“Unless someone like you cares a whole awful lot, nothing is going to get better. It’s not.”

– The Lorax by Dr. Seuss

Our Values:

  • Integrity in all we do
  • Honour the strengths of people and community
  • Holism emotional, spiritual, physical and intellectual, environmental and cultural
  • Respect for all people

Our Mission

To provide responsive and individualized services that foster the hopes and dreams of people and their communities.

Our Vision

A community where all people have well-being, are honoured, and can dream.

Who We are

New Directions for Children, Youth, Adults and Families Inc. is a nonprofit community-based organization that provides a diverse range of supports to individuals in a variety of settings. The range of services and supports we provide include day services to 24/7 staff residential settings, independent living where staff provide assistance only in identified targeted areas, supportive housing, cultural and education services, therapy, clinical and counselling services, and professional training.

Individuals We Support

We provide supports to children, adolescents and adults in a variety of settings, within the community. Individuals may have an intellectual disability and/or physical disability and/or use American Sign Language to communicate. We encourage every individual we support to be as independent as possible, respect that these individuals can make decisions to the best of their ability; and advocate that others in the community respect these choices and opinions.

 

Our History

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Beginnings

1885

  • Founded as a home for destitute and unwanted children by Christian Women’s Union.

1915

  • Tuxedo Home, 621 Academy, opens.

1924

  • Manitoba Government passes Child Welfare Act. Children’s Aid Society (CAS) formed (Child and Family Services).

1940

  • Foster care leads to depopulation of the “Home”.

1945

  • Tuxedo Home is sold. The remaining concrete cornerstone resides in the New Directions reception area.

Foundation

1949

  • With the decline in children the board faces a challenge on the direction of the organization, researches best practice and chooses a new model of care “small community based treatment centres” and opens a residence at 766 Victor Ave, the first of its kind in Canada.

1950 - 80's

  • A network of community homes (8) as well as a school program is developed for emotionally and behaviorally disturbed children. The community-based approach is the foundation of our current programs.

Diversification

1978

  • An Executive Director is hired with a mandate to diversify programs: Training Resources for Youth (TRY), Family Therapy, Resources for Adolescent Parents (RAP), Transition, Education, and Resources for Females (TERF) and Treatment Resources and Individualized Living Supports (TRAILS) begin.

1983

  • Manitoba government requests Children’s Home to create a community residence for Deaf multi-handicapped adults; Services to Multi-Handicapped begins. (SMH)

1996

  • Children’s Home changes its name to New Directions for Children, Youth, Adults and Families to better reflect the services it provides. Name was suggested by participant.

1999

  • Began a concentrated effort to improve cultural competency, instituting mandatory training including Culture and Diversity and Breaking Barriers Training.

2000

  • Devolution of Child Welfare Programs to Aboriginal Mandated Authorities (AJI-CWI)

2002

  • SMH becomes Bridges, Empowering People in the Community (EPC), Alternative Solutions, Shift Staffed Homes (SSH) and Supported Apartment Living (SAL).
  • A Peek at Colonization Training begins.

2004

  • Opikihiwawin/RAP Pow-Wow leads to New Directions sponsoring an annual Pow-Wow.

2005

  • Social Role Valorization Training begins.

2006

  • In 2006 out of the Greendell Community Treatment Centre, came St. Michael’s Road, a home requested by the children leaving Greendell, who were not able to return to live with their families.

2007

  • RAP, Obawaanaan, Opikihiwawin move to 836 Ellice Avenue.
  • Alternative Solutions main office locates to 55 Donald.

2008

  • New SSH homes are opened in 2008, 2009 and in Springfield 2010
  • New Directions hires their first Communications Coordinator

2009

  • Interagency Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (IFASD) program moved over to New Directions
  • Kai Na Quiniget, a home for youth who are Deaf and Aboriginal moved over to New Directions.

Community

2010

  • New Directions celebrates its 125th Anniversary.
  • Parenting Centre opens and is the new home for the Reaching Out Project and the former Obawaanaan (Counselling Parents in The Community-CPIC).
  • Wakopa (another CTC like St. Michael’s Rd. opens)

2011

  • DEAF Services are strengthened by bringing all Deaf services under one program.
  • TERF celebrates 25th anniversary.

2012

  • SAL celebrates 20th anniversary.
  • SSH opens 4 homes in Portage la Prairie for persons previously residing in the Manitoba Developmental Centre
  • TERF opens a Transition House for youth exiting the sex trade.
  • Board of Directors approved launch of first social enterprise “Genesis”.

2013

  • New Directions is named one of Canada’s Best Diversity Employers for 2013
  • Shift Staffed homes expands its program and opens it first children’s home

2014

  • After a 4-year struggle, which included a mediated resolution through the Manitoba Human Rights Commission, New Directions was finally able to open its Shift Staffed Home for adults in the Rural Municipality (RM) of Springfield
  • New Directions opens My Home, a program offering individualized residences for high needs youth

2015

  • New Directions re-locates 17 of its 19 program offices to a newly renovated space at 717 Portage Ave.
  • Shift Staffed Homes adds 3 more homes for children with disabilities.

