Blog

The Power of Connection and Vulnerability in a Small Community: The Pass-It-On Program Celebrates 10 Years!

October 3, 2019

A blog post by Kate Nash

.
SWOVA’s Girls Pass-It-On program started in 2010 as an after-school program that provided structured and individual mentorship between high school youth and Grade 8 students throughout the academic year.

Kate Nash was hired as the program facilitator in 2010 and has been in that role since. She reflects on these 10 years here.

__________________________________________

I began working for SWOVA in 2010. I was 28 years old and a mom of three. My youngest was a year old and the rest not much older. I was hired as the program facilitator of Pass-It-On. The program had run as a 4-month pilot a few years before and had recently acquired the funding it needed to run in four rural communities for a year.

I had had some experience and some education before having babies. The Executive Director, the Chair of the Board, and a youth conducted the interview. The youth had done a lot of SWOVA programming and was a facilitator for the R+R (Respectful Relationships) program. I didn’t have the experience the other candidates had, but, as the story goes, when I left the room, she said, “That’s the one the youth will trust.” She got me my job.

I do connect with youth. I am innocent, playful, and willing to be vulnerable. Youth can relate because, for the most part, they can’t help but be vulnerable. Their innocence is their guide, and adolescence is awkward. Society encourages us to tuck our values away, hide our vulnerability, and charge head first into the unknown. With all our emotions and feelings, it’s difficult to ever feel in control.

Confidence is built with experience, but it’s shaped by acceptance. When we feel safe enough to expose our weaknesses and vulnerabilities, and then we’re still accepted and even loved, our confidence grows and, with it, our level of care for ourselves and for others.

As Pass-It-On enters its 10th year, I know this to be true. Year after year, I sit with young women who join the program and who are nervous and fairly judgmental of themselves and others. By the end of the year, our diversity is more apparent. We truly know each other, and the acceptance of others and self is evident. By showing others who we are and safely exposing our vulnerabilities, we can all become more confident, vibrant people.

Because this program runs in a small community, I commonly run into past participants. True mentorship folds into our being and our actions over time, as we grow and reflect on the experiences and insights we’ve been given. I am gifted to see firsthand the effects that this program has had on over 400 young women over the last 10 years. When we treat each other as equals, sit down to listen and share with each other, and truly accept each other, the gifts we have to give back are twofold. Connection is as important to us as food, water, and shelter. My community is stronger because these young women chose to be vulnerable.

__________________________________________

High school mentors are already in place for 2019−2020. The program is now recruiting Grade 8 buddies interested in being a part of the program. The commitment is two Tuesdays a month, 3:30 to 6:30, starting in November. If interested, please contact Kate Nash (girls’ program) or David Norget (boys’ program).

We Reflect the Beauty of the People We Love by Kate Nash

Winter seems to be a time of great change and learning for me. My mother passed away this year on January 1st. For anyone who has lost a parent, the mixed emotions and loss will be familiar. When a parent dies we flounder between our adult selves and the child inside...

Why is everyone talking about Consent?  By Sharyn Carroll

Why is everyone talking about Consent? By Sharyn Carroll

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rAy5LYJlTII From high profile cases in the media to Canadian students and faculty calling for change across college and university campuses, the term “Consent” is being put under a microscope. Our understanding of this word raises...

SWOVA Focuses on Consent and Sexual Assault

SWOVA Focuses on Consent and Sexual Assault

Statistics tell us that one in three women and one in six men will experience some form of sexual violence in their lifetime, while less than one in ten assaults are reported to the authorities. Most sexual assaults happen by someone the victim knows. (Stats Can 2004)...

Re-defining Feminism  by Elise Pearson

Re-defining Feminism by Elise Pearson

I find that definitions can be limiting and problematic, and I’d like to see if I can encourage you to think for yourselves about what this word, or movement, or ideology might mean to you. Instead I’ll start by providing a few different definitions I’ve come across...

Name(Required)
Email(Required)
Please let us know what's on your mind. Have a question for us? Ask away.
This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.