Adorning the walls of The KidSafe Project’s office are dozens of children’s paintings. Nothing special for a kid’s charity, you may think, until you realize that each piece of art was lovingly created, as a team, by a Vancouver police officer and one of the city’s most vulnerable children.
The KidSafe Arts Connect is one of many programs provided by this East Vancouver-based charity, supporting more than 490 at-risk elementary school children each year. Understanding that kids are most vulnerable when not in school, KidSafe provides nutrition, education and a safe environment for participants referred by teachers and social workers. Every spring, summer and winter break, KidSafe keeps open six elementary schools around the city, providing meals, outdoor activities, academic support, field trips and positive relationships with adults.
The program represents a core value of the charity: to not only provide a haven for children in need, but to use that work to help bolster areas often overlooked — building positive relationships with police, increasing confidence in children and youth and providing skills in art-making practices. Other programs in KidSafe’s rapport are built around six “pillars”: literacy, health and wellness, arts and culture, leadership, sustainability, science and nature.
