Our Mission

Our mission is to provide integrated social and developmental activities to youth members within an accessible, safe, and supportive environment.

About THE DOOR

Our vision for The Door is one of a welcoming place where young people aged 12-18 acquire the knowledge, attitudes, and behaviours to become independent adults capable of realizing their full potential and participating actively in their communities.

The programs of The Door are founded on voluntary participation in activities structured to maximize the opportunity for young people to engage in terms of their unique development capacities and needs. Every program operates within a framework designed to:

* Strengthen personal knowledge and skills and the promotion of healthy behaviours and lifestyles.

* Develop interpersonal skills and practices of understanding, tolerance and inclusion.

* Contribute to a sense of civic responsibility and engagement in community.

The Door is the only youth centre in the Somerset West area, thus fulfilling a need that is otherwise unmet. The youth using our services come from a variety of backgrounds: some come from a stable home environment and are just looking for a place to hang out with friends. Others are high risk youth with no other place to go.

The young people who drop in represent a diversity of cultures and heritage: Chinese, Vietnamese, Indian, Persian, Somali, Arab, Ethiopian, Italian, Russian, Haitian, and Canadian.

Each youth is expected to contribute and help out in some small way at the centre, whether it's taking out the garbage, cooking dinner, working the front desk, basketball court, and/or participating in the decisions about how The Door operates on a day-to-day basis. This ensures that The Door is truly a place that is responsive to the changing needs of today’s young people.

Educational Programs

The Door puts a great deal of emphasis on encouraging success in education. We recognize that education provides opportunities for youth, as well as being important in itself by encouraging personal growth. Through education programs, The Door encourages youth to develop strong study habits and personal responsibility that are needed for success. With the help of staff and volunteers we also seek to help youth develop confidence in their potential, which may carry over into other aspects of life. To this end, The Door has implemented several programs and positions to give youth as many opportunities to be proactive about their education as possible.

Homework Room

The Door has a Homework Room which serves several purposes. First, it provides a quiet place for the youth to do their homework, and is equipped with computers for homework use and resource books for research. Second, dedicated staff and volunteers offer homework and research help to those who need assistance daily.The Homework Room also serves as an educational resource room. It holds course calendars for the colleges and universities in Ontario and some of the major ones throughout Canada, along with information on local trade schools and adult high schools. These resource materials strengthen options for decision-making about post-secondary education and encourage continued education.

Education Coordinator

The Education Coordinator focuses on two main goals: to understand and provide for the unique educational and social needs of new Canadians and to provide overall educational support to all the youth at The Door. One of the groups which we have been putting focus on is The Karen youth who are a group of new Canadians who began arriving in Ottawa in 2006. Like many other new Canadian youth, they face unique challenges both educationally, by learning both English and other subjects at the same time, and socially, as they try to acclimatize and integrate successfully into Canadian culture.

The Education Coordinator also offers educational support to all the youth at The Door by assisting with homework and providing positive learning and studying strategies. The Coordinator also researches and presents the youth with many education-related opportunities, such as international exchanges. This assists youth in gaining confidence about their education and helps them realize their full potentials as young adults.

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Social Programs

Encouraging all areas of social development in youth is one of the main goals of The Door. This encouragement can take a variety of forms in programming: from encouraging participation in group activities, to providing youth with the information and resources they need to make responsible decisions regarding their health and success. Our social programs also seek to provide youth with practical skills that can be applied to all areas of life. These skills range from personal health to getting a job. Along with education, our social programming seeks to provide youth with opportunities in seeking resources and confidence needed to pursue them. Dedicated staff and volunteers encourage inclusion, healthy competition, and socializing among youth of all ages. Our Social Programs are an important part of inspiring youth to become responsible young adults that contribute to their community.