2016

  • Community Treatment Centres expands to include Roots – specialized case management and supports to transition children from CTC or My Home back to their family or community. The three residential options are re-branded and called Child Centred Services
  • Genesis (Social Enterprise activity in the TRY program) is joined by two more Social Enterprises – On the Button and Café 6
  • New Directions receives official status as a high school and names the school Biindigen (Enter/Welcome) New Directions High School “A Holistic Approach to Education”

2017

  • Family Connections is created with the amalgamation of Bridges, TRAILS, and RSFC programs.
  • Alternative Solutions develops a Home Cleaning Business for the public, hires, and trains the DREAM participants to do the cleaning.
  • Supported Apartment Living creates a “Cluster Model” of Supported Independent Living.
  • Deaf Support Services adds a Community Home for Deaf Adults.
  • New Directions joins Twitter
  • New Direction’s Sustainability Committee completes its’ first agency wide community clean up.

2018

  • The Manitoba Learning Centre becomes the Multi-disciplinary Assessment and Consultation Centre (MACC). It provides psychological assessments to assist with determining eligibility for other services, and functional assessments to address any diagnosable learning, emotional,
    physical or sensory disabilities.
  • Contract signed with Leila Pharmacy to provide nursing, pharmacy, and psychiatric consulting services.
  • New Directions in collaboration with the Canadian Centre for Child Protection launches “Big Feeling Come and Go” an illustrated book that helps families & organizations support children who’ve experienced trauma.
  • New Directions’ staff attend National Indigenous Peoples Day.
  • New Directions adds a Deaf Culture mandatory training for staff.

2019

  • New Directions reorganizes its programs into Service areas including:
  • Home Services: A continuum of residential and housing supports for a range of populations that require resources to live independently in the community.
  • Cultural, Educational & Training Services: Resources needed to assist youth to complete high school or develop employment skills. Indigenous cultural resources for fostered and adopted children and youth and their families. (Formerly Training Resources for Youth, Resources for Adolescent Parentings, Training Resources for Females and including Opikihiwawin)
  • Resource Services: Family Therapy Services, Adult Day Services, Multidisciplinary Assessment and Consultation Centre (MACC), Evaluation, Research and Student placements comprise the centralized Resource Services at New Directions.
  • In support of the Murdered and Missing Indigenous Women and in conjunction with the TRC call to action in supporting the Indigenous community, New Directions launches the Red Dress project by putting a red dress in every window at New Directions.
  • ND opens a Health Services Office at 717 Portage Ave. in collaboration with Leila Pharmacy.
  • New Directions adds an Ally Journey Workshop to mandatory training for staff.
  • New Directions hires its first Marketing and Digital Content Specialist for the first time and joins Facebook, Instagram and LinkedIn.

2020

  • New Directions hires their first Fund Development Manager to begin an Annual Giving Campaign.
  • The COVID-19 Pandemic creates a shift in how New Directions works including the temporary closure of the offices and a shutdown of Adult Day Services, classrooms move to working online and office staff work from their homes. Direct Support Workers continue to work in the homes with increased PPE.
    2020
  • ND Property Services
  • ND Property Services started as the Compassion Network’s pilot project From the Ground Up, before being turned over to New Directions for Children, Youth, Adults and Families Inc. and incorporated into our existing social enterprise Genesis. This partnership actively seeks to employ youth and adults who are receiving supports through New Directions and any of the 14 Compassion Network organizations.
  • New Directions opens a Supported Independent Living branch in Portage la Prairie
  • Re-Org 2.0
  • The reorganization is fine-tuned and known as Re-org 2.0. It is divided into three Areas of Service including Child Services, Adult Services and Culture, Education & Training Services.
  • Child Services
  • Includes Child Home Supports, Community Homes for Children, Deaf Home Supports, Roots, Family Therapy Services including Families Affected by Sexual Assault (FASA), Family Support, Education and Counselling (FASD)and Clinical Services within Multi-Disciplinary Assessment & Consultation Centre (MACC)
  • Adult Services
  • Includes Adult Day Service, Adult Family Supports, Adult Home Share, Employment Services, Shift Staffed Homes, Cluster Housing, Supported Independent Living, Occupational Therapy Services with MACC (includes a connection to the adult side of Deaf Home Supports)
  • Culture, Education & Training Services
  • Includes Opikihiwawin, Cultural Resources and Training, Biindigen School, Gordon Bell Associated Classroom, Job Training & Café 6, Specialized Classrooms, Transition House, Kapaapako Miikiwaap & Understanding & Working with Children & Youth Who Have Been Sexually Exploited (SEY) Training and Truth and Reconciliation Commission(TRC) Response (includes former RAP, TERF, TRY)

Testimonials

One of my favourite parts about New Directions is Karen and her support. She’s very caring and helpful no matter what. She made a great match for Rick and I in 2017. She’s fabulous!

Ed – Adult Home Share

As a Homeshare Provider there’s so much to be thankful for and to enjoy. It has given me the opportunity and the support to make an impactful change in people’s lives as well as my own.

Rick – Home Share Provider

“Just having that other voice speak for me because things can be overwhelming at times when you’re trying to fight for your child’s best interest”.

Parent – FASD

“The program services are very helpful especially when dealing with complex family needs; they provided hands on strategies and introduced the family to healthy ways of coping”.

Community member – FASD