Our Mission
At Washington Kids Foundation we sincerely believe that all youth deserve the opportunity to achieve their fullest potential. We inspire youth to live with purpose, passion and commitment to build the necessary skills to overcome challenges and experience sustained success. Our programs provide a platform for youth to compete, connect and care for themselves and others.
Our Philosophy
Our Life Pillars philosophy – made up of Fit For Life, Lead For Life and Learn For Life elements, is designed to give youth a solid foundation on which to create a better life. By providing a positive, safe environment and a team of mentors dedicated to helping youth reconnect with their passions and goals, we help them overcome obstacles getting in the way of their success.
Fit For Life
- Emphasizes the use of fitness, training, and nutrition in order to help youth improve motor skills, flexibility, strength, and team participation skills. By learning healthy ways of living, youth can see marked improvements in their overall physical and mental well-being.
Lead For Life
- Uses the power of relationship and mentorship to help youth become more self-aware and introspective, increase their overall confidence and self-esteem, and foster respect for themselves and others. Youth grow these skills through individual and group sessions, as well as, ongoing 1:1 mentorship from our coaches.
Learn For Life
- Teaches youth to be life-long learners by helping them develop effective reading, studying, and homework skills, while also creating space for youth to explore topics they are passionate about.
Truth & Reconciliation Statement
The Washington Kids Foundation acknowledges that our programs take place on the unceded traditional and ancestral territories of Indigenous people. Our centres and programs are located on the lands of the Semiahmoo, Kwantlen, Katzie and Tsawwassen First Nations in the Lower Mainland, the Squamish First Nation in the North, and the Esquimalt, Songhees and WSÁNEĆ First Nations on Vancouver Island. We respect all First Nations peoples whose historical relationship with the land continues to this day. We acknowledge Canada’s grim history that led to the suffering of Indigenous peoples and the impact generational trauma continues to have on Indigenous youth, families, and communities. We believe every youth deserves the opportunity to achieve their fullest potential and are dedicated to providing those opportunities in every place our programs run.
Washington Kids Foundation used the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada’s Calls to Actions along with our mission statement to develop an actionable plan for Truth and Reconciliation.
Fit For Life
- We commit to continuing our work within the Indigenous populations our programs run to develop, encourage and train young indigenous athletes to excellence.
- We commit to helping remote Indigenous communities develop and run physical literacy programs by providing supplies, equipment and training to their leaders.
Learn for Life
- We commit to educating ourselves and our organization by learning about Indigenous peoples, cultures, languages, communities, histories, and athletics.
- We commit to unlearning conscious and subconscious racial biases and stereotypes so we can be actively inclusive.
- We commit to providing our coaches and leadership with specialized training to support children and youth with generational trauma.
Lead for Life
- We commit to leading our coaches and teams in the effort to be anti-racist.
- We commit to being led by our Indigenous community partners as we work towards reconciliation together.
