SIGN for the Times: Recent Episodes
SIGN Communications
The Society for the Involvement of Good Neighbours, commonly known as SIGN, is a not-for-profit agency in Yorkton, Saskatchewan Canada that provides 24 social and community programs and services ranging from daycare and before-and-after school programs to parenting and family support, from senior mobility to assistance for those living with HIV, from housing support to vocational employment, from walk-in counselling services to Indigenous cultural programs. Our podcasts explore those programs and include conversations with people who speak first-hand about the issues they have faced, but more importantly, how they have successfully overcome them.
SIGN Life Skills works with youth ages 12 to 20 to prepare them for the adult and working world. Services include one-on-one individual and group mentoring, opportunities to meet socially with their peers, and in all activities encourage them to utilize the 40 key internal and external assets that will assist them in their growth and development. In this podcast, we talk to Christopher Smith, the manager of SIGN Life Skills.
SIGN Chair of the Board Sheila Hintz and Executive Director Andrew Sedley talk about the support the organizations receives, both financial and donations of goods which are passed on to those who need them. Sheila donates the funds for the Elton Davidge Scholarships which SIGN presents each spring to a graduate of both the Yorkton Regional High School and Sacred Heart High School, and what motivated her to do that.
The SIGN Family Support program provides guidance, assistance and advice to up to 75 families in east-central Saskatchewan. Included is a program started in the fall to assist students going back to school to ensure they have the supplies they need to make the best of their studies. That program is now year-round, because, after all, students do run out of pencils, pens, notebooks and other necessities.
We revisit the work being done by Housing Support, a program of SIGN which assists people who are homeless or hard to house, and talk about World Homeless Day, which this year falls on Thanksgiving Day in Canada, Oct. 10.
Sydney Leik, a college student working towards her social work degree, spent nine months working at SIGN in the Life Skills program. She provides her personal perspective on transitioning from studying to working, and her experiences at SIGN. Reluctant to take it on at first, she overcame her reluctance and found both support and confidence.
What started out as SIGN Walk-In Counselling in 2016 has now expanded to be a province-wide program called Rapid Access Counselling. People who need to talk to someone about their problems and concerns can connect with a counsellor at SIGN in Yorkton and Kamsack, or by phone or video with counsellors elsewhere in the province.
An update about a project of the Society for the Involvement of Good Neighbours (SIGN) which started last fall, which encourages and enables youth to become more involved in the community, and helps promote their well-being. Youth Resilience works with youth ages 12 to 18 to build resilience and involve young people in activities and decision-making in Yorkton. The project facilitator provides an update.
A discussion about career opportunities at SIGN, how and where to apply, and the compensation and benefits offered by SIGN.
This podcast explores and explains Yorkton Hub, a collaborative effort by local agencies, provincial government ministries and organizations that help those in Yorkton who need assistance to stay out of harm's way, or to prevent harm to others. The Hub deals with situations where the front-line supporting agency has exhausted its options, and calls on other agencies to assist. It is a model of co-operation and collaboration that does interventions on average once a week to offer help to those who need that assistance.
A conversation with SIGN Executive Director Andrew Sedley about the challenges and accomplishments of 2021, and a look ahead at the new year.
A new project of the Society for the Involvement of Good Neighbours (SIGN) encourages and enables youth to become more involved in the community, and helps promote their well-being. Youth Resilience grew out of the realization that there is a need to provide more proactive and preventive ways to increase mental well-being, decrease substance use and reduce negative behaviour among youth. To do that, the project will work with youth ages 12 to 18 to build resilience and involve young people in activities and decision-making in Yorkton.
A report assessing housing in Yorkton concludes that homelessness and hard-to-house issues in Yorkton are worsening and recommends both short-term and long-term action to address them.
The report was prepared for the Society for the Involvement of Good Neighbours (SIGN) and is based on surveys of those affected by homelessness in Yorkton, focus groups, one-on-one interviews and research into local demographic and economic factors.
A look at the workings of the SIGN Board of Directors, a group of nine dedicated volunteers who go about their job quietly behind the scenes.
The Kamsack Family Resource Centre (KFRC), a SIGN program which serves the community northeast of Yorkton, is undertaking a two-pronged food security and nutrition program starting in June.
There is no food bank in the community, so Kamsack Family Food Security will provide some of the basic food needs of families who have an emergency situation.
Kamsack Family Meal Kits aims to improve nutrition for families by teaching how to prepare and cook healthy meals that will encourage long-term healthy eating habits.
Andrea and Megan, the staff of KFRC, talk about the whys and hows of the programs.
SIGN Sexual Assault Counselling and All In One Family cultural awareness programs are conducting virtual live-streamed yoga classes in April, under the guidance of Nicole, who was trained by the Saskatchewan Indigenous Yoga Association. As she says, there is a strong relationship between yoga, founded in northern India, and our North American Indigenous cultures. "We all have a place on the yoga mat," she points out. Not only mats, she adds, but yoga can be practiced on a pillow, a chair, in a wheelchair... whatever is best for the participant, including the young and elderly.
