Crystal Kids Mandate
Crystal Kids serves Edmonton inner-city children who suffer the debilitating effects of situational or generational poverty. These include prolonged exposure to the traumas of malnutrition, broader food insecurity, transience and housing insecurity, the lack of safe spaces, family violence, mental illness and addictions, literacy deficits manifesting in the under-educated and the resulting underemployed. All the above muddied with social injustice, racism, discrimination, and marginalization.
Utilizing critical mentoring in a drop-in youth centre setting, mentors create and nurture authentic relationships with their mentees. Through this relational journey, mentees reflect and often dig deep to expose root causes of their innumerable difficulties. This is critical mentoring at its best. Crystal Kids provides relational care, child-centric programs, and significant supports that bolster competencies, build capacity, and increase executive functioning. With the goal of equipping youth with the necessary skills to identify their needs, self-regulate, self advocate, and to prevent the following: abuse and sexual exploitation, the reliance on street drugs and alcohol to cope, school dissociation, criminal activity, and justice challenges. At Crystal Kids, life-skill mentoring enmeshed with promoting literacy and academics, self-esteem, leadership, teamwork, culture, and creativity. We observe and youth report this composes and defines their journey to overall wellness.
Programs and Supports
- Nutritional Support
- Critical Mentoring Program
- Casework, Crisis Management, & Harm Reduction Supports
- Literacy and Academic Supports
- Fitness and Sports Leadership Programs
- Artistic and Cultural Programs
- Youth Transition to Adulthood Program
From its inception forward Crystal Kids has recognized the challenges and deficits children in Edmonton’s inner-city face while growing up in abject poverty. We seek to mitigate the risks and negative factors of life in the inner-city by providing supports and advocating for High School completion, job readiness, post- secondary or trades educational pursuits.
Crystal Kids provides all its programs and supports to any child who walks through our door with no requirement of commitment and at no cost to the child or their family. Our “come-as-you-as-you-are” philosophical welcome mat or MO translates into our non-judgmental, CK brand of relational care.
Crystal Kids is equity led. We are inclusive and a safe and welcoming space. We demonstrate intersectionality and we advance the social, emotional and executive functioning of youth.
With our arsenal of programs and significant supports, we liberate disadvantaged youth in their battle against poverty. We have come to be known in the community as a liberation force in the Edmonton inner city!
Crystal Kids Vision
To liberate children and bring a permanent end to the devastating deficits of generational poverty on Edmonton’s inner-city children.
Crystal Kids Mission Statement
To mentor, lead, and support Edmonton’s inner-city children in the pursuit of healthy life choices and life skills competencies by creating and nurturing authentic relationships, providing nutrition, literacy, critical mentoring, building capacity and by modelling and facilitating overall wellness.