Building individual social capital for youth at risk

[John-Paul Hatala]

I just came back from a 4 day workshop with some participants who are deemed 'youth at risk'. Out of school, mental issues, addiction and other issues that impact their ability to be self-sufficient. The program director asked me to work with them on increasing their social capital or at the very least getting them to think about how their network has positive or negative effects on their lives. To my surprise, the concepts I covered with them resonated quite well with the group. It especially became apparent that they were buying into the content after they attended a networking event with local employers. They performed beautifully and understood the importance of linking who they knew with what they hoped to accomplish.

Overall, the experience was quite positive. The concepts were delivered and they seem to make sense of it all. I felt that the youth got something out of the experience and is backed by the fact that their emailing me with requests for my social resources.