YFCHL: A New Season in a New Reality

YFCHL has started it’s new season, but it’s going to look a bit different for now. There are government restrictions and new regulations that we're all trying to navigate, but we're happy to continue bringing hope to our students!

Social distancing is a little hard when working with youth, but we have the masks and sanitizer out in full force trying to keep COVID-19 at bay. We are doing our best to follow the government guidelines while still doing everything we can to continue to provide our kids with hope.

We were feeling pretty anxious about the start. Not being able to see everything coming, coupled with a vulnerable person that we have on staff, we were nervous. It was our first phone call of the year that changed everything for us. “Johnny” was taken away from his home by social workers two years ago and we hadn’t seen him since. He was able to be back with his mother, but he was far away from his friends, school and us. We had no clue that he had moved back to the city, but one of his friends had tipped him off about hockey starting back up. Hearing his voice on the phone was enough to send us through the roof! We had been praying for Johnny for two years, and there he was on the phone, asking to come to hockey! He had been waiting two years to come to hockey. Two years to see his friends. Two years to come be with his community again. So right there, it was all worth it, we were making the right choice.

The joy that we saw when we were able to get everyone back together was tangible and awesome. It gave us  all hope. Hope in community. Hope in fun. Ultimately hope that will never end in Jesus. That’s why we’re taking the risks. These kids need hope, and we want to be there every step of the way.