Posted:
Congratulations to Grace Atkinson, HRP Youth Program Adult Leader, who was honoured as HRP’s Volunteer of the Year at last evening’s appreciation dinner. Grace has been a volunteer with the HRP Youth Program since 2014. In this role, she mentors and directs community-minded youth, 14-18 years of age, who are making positive choices and building leadership skills.
Grace is a recent graduate from the Dalhousie Social Work program, and completed her Social Work Placement with HRP’s Victim Services Unit; she remains a dedicated Victim Services mobile patrol volunteer. Grace has also volunteered her time with Metro Turning Point and Out of the Cold Shelter.
The following are excerpts from Grace’s nomination:
“From the day Grace joined the Youth Program she has brought with her a number of positive attributes including her vibrant attitude and a dedication to the program that is unwavering. Grace has demonstrated on a number of occasions that she is a natural leader by proactively taking on tasks that require work both during meeting nights as well as on her own time, and doing them with great organization and perfection.”
“One of the most spectacular things that Grace brings to the Youth Program is her ability to connect with the youth members. This is of such great importance within the program and allows Grace to build relationships with the youth and keep the gap between adult leaders and the youth members close. The youth’s level of comfort with Grace also allows her to have an insight as to what is going on within the program, and/or any issues that a member may have outside of the program. Grace is very astute and notifies the Program Co-ordinators of these issues that she identifies so as to have a discussion about how they can best be handled. Grace’s opinion in these discussions is highly valued.”
Thank you, Grace, for being an inspiring leader!