Employment Preparation

One of our most accessible resources for job hunting is our internet and the Job Board. Job postings are pulled from various employment agencies and posted on our board, offering everything from part-time to full time work, from retail to food service, and from permanent to temporary contracts. Many youth don't know how to look for a job and this board offers them a good place to start. Staff and volunteers are always available to teach them how to also search for a jobs using the internet. The Door also run at least 2 resume workshops through the help of partner organizations which are hands on style.In addition to above services, the youth at The Door are able to use the computers to create resumes, and to complete applications for employment and volunteer opportunities. Once the youth get the interview, we also offer tips on how to act, dress, and some do's and dont's of the interview process.

The Healthy Living Resource Room

The Door attaches great importance to informing and educating youth on all the options available regarding sexuality, along with their responsibilities to both themselves and their partners. Our resource room provides information on everything from abstinence and dealing with sexual feelings to safe sex and the different forms of birth control, along with a supply of free condoms. Staff is always available to answer any questions the youth might have.

The Door also tries to provide the youth with as much information as possible on other important lifestyles issues including the use and abuse of tobacco, alcohol and other drugs, gambling and mental health as well as socially relevant subjects such as HIV/AIDS, homosexuality, homophobia, body image, and peer pressure. We gather this information from reputable sources such as Health Canada, the Public Health Agency of Canada, the Ontario Ministry of Health Promotion, The David Smith Centre, Pink Triangle, The Sexual Health Clinic, and youth related Internet sites. Many of these organizations provide their services at least once a month to provide our youth with the appropriate workshops.

Physical Activity

The Door is limited in its capacity to provide facilities for physical activity but makes the best of what is possible. The Door offers basketball on an outside court, which has remained consistently popular during the warmer months. Dedicated volunteers provide supervision while encouraging inclusion, healthy competition, and socializing among youth of all ages. The Door also has a modest boxing room designed for the beginners. Through the help of volunteers, boxing classes are offered on a weekly basis. These classes became a popular resource that encourages regular physical activity and discipline while retaining a recreational feel. Here too, information regarding healthy lifestyles is available, including proper nutrition and tips for getting the most out of exercise routines.

Healthy Eating

The Door continues to strengthen its healthy food program. We believe that there is a natural connection among healthy eating, healthy living and positive self image that can be easily reinforced through social activities built around food preparation and sharing and the inevitable need for clean-up! We offer a nightly full dinner program that emphasizes healthy eating while maintaining popularity with the youth. These nightly meals are made by two of our youth volunteers supervised by the staff. Not only does this provide youth the opportunity to acquire important life skills through food preparation, but it also reinforces the role of healthy eating and provides both the volunteers and youth the information and inspiration to make wise food choices. We have been assisted in these activities by the generous contributions from McPhail Memorial Baptist Church, The Golden Baguette and The Ottawa Food Bank.

Twice a month members of the congregation of the McPhail Memorial Baptist Church prepare a home-cooked meal, bring it to The Door, and serve it to the youth members. This night is always busier than most, with the youth (staff and volunteers, too) eagerly awaiting the church to bring their goodies.

Speakers and Workshops

The Door finds that there are certain topics that are better dealt with by the experts. Educated and professional speakers allow the youth the opportunity to find out information about somewhat sensitive subjects such as, body image, drug prevention, safe sex, gambling awareness, gangs, cultural sensitivity, and homosexuality in a nonthreatening environment. Some guest speakers have included Planned Parenthood, Ottawa Police, Sexual Health Centre of Ottawa-Carleton, Somerset West Community Health Centre, The David Smith Centre, and our own Teen Talks.

The goal of our workshops is to make them interactive and fun while allowing the young people to be exposed to new ideas, acquire new information and perhaps learn some new skills. Through working with outside agencies, The Door has been able to offer a wide variety of workshops. We count on these organizations to help us deliver accurate and up-to-date information to the youth in stimulating and appropriate ways and we are grateful for all of their help.

