RESQ Youth International celebrates 20 years of making a difference in the lives of Black youth

BY PAUL JUNOR

It is truly a remarkable occasion for the non-profit organization, Reach Each Student Quickly (RESQ) to be celebrating its 20^th year anniversary. It was coined to reach each student quickly while they are in the system.

Abigail Hamilton and Dr. Daniel Cowans started the community-based organization in March 2001. According to its website resqyouth.com, it was formed “As a non-profit community providing support for at-risk youth.” The genesis of its beginning resulted from a group of law enforcers, crown attorneys, lawyers, educators and community representatives dedicated to supporting youth in crisis.

While the focus at the beginning was on helping Black youth navigate the challenges of the public education system, it has broadened its mandate to offer a wide array of services to the wider Black community. Its website states,

“Our mandate is to ensure that all youth receive the best quality education by staying in school. Our objective is to identify and address issues in the community as they affect our youth, we concentrate efforts on illustrating when, or why certain behaviours are unacceptable and provide our youth with the tools to change. We mediate, educate, counsel and provide mentoring to all young persons in the community.”

Abigail Hamilton serves as the Executive Director of RESQ and is a trained teacher with a background in sociology. She worked as a provincial prosecutor in the Peel Region before her retirement. In a promotional video titled “Brampton A’s Spotlight: RESQ Youth International,” released on January 25^th, 2015, she outlines the impetus that led to the formation of the non-profit organization. She recounts that it was her experience in the courts where she was exposed to many Black youth who got in trouble with the law. This was the catalyst of the vision to launch a group that would play a proactive role by preventing them from being exposed to the criminal justice system through intervention strategies.

This vision has been the basis of the multi-faceted and culturally appropriate services that RESQ provides over the years. These include: mentoring, counselling, dispute resolution, restorative justice, free legal consultation, mediation, advocacy, youth engagement and partnership.

Dr. Cowans, co-founder of RESQ is a psychotherapist and has been involved from the beginning by facilitating a counselling program as part of the Restorative Justice Program. This has become a vital part of RESQ’s program.

An important part of the RESQ family is Morley Wilson who serves as the Office Administrator and Assistant to the Executive Director. She states in the promotional video that volunteerism is an essential part of the work that RESQ does. She mentioned that, “Volunteerism is a great way to teach children about civic participation. It’s also a way of building relationships with families. For example, if a parent is volunteering and the child sees the parent doing so, it’s like role modelling; the child will want to learn the steps.”

The COVID-19 pandemic has not stopped RESQ from fulfilling its mandate. It has offered: free tax clinics, free food and groceries, job opportunities, free culinary training and gender-based violence prevention workshops. Currently they offer a Summer Program from July 19^th – August 13^th using the Zoom platform to prepare Grade 8 students for Grade 9.