SIGN and 13 other agencies in Yorkton are conducting a comprehensive study of homelessness and hidden homelessness in Yorkton, which is expected to be completed at the end of May. It is intended to provide a path forward for the community to tackle this often-invisible and sometimes ignored issue. As part of the study, a survey of those who are homeless now is being undertaken until April 23. Those who want to make their voices heard are invited to complete the survey at SIGN on Broadway during regular business hours until that date. If you know of someone in this situation, please make them aware of the survey.
We talk with the manager of SIGN Life Skills, a program for youth ages 12 to 20 years of age -- and sometimes a bit older, depending on community need and interest. It is a preventive and proactive program which focuses on assisting youth to develop life skills to benefit them as they enter the adult world. It offers both individual mentorship and opportunities to participate in various group activities. The program hours are flexible so that they meet the needs of the youth and their family.
Serendipity Thrift Store, located on Broadway St. in Yorkton and operated by Yorkton Victory Church, is a great example of people helping people -- goods ranging from baby clothing to large furniture items are donated to the store, and resold at very affordable prices to those who can make good use of them -- and sometimes given to them in cases of great need. We talk to the pastor of the church about his motivation for operating the store, and the store manager and a volunteer about the day-to-day activities.
Life Without Barriers is a SIGN program which assists people with acquired brain injury. It is a partnership with Saskatchewan Health Authority and SGI (Saskatchewan Government Insurance), which last year marked its 20th year. The program aims to work with survivors of brain injury and their families, to enable them to live as successfully as possible in their communities.
Until she moved back to Yorkton in September of 2019, Kachine had lived out of a suitcase most of her life. A mother of two who is now in her late 20s, she had spent her childhood and teen years moving from place to place, her family seldom in one location for more than a year or two. In 2018 she came in contact with KidsFirst Home Visiting, a program located at the Society for the Involvement of Good Neighbours (SIGN), as well as other SIGN programs. She talks about her life then, and the big changes in her life in the past few years.
Please note: We talked to Kachine in early 2020 as part of a program intended to be shown on AccessNow TV, the community channel of Access Communications. Much of the audio for this podcast is taken from that production, and we are grateful to AccessNow for its use. While Covid-19 did impact production, as it did everything else in our lives, Access still intends to produce the program, and we will let you know when it will be shown on AccessNow.
The story of how SIGN Positive Impact worked with The Salvation Army in Yorkton, Norquay Co-op and many others to bring Christmas food and toy hampers to families in Kamsack and area in this year of Covid. Almost 700 people had a better Christmas because of their work and dedication.
Homelessness in Yorkton is not very visible, but it is very real, and SIGN Housing Support deals with it on a daily basis, helping those who do not have a place to sleep. This is the second of a two-part series examining the problem. We talk with two individuals and an older middle-aged couple who experienced it, focusing on the positive results from assistance providing by Housing Support.
Homelessness in Yorkton is not very visible. There are no camps, no people sleeping on the sidewalks. But it is real, very real, and SIGN Housing Support deals with it on a daily basis, helping those who do not have a place to sleep. This is the first of a two-part series examining the problem. We talk with the Housing Support manager, tell the story of one man who experienced it first hand, and talk with a landlord who rents to those who cannot find a place because of their history, their lack of funds or personal issues.
Candice Nelson, the SIGN Positive Impact social worker, talks about the lunch program she and staff of the Kamsack Family Resource Centre initiated in spring when school lunch programs in Kamsack SK -- and the schools -- shut down because of Covid-19. It had strong support from the Kamsack community, without which the program would not have been possible. Although schools are back in operation, the lunch program continues this fall to assist those in need.
Karmen Pearce, a counsellor with the SIGN Walk-in Counselling Clinic, talks about taking time for self-care as we mark World Mental Health Day on Oct. 10. The clinic is a free service provided by SIGN in Yorkton, SK. For more information visit www.signyorkton.ca or find us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram @signyorkton.
David Dyste, a counsellor with the SIGN Walk-in Counselling Clinic, talks about managing emotions as we mark World Mental Health Day on Oct. 10. The clinic is a free service provided by SIGN in Yorkton, SK. For more information visit www.signyorkton.ca or find us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram @signyorkton.
Jamie DeVos, the SIGN Triple P manager, talks about the Positive Parenting Program. We talk about this fall's groups and seminars, including the new Fear-Less program. We also hear from Amber, a healthcare worker and mother of four who has been a participant in the Triple P Stepping Stones program, which helps parents manage problem behaviour and developmental issues common in children with a disability.
A busy mother of three active kids talks about her family's experience with SIGN Early Learning Centre (daycare) and the Before and After School Program.
If the audio is difficult to hear in spots, our apologies; the conversation was recorded remotely.
Covid-19 forced major changes at the Society for the Involvement of Good Neighbours (SIGN) in late March 2020. As the organization contemplates a careful and gradual re-opening, if it obvious that "normal" will not be the same as it was previously, but there is also a realization that some of the changes will remain in place because they have had a positive impact on the way SIGN delivers services.