Debbie Deschamps (Healthy & Thriving Award)

Cook/Bus Driver, Pinecrest-Queensway Community Health Centre

• a part of the community she works in
• over the past 27 years, has taken on the roles of child minder; parent pre-school support worker; housekeeper; respite worker at the family shelter; cook; and bus driver
• prepsmeals, greets children and getting them on and off the bus, organizes the staff and activities, and generally just making sure the place keeps going
• learned how to say phrases in Arabic to help soothe and calm newcomer children
• past 11 years at the Headstart Nursery School alone, Debbie has touched the lives of approximately 800 children and their families in our community

Darlene Fripp (Healthy & Thriving Award)

Volunteers at Cooking Programs, Boys and Girls Club of Ottawa

• found in the kitchens of various BGCO Clubhouses across the City, prepping after-school snacks and sharing her passion for cooking and baking with members, many of which grow-up in some of Ottawa's higher-risk communities and are rarely given an opportunity
• provides a positive sense of self-worth, accomplishment, and pride for the masterpieces they created together in the kitchen
• ensures that members are learning the proper etiquette, emergency procedures and safety procedures of the kitchen during her program and how to eat fresh, healthy, and on a budget
• recently began helping out in the outdoor garden and indoor Tower garden programs, ensuring that members are aware of the process from growing to cultivating to cooking the food they enjoy
• recently passed the 4-year mark since beginning to volunteer, and she will also soon reach another very impressive milestone - 1000 Volunteer Hours donated to BGCO

Crown Ward Championship Education Team (Collaborative Award)

Various organizations

• Algonquin College, Big Brothers Big Sisters Ottawa, Carleton University, Children’s Aid Society of Ottawa, La Cité Collégiale, Le Conseil des Écoles Catholiques du Centre-Est, Le Conseil des Écoles Publiques de l’Est de l’Ontario, Ministry of Children and Youth Services, Ministry of Education, The Ottawa Catholic School Board, The Ottawa-Carleton District School Board, University of Ottawa (past partners: Odawa Native Friendship Centre, Ottawa Police Service, Youth Services Bureau, Ministry of Advanced Education and Skills Development, Boys and Girls Club of Ottawa)
• a shared approach to facilitating youth progress in school and work when transitioning out of foster care
• All partners on the CWCET Steering Committee volunteer their time, experience, skills and passion to the work; ability to work together to overcome institutional, systemic, and historical barriers in order to improve education outcomes for children and youth in care
• creation of a data sharing sub-committee and the completion of a protocol between the CAS and local school boards allowing targeted opportunities to work together for children and youth in care and to begin measuring educational outcomes
• organized conferences to bring CAS youth, staff, and caregivers together with teachers and school board staff to learn from each other, to dispel stigmas, and to hear about successes and challenges
• Completion of the UNLOCKING DREAMS, OPENING DOORS: PARTNERING FOR EDUCATIONAL SUCCESS – MOU between the CAS and the 4 local Post-Secondary Institutions in 2010 AND a renewed agreement ready to be signed in early 2018
• committee created an experiential learning sub-committee with a purpose of creating experiential opportunities and events where youth in care can learn to tap into their passions and skills while exploring a variety of future jobs and careers