Youth Peer & Outreach

The little program with a big heart

EPIC's longest running and primary program, Youth Peer is a free after-school program for kids 8-18 at four centres in the Cape Breton Regional Municipality. Kids are matched with an older university or high school volunteer who tutors and mentors them one afternoon a week throughout the school year. Art, music and wellness workshops and healthy snacks are are provided.

PEP

Wrap-around support for families

Parents meet with an EPIC Facilitator one night a week throughout the school year to discuss parenting issues. The emphasis is on improving family relationships, encouraging each other and becoming more resilient parents.

Volunteerism Awards

Post-secondary Students

Awards for $500 are given yearly to a graduating post-secondary student who has distinguished themselves for outstanding volunteerism beyond course requirements

ADAPT

Extending the reach of Youth Peer

With generous funding from the Joyce Family Foundation, EPIC will, for the next five years, be spreading and fostering the Youth Peer model to communities that are too far afield for their kids to get to us. The four new peer tutoring sites will be administered by Youth Peer partner organizations and assisted by EPIC to maximize the potential of marginalized youth in Nova Scotia.

Scholarships

Graduating High School Students

Annual $500 scholarships to graduating students in 3 communities to "Further the Education of a Graduating Student Distinguished by High School Staff for Commitment to Community or Perseverance in Overcoming Obstacles to Advancement"

Humanity Awards

Deserving High School Students

The Patriarch Vincent Waterman Humanity Award began in 2019 as a tribute to long-time EPIC Board Member  and community volunteer, Vincent Waterman who died in January 2019.