Slipping grades, peer pressure to do questionable activities and an overwhelming sense of drowning is a scenario too familiar for 19-year-old Victoria Alvarez when she remembers her high school days.
If it wasn't for her sister putting her in touch with one of Touchstone Family Association's mentors, Amir Javid, Alvarez believes she'd still be stuck.
"The program made me realize the right track," said a smiling Alvarez of the organization's Street Smarts Project.
"It was like, if it wasn't for this program, I don't know where I'd be. I'm really proud of myself actually."
Alvarez now has a full time job and is upgrading her high school marks and aims to become a registered nurse.
The project helps youth involved in gang activity through a 12-week group session and one-on-one mentorship focusing on life skills, personal goals and barriers youth face in seeking jobs, academic success and friends who are not criminally involved.
Justice Minister Shirley Bond announced yesterday that Touchstone received $210,000 from cash collected in civil forfeiture.
The amount is the maximum grant available out of a record $10.8 million seized this past year. Of that, $5.5 million funds community groups.
"It goes to show that crime doesn't pay in B.C.," said Bond of the province's civil forfeiture program, which reclaims suspected proceeds of crime.
"It speaks volumes about community involvement, it speaks to vigilance. We want to target and tackle the remaining hotspots across the province."
Touchstone director Judy Valsonis said the grant directly helps the Street Smarts Project, giving it at least three more years of stability.
Its precarious funding affected the range and scope of the project in the past, making it difficult to develop future sessions and perform serious outreach initiatives. But the new grant allows Touchstone to serve up to 60 youth this year and offer a summer program for the first time.
"It's fantastic," said Community Assessment and Action Network coordinator Chris Samulak, who works directly with the youth.
"You see results quickly. The youth buy into it quickly, and then they get their peers involved. So it's practically peer-driven."
"Part of the reason is because we're credible. My co-worker Amir was an at-risk Richmond youth himself. We also check in all the time, see how they're doing, sometimes take the kids out for lunch."
Samulak said the increased funding allows more follow-up opportunities so that fewer youth regress back to their old lives.
"Informally, we've heard from the police that they've had less contact with the youth due to the program," said Samulak.
"But there are some who regress still, so hopefully we can widen our scope."
Eighteen-year-old Alex Ni knew he needed help when he was sinking amidst family issues and peer pressure.
He found out about the Street Smarts Project after a friend put him in touch with Javid and he willingly joined.
"I just felt like I was drowning in my own pride," said Ni. "I wanted to be cool. Amir really helped me through my problems. He supported me when I needed it. He let me call him any time, like after school or at night."
Today, Ni has graduated from J.N. Burnett secondary and has a part time job. He stays in contact with Javid and Samulak.
"We create a lot of trust within the group. Once it's filled, it's closed," said Samulak. "What happens in the group stays in the group kind of thing, which is important."
Other projects receiving funds this year prevent violence against women and children, counter human trafficking and sexual exploitation, and fund police training and equipment.
Buick Creek's (north of Fort St. John) Blueberry River Against Gangs program received $100,000 to help aboriginal youth at risk of gang activity. Operation X, an Abbotsford education program aimed at preventing Ecstasy use amongst youth, received $24,500.
The grant process began in February with a call for applications.
The province established the B.C. Civil Forfeiture Office in 2006, which operates under the Civil Forfeiture Act. It allows the director to initiate civil court proceedings against property believed to be the instruments of unlawful activity.
The balance of the cash seized funds the office, investigations and court cases.
