Oct 5, 2026
Making Memories
This summer was filled with fun adventures, new experiences and memories that will last a lifetime thanks to our Summer Recreation Program.
A long-time Youth Care Worker moved into the role of Summer Recreation Programmer for 10 weeks to lead this program. His first order of business was to meet with all of the young people and develop individual activity plans. All of the outings and programs were chosen by the young people and supported by the Youth Care Teams. There were back up plans and rain dates that needed to be used for some activities, but everyone who participated seemed to really enjoy their time this summer and a few of the youth even got to check some things off their bucket list.
Two big events were part of the summer activities. The Youth Farmers Market is always a highlight and this year was no exception. The employability skill building program had 12 youth participate in varying capacities which was the highest participation in the program’s history. This year a number of the participants also really got into the entrepreneurial spirit, adding their own creations to the public market. After the orientation and planning was over, the crew traveled to the Annapolis Valley to harvest produce for their market and clearly did a very good job of gauging how much to offer as they had very little left over at the end of market day.
A number of the young people also took advantage of the opportunity to sell their own creations as well. When they set up the market on the front lawn of the Reigh Allen Centre, customers were offered more than just fresh produce. Homemade mini cheesecakes, arts and crafts and even plant clippings with full instructions on how to grow them were also up for sale. The program was very successful and provided the participants with real experience to list on their resumes. They were very excited about how many people came out to support their venture.
The other big event that was part of the young people’s summer was “Burgers and Badges”. This BBQ was a joint venture between HomeBridge and Halifax Regional Police in an effort to foster positive relations between the police and the young people. Some of the young people have negative opinions of those in law enforcement, so this was a great opportunity for them to see the officers in a different light. The youth really seemed to enjoy participating in fun activities like water balloon tossing and other outdoor games with members of the police force. One officer even took a pie in the face as part of the activities, which got a huge cheer.
The rest of the summer was filled with many individual and group outings. Larger outings included the youth from two programs traveling to Magic Mountain and several trips to Splashifx, Atlantic Splash Adventures and Tidal Bore Rafting. The young women from Sullivan House referred to this summer as the “bucket list of programs” and were especially excited about horseback riding. Some of the other young people were not as keen on group activities so they did one-on-one outings that ranged from a simple lunch out to pottery painting and many trips to the beach. These outings can often be as meaningful as the big trips as they allow for positive relationship building and experience in new environments while being supported by the Summer Recreation Programmer. At 14 years old, one of the young people even experienced going to the movie theatre for the first time in his life.
Another highlight of the summer came when the young people who took part in our boat building program returned to the Maritime Museum of the Atlantic to go our on the water on some of the boats they helped to build throughout the school year. The team at the boat shop are amazing and always make the young people feel welcome and supported. They were very proud to tell anyone around that they built the boats they were about to take out on the water.
The surprising activity of the summer was fishing. It was a very popular activity this year. There were a lot of small outings as well as a full day deep-sea fishing trip and a trip out on a charter in Halifax Harbour with our friends at the Maritime Museum of the Atlantic.
No matter what they young people were doing, we were very happy to support them in getting out and enjoying healthy, age-appropriate activities this summer. One young man said it was the best summer of his life and another summed it up perfectly when he said. “I didn’t get to enjoy my childhood so this is great. This is the kind of stuff we should be doing – getting out of our rooms and out of our heads to enjoy ourselves instead of being depressed.”
In total 208 hours of extra, therapeutic programming were offered through this program over the 10 weeks. Thank you to donors who made this program possible. The young people made memories they will carry with them for a lifetime thanks to your generous support.
