Sportsmanship Award
Last month, Joice Lakuo scooped up the Sportsmanship Award. Not only does she play with heart, skill, and competitiveness, but she cheers other players on with vigour as well as communicating effective strategy to her teammates! Joice has participated in several of our other programs as well, including our soccer team with the Edmonton Sport and Social Club!

ESSC Soccer
Inner City Recreation & Wellness Program soccer team, known as the Boyle Street Football Club, started a new season of gym soccer in January. The team, which plays with the Edmonton Sport and Social Club, plays out of the Boyle Street Plaza YMCA. It took some time and a lot of patience, but we established a diverse co-ed team of soccer-loving community members who play with heart every game.

Animal Assisted Therapy
Chimo Animal Assisted Wellness & Learning Society started bringing a therapy dog to Boyle Street Community Services in February! Community members love the fun-loving feeling of having a dog around the centre.

Pet Food Bank Needs Donations All Year Round
The generosity demonstrated by supporters during the holiday season warms the hearts of volunteers, staff, community members, and other supporters like no other time of the year. It’s really great to see people come together to support one another. One lesson we might receive in the wake of the festive season, is that these intentions to which we feel called over the holidays – compassion, selflessness, support, and realizing the very human story of populations facing homelessness and poverty in the inner city – are needed year round. The need doesn’t take a break when the sun comes out in the summer, or when the temperature drops below -20 in January or February. Homelessness, poverty, and social isolation persist, and so does the need for pet food donations, monetary donations, clothing, personal hygiene materials, volunteering, advocacy, and all of the amazing contributions of Edmontonians. The need persists, the barriers persist – can the involvement also persist?

Snowboarding Success
During the month of January, Inner City Rec. took individuals from the Boyle Street Youth Unit to Snow Valley to experience downhill snow sports of skiing and snowboarding. This year we had a great turnout and some youth who never had the opportunity to access the lifts got to try their hand . . . err . . . legs at it!

Street Prints Calendars Available Now
January may be over, but it’s never too late to start planning the rest of your year with a beautiful Street Prints 2019 calendar. It is full of the work of local artists and printed locally by the fine folks at UR Signs. The calendar is now available at MINT Pharmacy (10631 96 Street) as well as online through facebook.com/streetprintscollective.

Rebecca Kaiser and Mike Siek are Program Coordinators with ICRWP.