A pair of Saanich-based youth initiatives have earned grants from the Coast Capital Savings Young Leaders Community Councils’ community grant program.

Saanich Commonwealth Place’s Youth at Risk Moving Forward has earned a $7,000 grant while the successful CanAssist-run TeenWork program (housed out of the Centre for Athletics, Recreation and Special Abilities at the University of Victoria) received $25,000.

The goal of Moving Forward is to foster positive relationships between youth at risk and their mentors and to support the creation and maintenance of healthy behaviours such as sport, exercise, volunteerism, job skills training and community engagement. TeenWork is an innovative program that puts young people with disabilities into the work place by helping them find and retain paid part-time employment with local businesses.

The money comes from the Coast Capital Savings Young Leaders Community Councils’ community grant program and was announced on March 11. The grants are reviewed by Young Leaders Community Councils and they best decide how best allocate the credit union’s community investment funding.

“The Young Leaders Community Council’s ‘for youth, by youth’ approach really sets it apart,” said Linley Faulkner, returning council member and 2016 council chair for Vancouver Island.