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Province gives grant to Hamilton’s Liberty For Youth

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Political and business leaders, Hamilton’s police chief, along with social workers gathered to celebrate the success of Liberty For Youth which is receiving provincial government funding through the trillium grant.

Liberty For Youth staff and volunteers use an innovative and intensive mentoring model that strives for permanent behavioural change by building inner character, developing life and leadership skills and inspiring at-risk young people to become constructive members of the community.

Hamilton Police chief Glenn De Caire told the crowd, “what you’re seeing here today at Liberty for Youth doesn’t show up in the formal part of policing in those performance measurement metrics we always talk about.”

“What shows up here is the relationships that are built and these relationships of trust, and I’m very proud to tell you that the Hamilton police service is one of the leading police services in the province of Ontario that use the diversion components of the law much more than we use the enforcement components of the law.”

Patron Ron Foxcroft of Fox 40 and Fluke Transport says the grant has paid for the group’s building. “All the money that we would put into rent and a mortgage goes into the program.”

Liberty For Youth provides a prevention and intervention mentoring program aimed at youth between the ages of 12 to 25 who are at risk of, or are involved in, criminal behaviour.