Healthy Communities • Y Stories • YMCA Employment Programs • YMCA Newcomer Programs
Making a change for good: Pamela’s Y Story
18 April 2018 - by YMCA of Greater Toronto
By: Yonatan Kiflu
In her role at the YMCA’s Employment Services centre in Mississauga, Pamela Yap helps people find clothing and travel support for interviews, and helps them get settled in their communities.
But her path to her current job was a winding one. Before Pamela started working for the Y, she was precariously navigating a career in the digital media world — an industry where work can be hard to secure for long stretches at a time.
Once out of work and thinking a career change might be in order, she applied for and started working for a Family Services organization. Her contract was short-lived, but the experience and new found interest stuck with her. Pamela found that she really connected with helping others and making a difference, and five months later, she started working as an administrative agent with YMCA’s Youth Job Connections program.
Pamela says. “Some are experiencing housing issues, and they’re newcomers to Canada, so they have no job experience.”
Worse still, the jobs available to youth are scarce, and are often of low quality. That’s why, soon after she started working with marginalized and barriered individuals, Pamela also found herself volunteering regularly. Nowadays, when she’s not at the Y, Pamela can be found volunteering by helping people who are unemployed, new to the area, and trying to find housing.
Making a difference in people’s lives, and seeing transformation is what still drives Pamela to this day. Working with the Y has helped her realize this is where she wants to be: making a difference in the community, and giving back. “It’s incredibly humbling,” she says. “It’s made me realize that there’s a lot of people in our community that need help.”
In her role at the YMCA’s Employment Services centre in Mississauga, Pamela Yap helps people find clothing and travel support for interviews, and helps them get settled in their communities.
But her path to her current job was a winding one. Before Pamela started working for the Y, she was precariously navigating a career in the digital media world — an industry where work can be hard to secure for long stretches at a time.
Once out of work and thinking a career change might be in order, she applied for and started working for a Family Services organization. Her contract was short-lived, but the experience and new found interest stuck with her. Pamela found that she really connected with helping others and making a difference, and five months later, she started working as an administrative agent with YMCA’s Youth Job Connections program.
“It was a shock to see how barriered some of our youth are,”
Pamela says. “Some are experiencing housing issues, and they’re newcomers to Canada, so they have no job experience.”
Worse still, the jobs available to youth are scarce, and are often of low quality. That’s why, soon after she started working with marginalized and barriered individuals, Pamela also found herself volunteering regularly. Nowadays, when she’s not at the Y, Pamela can be found volunteering by helping people who are unemployed, new to the area, and trying to find housing.
Making a difference in people’s lives, and seeing transformation is what still drives Pamela to this day. Working with the Y has helped her realize this is where she wants to be: making a difference in the community, and giving back. “It’s incredibly humbling,” she says. “It’s made me realize that there’s a lot of people in our community that need help.”
