The idea was to show the positive impact that United Way-supported programs could have on the most vulnerable people in the community.
One by one, representatives from the city’s dozens of workplace campaigns stood up at their tables during Friday morning’s kick-off breakfast for the 2016 United Way campaign and read a prepared statement from one of the various programs the charity supports.
Speakers cited example after example of how things had been different for clients after they got involved in programs for schools, low-income assistance, addiction support groups or mental health issues.
A main focus for the gathering was youth homelessness.
But it wasn’t until a slight, nervous 21-year-old walked up to the microphone that the more than 400 people in the Ambassador Hotel ballroom really understood the human side of homelessness.
The crowded room went silent as Larissa Avery described how physical and sexual abuse had left her homeless and on the street.
She was encouraged by a friend to go into a youth homeless shelter and that changed her life, she said.
She returned to school, found work and a place to stay. They helped her get the life skills she would need to thrive.
“I have a home where I feel safe,” she told the crowd.
“I wouldn’t change how and where I am now. I never would have gotten this far if it weren’t for the support. It was, for sure, a difficult challenge to live on the street. But everything in life happens for a reason.”
Now, as a member of the United Way’s youth council, she speaks out against youth homelessness.
“Homelessness is not something to be ignored,” she stressed to the audience.
After she had left the stage to a long standing ovation, she said youth homelessness is a major problem in Kingston. One in three people in shelters are youth.
“You see it everywhere. You see youth everywhere that need a home. I am one of the victims that were homeless.”
Avery felt telling her story would prompt more people to go out and help solve the problem.
“It’s been remarkable being able to tell my side of the story,” she said.
Not that it has been easy talking about things so personal.
“When it first started, I didn’t want to talk to anybody. Then the United Way got in contact with me and they heard my side of the story and they asked if I wanted to make it known to everybody about youth homelessness.”
Appearing before such a large crowd Friday morning left her “beyond nervous,” she said.
“I had second thoughts. I was scared. I didn’t want my story to be out there, but now that it’s out there, I can see it’s making a difference.”
United Way president and CEO Bhavana Varma called Avery “a very brave, courageous young woman.”
She has been part of the United Way’s youth council and has been telling her story over the past few weeks, leaving “not a dry eye” in her audiences, Varma said.
This year’s campaign chair, Brig.-Gen. Stephen Kelsey from Canadian Forces Base Kingston, was unable to attend the kick-off since he is currently in training in Kansas prior to deploying to Iraq.
He said in a video presentation that his absence hasn’t diminished his enthusiasm for the campaign and he promised to still be involved.
He believes the 2016 campaign goal of $3.451 million, announced at the gathering, is an achievable amount, but “it’s not just about the money.”
“It’s about the involvement in our community and it’s about making a difference right here in Kingston.”
Mayor Bryan Paterson agreed.
“When you are building a great city, as much as you need to invest in roads and bridges and airports and buildings, you also need to invest in people,” he said. “And that is really what this morning is all about. Every dollar that you are raising is going to help make an investment in a person’s life.”
Kingston and the Islands MP Mark Gerretsen said he didn’t realize it until he started serving as an MP in Ottawa that people throughout the country consider Kingston a great city.
“And that has to do with the work that you do,” he told the workplace campaign volunteers.
He said raising $3.5 million a year to go to the United Way “is what gives us that quality of life.”
Several of the workplace campaigns have already been raising money. Empire Life showed up with a cheque for $50,000. Goodyear and the Kingston and District Labour Council also turned over some early donations.
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By Michael Lea, Kingston Whig-Standard
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