I was shocked, dismayed and disgusted when I read in The Leader’s April 3 edition that the Baristas Skills Link Program was being cut.
As a former youth worker who worked with troubled youth, I have seen firsthand what this program could do for these youth.
They come from abused, broken and marginalized lives, many former gang members, some just got in with the wrong crowd, or they were running from abuse at home.
More than most, these kids need such programs to help them find hope, gain self-esteem and enable them to become contributing members of society.
The transformation of these youth from broken and lost to self-assured and happy is still something that I remember and smile about.
Many of these youth returned to our facility after they had left to share their experiences and tell us how much better their lives had become. They are able to stand on their own, live on their own and see what comes from earning an honest living.
To see that yet another of these types of programs has been thrown to the wayside by our government just goes to show that our children, no matter where they come from, are just not important enough to bother with.
It angers me that when things that will have no future impact such as the Olympics can be funded when the government needs to find the money, and yet our youth and children are suffering.
Many more youth will now be ignored and fall through the cracks.
For shame, Stephen Harper and company. These are our children, our future.
When will they start to matter enough?
Moreen Brooks, Surrey