Success Stories
“The West Footsteps has played a very dynamic role in the Rexdale community way before I joined the team back in 2013. Greeted by loud campers, over 20 coworkers and a new time to wake up daily, my first week at "work" would take some time to getting used to. Besides the constant planning, dealing with troubled campers, and having Andre watch your every move, my perception on work changed greatly by the end of the 6th week. Working in this industry gives staff
the right to individuality and creativity while also growing and operating as a leader. The Focus On Youth program is not about working a 9 to 5, however sometimes requires you to be that strong tower and safe haven for campers long after the shift is over.
In the span of four years (once as a staff and three as a volunteer) I've seen the community undergo the hardship of losing a few members due to gun violence, that not only took a toll on Rexdale but also among the children in the camp. All I remember is coming to work and seeing a few campers grieving over the loss of their dear friend Lecent Ross. Another year, a camper got seriously injured and was taken to the emergency room.
Moments like these forced everyone to put aside any disagreements and truly make their main focus about the kids. I was blessed with the chance of seeing leaders grow and watching young children become mature teenagers. Footsteps holds strong values and diminishes roles of campers, counsellors and coordinators to bring about the idea of family and community.
It has been a pillar in my growing interest of community service. If the children cried, we cried. If they were hurt, we were hurt. If they smiled, we smiled. In all things we had to be the light in their darkness, cure to their pain and the joy in their suffering. Personally it was never about the money for me. The headache, yelling, chaos was all worth it because when you have children waving and screaming your name from across the street, you know you've done your job.”
-Jahfari Fraser, 2016
the right to individuality and creativity while also growing and operating as a leader. The Focus On Youth program is not about working a 9 to 5, however sometimes requires you to be that strong tower and safe haven for campers long after the shift is over.
In the span of four years (once as a staff and three as a volunteer) I've seen the community undergo the hardship of losing a few members due to gun violence, that not only took a toll on Rexdale but also among the children in the camp. All I remember is coming to work and seeing a few campers grieving over the loss of their dear friend Lecent Ross. Another year, a camper got seriously injured and was taken to the emergency room.
Moments like these forced everyone to put aside any disagreements and truly make their main focus about the kids. I was blessed with the chance of seeing leaders grow and watching young children become mature teenagers. Footsteps holds strong values and diminishes roles of campers, counsellors and coordinators to bring about the idea of family and community.
It has been a pillar in my growing interest of community service. If the children cried, we cried. If they were hurt, we were hurt. If they smiled, we smiled. In all things we had to be the light in their darkness, cure to their pain and the joy in their suffering. Personally it was never about the money for me. The headache, yelling, chaos was all worth it because when you have children waving and screaming your name from across the street, you know you've done your job.”
-Jahfari Fraser, 2016
“Hello, my name is Shyam Thakkar. I am 16 years old. I go to North Albion Collegiate institute. This is going to be the 6th year I've been at Footsteps to Success summer camp at Father Henry Carr. From the start till now I've been attending this prestigious summer camp. Today I am going to share my story at Footsteps to success summer camp.Let's go back to 2010. It was my first year. This was also the summer I moved to the neighbourhood. I didn't know anybody it was a completely knew environment. Additionally I went to TDSB whereas if not all the kids were from TCDSB. I was only ten years old. The only person I knew was my older sister. I had a lot of feelings and emotions at the time. I was intimidated by all the older kids or the "cool people". I was Shy because I wasn't the most social or confident person. These were just 2 major feelings but there were plenty more. Back then I had so much fun. As time progressed things got better. I got out of my bubble, I started becoming more social and my self confidence grew. It was difficult at times because I got teased and bullied a lot for being fat, short, unathletic, But today because of the time I had back in 2010 I am now a "social butterfly". Communication, speaking those are my strengths. And without this camp I wouldn't have gotten it.
There are many memories you can make at camp, a lot of great moments, many amazing people you can meet.Camp is a great place where it incorporates all these things. A great example was My first time going to Wonderland was through camp, back in 2011 the final trip was wonderland. I was so excited because it was my first time. My leader took my group on 3 rides. The Vortex, Flight deck and Mind buster. It's one of the most exciting things to do as a child, That's a day I will never forget. There are so many other memories that I have throughout these 6 years. In camp you also meet amazing people. There is this one person I have met in my camp experience, His name is Harpreet Kamboj. I met him in 2012. Today I can proudly say he's my best friend. We can rely on each other for anything, even outside of camp me and him are like brothers. We had amazing times, and if it wasn't for this summer camp, I would never have met someone like him.
At camp you play games, have fun, many activities, But there many lessons you can take away, many things to learn, a lot skills or talents someone can discover or even build upon. Back in 2013, one day this professional dancer came to teach is different styles of dance, taught us some different choreography's. At first I was having doubts, In my mind I had thoughts like " this isn't for me, "I can't do this", "will everyone laugh at me"? All these thoughts rushed into my head. As soon as I started getting into it, it got better. My confidence grew , some people laughed and teased but it was alright because I was having fun. I like dancing now, I would consider it as one of my skills. And that happened through camp. I also learned a lot of lessons from camp. There was this really rough week I had in the summer of 2014. I felt like nothing was going right, family problems, socially it was really rough. Even my camp councillors noticed something was off. Then Friday came. They were doing the councillor of the week ceremony. And I didn't expect to win. But then my councillor selected me as camper of the week. What I learned was no matter how tough things maybe outside of camp, whether it be social, family, academic issues, camp is the place where all the problems disappear. And that is one of the main reasons why I love camp.
Everything mentioned above was my experience as a camper in 2015 and 2016, I was a volunteer for footsteps to success. It's one thing to be a camper, but it's a completely different thing to be a staff member. One of the main reasons why I wanted to be a volunteer is because I've had a great time as a camper, now that I'm older, I want younger kids and campers to have the same opportunities as I had. These children should have the best time ever at Footsteps to Success, that is why I keep coming back. That being said, being staff member is harder then it seems. There are many challenges to face every single day. Even though I'm not a councillor I still have plenty of responsibilities. Some things I do are Paperwork, helping provide snacks and making phone calls to parents. Although it's a lot of work, I consider it to be a great experience. I learned a lot of new skills volunteering at this camp. On August 11th 2016 something really special happened, Andre came to FHC and told everyone about me, he gave me recognition for the things I've done at camp and then he gave me staff shirt, it was a memorable moment. From my younger years I've always wanted a staff shirt, furthermore I've always wanted to be a councillor and hopefully one day I'll achieve that.
In the next 2 years I'm hoping that I get too actually work as a camp councillor. This is my story at footsteps to success summer camp. There have been great experiences I've had from 2010-2016. I've met many amazing and inspiring people and finally I've been taught a lot of things. Thank you to Jaime, Andre and everyone else who supported me throughout my journey"
-Shyam Thakkar, 2016