Strathcona rebuilds peaceful, caring neighbourhood

Fears of violence, retribution starting to subside
Pamela McDowell, Calgary Herald

Published: Thursday, May 08, 2008
Having worked with a committee of youth to put on a teen dance every month at the Strathcona Community Association, McDuff believes youth engagement and leadership opportunities are essential. “The more we do for this age group, which is often overlooked, the better off they’ll be,” she says.

So participants will be asked to brainstorm community projects. These may be activities that encourage youth involvement or that addresses the second goal — creating a clean community. “We are very grateful to the Stepping Stones program which has agreed to fund these projects as they are proposed,” says Miller.

In fact, the community has received enthusiastic support for this workshop from many organizations and individuals, including the Calgary Youth Foundation and Child and Youth Friendly Calgary’s “Opening Doors” program. Local businesses will provide lunch and snacks and international inspirational singer Eric Proffitt will perform.

“The workshop’s intent is to create a culture of caring,” says Miller. “It will be life changing — I guarantee it.”

Motivator Eric Proffitt Rocks the Schools!

Temple City Star, Cardston Alberta, November 23, 2006

Proffitt travels as a member of the WAIT International team, who are “dedicated to helping teens avoid depression and suicide, addressing high risk behaviours and their associated consequences, providing strategies to teens for developing identity, worth, connection and purpose, and focusing on the positive changes teens can make.” As a member of the organization, Eric has travelled throughout Canada and the US spreading the message to youth
Going from a career as a computer engineer technologist to performing as an inspirational musician might seem like quite a stretch for most people. Not for Eric Proffitt.

Proffitt is a singer/songwriter and motivational speaker from Salt Spring Island, British Columbia who travelled to Southern Alberta last week to present a series of shows to a number of schools in and around Cardston. It seems that the career change suits Eric just fine.

“What we do is talk about high-risk behaviour and living life with a purpose,” says Proffitt. The show is geared toward teaching children and young adults the dangers of such difficult topics as drugs and alcohol, and depression. But, there is also a focus on positive changes, and identifying self-worth.

Proffitt travels as a member of the WAIT International team, who are “dedicated to helping teens avoid depression and suicide, addressing high risk behaviours and their associated consequences, providing strategies to teens for developing identity, worth, connection and purpose, and focusing on the positive changes teens can make.” As a member of the organization, Eric has travelled throughout Canada and the US spreading the message to youth.

“I looked at George Harrison [of The Beatles]. He was quoted as saying ‘The purpose of life is to find out ‘Who am I?’, ‘Why am I here?’ and ‘Where am I going?’’ and that’s part of what I try to convey to the kids,” said Proffitt. “’Who am I?’ is part of developing a positive identity and we are here to form positive connections and relationships with others.”

Proffitt talks like he’s been doing this all his life, but in reality, he’s only been at it for about a year. “I realized that I wasn’t doing what I wanted to be doing with my life,” he says. “I had the impression to talk to a lady where I was working, and it turns out that she was part of an organization call ‘The Virtues Project.’ She loved my idea, and it took off from there.”

The Virtues Project, like WAIT International, looks to support people’s “moral development” through offering “empowering strategies that inspire the practice of virtues in everyday life.”

It’s not as though Proffitt is presenting a show that makes you warm and fuzzy inside; he also offers some startling facts about what teens face today. “The top three leading causes of death among teens in Canada are accidents, many of which involve alcohol. After that, it’s suicide, and homicide,” says Proffitt. That’s why teaching kids about high risk behaviours is so important to the musician, especially when you consider that his own father committed suicide when Eric was only 11 months old.

The shows were held in Mountain View, Hill Spring, and Cardston, and Proffitt was well received everywhere he went. “It’s really been fun,” he says. And if you happened to miss the show, Proffitt has a CD available at the Cardston Book Store. The album, titled “Hold On” discusses in song many of the virtues that he covers in his show.

Proffitt will continue his performance tour, heading to a public health conference in B.C. before possibly heading out to Tennessee or Vermont in the near future.

Eric Makes Great Music

For the last 20 years, Eric has been using music to share his deepest thoughts and feelings with the world on numerous issues impacting the family from strangthening family communication to ending human trafficking .

His album "Hold On" released in 2006 was released in an effort to give today’s teenagers cool new music jam packed with honest and powerful underlying messages to help them stay true to their best self.

To find out more, click here!

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