History
Every person has the right
to a self-constructed life. This freedom is founded and nurtured
from within, and is learned from the context of our lives.
THE DOORWAY was founded as
an experiment in social change. The initial goal was to test
a cost-effective method of assisting long-term street youth
(aged 17 – 24) in moving to mainstream society.
Our methodology was developed
as an alternative to the increasing costs of traditional
programs, which foster dependence, rather than nurture independence.
During the development of our
original project proposal, we conducted research with front-line
workers in existing programs throughout Canada and the United
States. The information we collected strongly indicated that
a new direction was needed – a direction that allowed self-determination,
ownership for the individual’s life and critically, accountability
for one’s choices.
THE DOORWAY, a Youth Employment
Society, opened its doors in Calgary in January of 1988,
seeking answers to these questions:
- What options work?
- What are the barriers to accessing
the available options?
- What is the cost for someone to move
from long-term street culture to being a taxpayer?
What emerged from our pilot
project was a non-traditional approach that boasts a consistently
high success rate. |
