Our vision… Communities where all young people flourish.
Our mission… To build healthy communities by training and equipping young people to lead change. Activating all sectors to work together towards an asset-building culture.
We bring together expertise in education, mental health and business to provide youth and parents the information, resources, tools and support they need to make informed decisions and grow up healthy.
We want to work together to create a community that empowers youth so they can drive change, solve problems and train other youth themselves.
We follow 5 key principles to effectively engage youth, every time.
Research shows young people are more likely to grow up successfully when they experience developmental relationships with important people in their lives. Developmental relationships are close connections through which young people discover who they are, cultivate abilities to shape their own lives, and learn how to engage with and contribute to the world around them.
This framework helps guide how we engage youth in a positive way. By training others to use this framework, we can help improve outcomes for all youth.
Developmental Assets – A proven metric for determining the health of a youth
Our belief that, rather than focusing on repairing broken teens, we need to focus on influencing the developmental needs in the lives of youth.
Since 1990, the Search Institute’s 40 Developmental Assets framework and approach has become the global standard for youth development. These assets are defined as 40 positive values, experiences and qualities that help young people make positive choices in life and avoid engaging in high-risk behaviours.
These include EXTERNAL assets – “Young people are given useful roles in the community”, “Parent(s) and other adults model positive, responsible behavior”, etc. – and INTERNAL assets – “Young person reports having a high self-esteem”, “Young people ‘tells the truth even when it is not easy’.” etc.
It has been proven that the more of these 40 assets that youth have, the more likely they are to thrive in school, at home, and in life.
And, rather than placing all of the responsibility for youth development on themselves or their parents, building these assets are a shared responsibility of the whole community.
Part of our work involves helping train parents and other caring adults how you build developmental relationships with youth and how to embed this ‘asset-building’ mindset in your day-to-day.
But most importantly we believe youth are co-creators of their community and need to be empowered to do so. That’s why we train and equip young people to lead change, whether it’s through mentoring, online training, assessments, asset identification, focus groups and beyond. Our model is designed to always be preparing the next generation to thrive.
Visit our Youth Portal
Healthy Youth Network‘s Youth Portal is intended to connect our youth to the information, resources, opportunities and support they are looking for, all in one place!
Our Youth Portal provides teens with extensive and up-to-date information on:
- Health & Well-Being – Mental Health, Covid, Consent, Healthy Relationships, Healthy Body Image, Bullying, Drugs/Alcohol, Helping a Friend, & more
- Education – High School Courses, e-learning, Experiential, Tutoring, Post-Secondary, Skilled Trades, & more
- Programs/Activities – Volunteering, Exchange Programs, Gap Year, Teams & Clubs, Art/Creative, STEM, & more
- Being Future-Ready – Financial, Careers, Jobs, Workshops/Training, and more
- Equity and Diversity – Tackling Racism, LGBTQ+, Indigenious, Making a Difference, & more
And connects them to:
- Guidance Counsellors
- Career Mentors
- Employment Services
- Mental Health Professionals
- City Councillor
- School & Student Trustees
- Youth Impact Team
Visit our Parent Place!
Similar to our Youth Portal but through a parent lens, Parent Place also provides tips on “Building Stronger Families”. If you have any ideas or information you’d like to see included, please contact us!
Building Stronger Communities for Youth, with Youth!