Clothing exchange

The Clothing Exchange Closet is stocked with donations of gently used clothing from the community. All items we receive are examined by the staff before being put on display; we make sure all pieces of clothing are youth appropriate and in good conditions. We also encourage youth to drop off any items they might not want any longer in exchange for the items they pick up. This promotes a commitment to recycling and gives the young people an opportunity to give back at the same time that they are acquiring something 'new.'

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Recreational Programs

At The Door we are always striving for balance: between planned activities and spontaneous engagement; structure and free-time; learning and just plain 'chilling!' To this end, a third component of our programming is centered on recreation: on games, entertainment, discovery and fun! As well, these recreation programs are often an important draw to The Door for the youth members and serve as a critical pathway to our more defined learning and development programs.

Some of the most consistently popular activities are ping pong, pool and foozball, which are offered nightly. These activities encourage healthy competition furthered by weekly tournaments complete with prizes. A recent addition of a freestanding arcade and new board games provide nightly entertainment, while weekly movie nights and our movie library present a quieter alternative. Some of our newest and most popular resources are the Wii, Guitar Hero and Dance Dance Revolution video games. Both of these video games bring together youth who might not otherwise socialize, while Dance Dance Revolution provides a popular and competitive physical activity. Through weekly rental donation from Microplay a variety of video games are also available.

In 2009 The Door opened its first Music Room. Thanks to the assistance of volunteers and the generosity of private donor, which included a beautiful piano, with the help of talented volunteers we began to offering weekly music lessons that encourage a wide variety of amazing creative talents.

Computers and High Speed Internet

The computers and high-speed internet access are one of our most popular used resources. Through donations and grants from organizations including Telus, The Door has acquired eight computers for the use of youth and staff. Youth are able to use the computers to access their email, do research for homework and employment purposes, download music and chat with their friends on high speed Internet. Further, as all of the computers are networked, the members are able to play games against each other and share other files. The computers and internet access also allow an important point of contact between new Canadians and their families and friends elsewhere. All the computers are spread over two sections of the Centre to encourage integration.

Girls' Night at The Door

Once every two months The Door also hosts a Girls' Night only- usually one evening where all the male youth and staff are "kicked out" and the female youth members, volunteers and staff get a chance to interact and get to know one another. Girls' Night includes various activities from jewellery and lip-gloss making to movies and snacks. We also provide girls related workshops of those some of those nights which encourage healthy self-image and self-esteem. We believe that nights like Girls' Night encourage female membership while providing the opportunity for all women associated with The Door to strengthen their community, and learn from one another.

Arts Program

The concept and design of our Arts Program is structured so that the youth can receive a well-rounded artistic education while passing their time constructively after school. The curriculum is divided into diverse units that aim to touch upon every stylistic aspect and artistic medium within the arts field. This Program provides the youth with a chance to sit together and get to know people they might not otherwise take the time to socialize with. It gives the youth something in common to break the ice and has been the initiator of some very interesting discussions.

We're always checking in with the our youth members to learn about their experiences at The Door.

Here's a sampling of what they have to say:

"I love The Door because it's a great place to hang out. I've been a member for 5 years and I have referred many of my friends who have also become members. In the winter it's a warm place to hang out plus there's a free meal (supper) and healthy snacks daily. When I have trouble with homework I can get help. There are lots of other great activities including movies, pool and internet for Facebook. You can also volunteer at The Door. Since I'm in the General Learning Program I don't have to do 40 hours of volunteer work, but I do help out when I can. The staff at The Door are awesome! The greatest thing is that everyone respects everyone. You should join The Door!"- Sally

"I've been a member of The Door for 5 years. I come here because there are great benefits. There are more options for things to do when hanging out at The Door as opposed to hanging out at the mall. You can hang out with friends and meet new people. They have free workshops like art, science and specialty groups like yoga. The Door has great staff and the members are respectful and helpful. Staff are willing to listen and are very resourceful in seeking out help for you if you need it. I think of The Door as my second home. They make me feel confident; I'm never judged and the social groups are diverse and integrated. It's family at The Door. You should join, for there's no place like it!"- Julie