Photo: Contributed

Doane Grant Thornton presenting a donation to the Penticton Youth Centre?s elevator project. (From left to right: Aaron McRann of CFSOS, Jeremy Auger-Patry, Marielle Brule and Simranjeet Kaur of Doane Grant Thornton, and Shelley Hunt of YMCA.)

There are just two months remaining in the matching window for the Penticton Youth Centre’s elevator project, during which time all donations will be tripled* by a private donor.

So far, the community has donated roughly $140,000 of the $300,000 goal for the elevator, which will make the centre a fully-accessible space.

If the $300,000 is raised by March 31, that will turn into $900,000.

“We are grateful for the generosity we have seen already,” said Yuki Ihara, donor services manager of the Community Foundation which operates the youth centre.

“It’s a reflection of the community’s shared belief in the Youth Centre. The organizations within the centre are doing incredible work, and every young person should have the same opportunity to benefit from these services. Right now, service providers do their best to accommodate those with mobility challenges, but the space should be built to welcome all youth, rather than requiring them to adapt to it.”

Approximately 1,000 youth are helped at the centre annually through organizations like OneSky’s Foundry Penticton, YMCA, ARC Programs, and the Ministry of Children & Family Development’s Child & Youth Mental Health, all under one roof.

“After completing a session with a youth client upstairs in our CYMH space, I was able to take my client and caregiver to meet the Foundry staff and view the Foundry space. The discussion in session between my client and her caregiver was about looking for ways to build safe independence," stated one local child and youth clinician of their experience.

"Working collaboratively, the client, caregiver, myself, and Foundry staff were able to come up with a plan. The youth was offered the opportunity to use the Foundry rec room with her friends to play games and hang out in and to also attend some of the Foundry youth programs and events, and this has created a new level of independence for my client.”

The elevator program is key to ensuring total accessibility for youth, regardless of any mobility issues.

Any dollar amount is appreciated, but donors giving $5,000 or more will be recognized on a donor wall at the centre.

To learn more or to donate, contact Yuki Ihara at [email protected] or 250-493-9311.

*An earlier version of this article incorrectly stated doubled, Castanet regrets the error