YFC Canada

About PYU

Hey there! So, you’re interested in getting to know what’s going on with Youth Unlimited in Peterborough? You are in the right place!

Youth Unlimited in Peterborough offers a number of programs for youth between the ages of 8 – 24. We have several mainstay programs, and we are constantly evolving as we respond to current needs and trends in youth culture.

We operate primarily out of our main building at The Bridge Youth Centre (256 Brock Street), as well as offering some programs off-site, in schools and day trips throughout the summer.

At The Bridge, we are all about creating a safe space based on respect in community with one another. We are a faith-based organization operating under Christian principles, and welcome anyone who walks through our doors.

Vision

It is our vision that through strategic partnerships and alliances, as well as through our own front-line endeavors, to see the lives of youth in the Greater Kawartha area attain their full potential as God designed it.

 

Mission

Serving the needs of youth, by offering Christ’s hope in a safe, loving environment.

Our History

 

The Beginning

Youth for Christ was born in the mid-1940s through an impulse from the heart of God that simultaneously touched dozens of leaders in different places with a concern to reach young people normal church channels were missing. This led to dynamic young evangelists, using revolutionary methods, conducting lively mass rallies in dozens of cities under the name of Youth for Christ.

Billy Graham
In 1944 Billy Graham becomes the first Youth For Christ staff member beginning the ongoing legacy of serving youth in the Americas.

1990 – Keven James
Becomes the first Executive Director of YFC in Peterborough. In 1999 Tim Coles become the new Executive Director, ushering in a new focus and direction for the organisation by opening a drop-in centre on Hunter St called “The Bridge”.

The Bridge
2000 – The Bridge receives a notice of non-renewal of lease. The building owners wanted to use the location for restaurant space. The Bridge Youth Centre rents office space in the Charlotte Mews as the staff and volunteers don bright yellow shirts and take to the streets to meet with youth in coffee shops and parks. Thus The “virtual” Bridge is born.

2002 Onward – The Peterborough Youth For Christ Board of Directors find a new building to make their home. Located at 256 Brock St, on the corners of Brock and Bethune. This building would go on to become a sanctuary to youth and families throughout the years. Programs would grow and change and adapt to the changing culture; but the heart of the organization would remain constant.

Throughout the Years…

Youth Unlimited has reached kids through drop-in nights, arts programs, in school support, Impact groups, hip-hop nights, concerts, after school programs, movie nights, jail visits, media nights, photography studios, summer programs, outings and events, mentoring, workshops, young families programs, guys groups, girls groups, cooking programs, one-to-one outreach, and on and on!

In addition to our own programming, we seek to serve the youth through partnerships hosted within The Bridge Youth Centre or outside of it’s doors. Some of these have been STRIVE, CAS, New Leaf, YWCA Gambling Awareness, City of Peterborough Junior Achievement, Park Place for Youth, The John Howard Society, YES Family Shelter, The Brock Mission, DYS and more.