In 2002, the Sisters of St. Joseph began exploring how to use money given as a bequest for some initiatives around child poverty. We met with the Executive Director of the London Children’s Aid Society who shared with us that youth between 17--19 in CAS care suddenly found themselves with very few resources to continue any future education ideas. What we know from research data is that education is the best predictor of moving out of poverty not to mention moving out of despair.
As a result of that meeting, a fund was established at CAS to provide generous bursaries for youth. In time this became known as the Bright Futures initiative with many donors contributing. The bursaries are available to the recipient over the course of their years of education. Some of the course chosen are at hair dressing schools, community colleges, universities. We heard that some of the youth were the first in their family to move beyond secondary school education.
The celebration of 28 youth last night was profound, funny, moving and inspiring. Either the CAS worker or the foster parent spoke about the young adult who was receiving the award. We heard non-stop stories of resiliency, courage and survival through tough times. Mostly, when you go right to the heart of the matter, we heard stories of love that are opening up new possibilities.
A collective community energy and emphasis on relationship is creating a brighter future for all of us.
Margo Ritchie CSJ