiled in May, 1992.
- There will be more information forthcoming in the near future.
-