By Paige Wilde.
I am taking the lead by committing what resources I have at my disposal, to help local youth acquire the skills they need to move forward in this complex world ... and so are some other special groups in our community!
On May 24th, I celebrated my One Year Anniversary of the Grand Opening of Take the Lead. As a new business in the hitherto unknown industry of Equine Assisted Learning, I had to give a lot away last year! I traded with kids I knew - some services and time, for their labour and feedback. I had a few parents send their special needs children to spend time with me and my horses (and a variety of other animals) at my parents’ farm in Callander. The Indian Friendship Centre went out on a limb and hired this crazy white lady to work with some of their vulnerable youth, too!
It was a year of learning and growing and realizing that the best lessons are often found in the most unexpected of places. Now, after my first year of programming, I am pouring what I learned into innovative new programs that include ALL of the animals on the farm - not just the horses! You would not believe what the turkeys taught my young protégés! ;) We will also be growing and harvesting food.
With a bit more confidence in my abilities to connect with all kinds of youth and animals in all kinds of ways, I have ventured to some of our local service clubs to show them what they can do to make a difference. And they stepped up!
I spoke with members of the Golden Age Club and Living Fit, about the importance of sharing their knowledge and strength with our youth. Do you know how hearing about wartime rationing, food stamps, poverty, loss, and survival against the odds, can help our youth as the struggle to make sense of their world? I do! I have witnessed it! It gives them hope. Connection. And the strength to move forward.
Can you imagine how empowering it would be to know how grow your own food, without chemicals and to put it away in your cupboards and freezers to feed yourself and your family well in these difficult times? I do! Having to choose the food WITH or WITHOUT chemicals in it, as you line up at the grocery store with not enough money in your pockets is a crappy feeling as a mom ... I have been there, for too long. Living in poverty without connections to our elders is taking its toll on our families and on our children. My husband Alex and I have witnessed this firsthand when we ran a low-income energy program for North Bay Hydro. Between us, we were in the living rooms of over 1,200 local families in need ... and that was just the tip of the iceberg.
These old folks I talk to know what we need to know to move forward. They know how to make things out of nothing, put can and store food at harvest time and work together for the good of the community. There has been a generation of lost knowledge, but when asked, they are willing to show up and teach our youth how to roll up their sleeves and get some work done on the farm or in the kitchen! I love that!
While those old folks volunteering were great, I had to ask for more. It takes money to provide these programs and turn my dreams into a reality for today’s youth ... and another reality is, that many of the kids who need it, cannot afford it. So, I went to the North Bay Lions’ Club. I was a little flustered and talked too much ... but they got the gist of the program and pledged to help one child from a local group of four youth on the autism spectrum, to attend my 14 session program, with the possibility of more funding in the future if it proved effective.
Hmmm ... it was a nice pledge and it was certainly the right direction ... but one child is only one child ...
So, I matched their pledge. Now we had ½ the programming costs covered and two kids could go. Then, I put it forward to the parents and other local groups. They could apply for funds from various sources for sports or respite funding and that would leave each parent only having to pay ¼ of the programming costs out-of-pocket (a little over $20/session for a 2-hour program). Now, we are getting somewhere!
I have an appointment to present to the Callander Lions Club and have also approached Mattawa and some of the other local service clubs, to match our investment. I will create programs that address the complex needs of youth in our communities, hire other professionals as required and invest equally in the future of our local youth - the future of our nation.
Please help me to reach out to others, to raise awareness of what embracing diversity feels and looks like and to share some of the most uplifting human-animal stories you will ever hear! I need your help to get this done and survive another year of business, providing an essential service in the small towns that I love. Help spread the word. Help spread the love!
Take a chance,
Paige Wilde
Take the Lead
