Youth Testimonials
I have benefitted from this experience because when I first got here I was not in the right place emotionally and physically. Fighting with parents, not going to school, using drugs and alcohol for my depression and self-harming. Now, I have a good relationship with mom and dad as well doing really well in school. I have had good times doing activities. I have come to appreciate the wonderful staff supporting me and the VA girls that I have created a close bond with.
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I made great improvements with my family, being healthy and staying happy. The staff are super helpful and kind.
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Venture Academy has/did save my life. Although it was hard at times it was the most beneficial thing for me, my family, my health, and my wish to succeed at life. The staff were amazing at accommodating my needs. I always felt welcomed and comfortable with sharing my story and struggles.
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I learned new coping skills that are healthy and not life-threatening.
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I have learned so much from being here. My eyes have been opened to so many great things. I’ve been able to change for the better, I now realize that my parents were never the “bad guys”. They were just trying to do what was best for me, and at the time I just thought they wanted to control my life, I took them for granted and held grudges, but being at Venture I was able to able to let the past go, let the grudges go, see the whole picture for once and realize that life is too short to be ungrateful and miserable all the time. I lost years with my family that I won’t get back, but now I’m ready to make up for those years. I loved my house parents! They were so understanding and were one of the major impacts on why I changed. We would have very deep conversations that really made me think about everything in a different way. I also had so much fun with them as well. My goals moving forward include getting my family relationships back, being more positive, having an open mind, living life in the moment, and to be self loving. Venture was one of the best choices I have made because I know for a fact it would of not gotten better on its own.
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Venture completely changed my life, no joke. I’m really not sure how I would have ended up if I hadn’t had that little bit of trust in my parents. Since being here, I have become aware of who I am as a person and what I want out of life. I figured out who I truly am, without all of the noise.
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VA has helped me to find my strengths and weaknesses. I have grown in all areas of my life and will continue to work on becoming a better me!!
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Venture Academy has helped me to re-kindle relationships and help me realize my true value and purpose in life!
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My whole experience was absolutely amazing. I have nothing bad to say about the program, mostly because it changed my life forever and I couldn’t be prouder of myself.
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VA has helped me to find myself and to bring my dreams/goals to reality.
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I found that Venture was a great opportunity and environment for me to get back into a healthy, positive and productive lifestyle. It was a chance for me to get a break from negative patterns and situations and to strengthen my own inner self. I met people that I love, that helped me a lot. I hope to keep living my life with a positive attitude and be healthy.
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If it wasn’t for Venture I would have been in a different place and on the wrong path.
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Things are brighter and full of hope. VA is my light.
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I’m coming out healthy and a lot happier than when I arrived.
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I have developed healthy coping skills to deal with anger anxiety and depression and built up my self-esteem. My relationship with my family has improved.
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I have become much more organized in my life overall because of my revelations that I had while in this program. I have learned that happiness comes from balance. I would never have had such epiphanies without the support and guidance I have received from the VA staff and Host parents. I am grateful for all of the people involved.
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All the Venture staff helped and supported me for the whole time I was in their academy.
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We learned communication skills and I also learned coping skills and assertiveness skills.
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I like that your host family involves you in their family, it feels like having another family. I hope that when I go home, we are better at communicating and saying how I feel, and I hope we work on trust.
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I really want to thank the staff for all the help that they gave me, and I will continue working hard.
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I learned to communicate through conflict and that we have better relationships with one another when we can talk and have fun together as a family. I am a more confident person. I’m able to do schoolwork. I’ve become a more assertive person with better life skills.
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Highlights: people I met, staff and students. Having lots of fun on van rides.
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Overall, I’ve improved my wellness, I’ve gotten to work on my academics, improve my social skills and self-esteem. Venture Academy has helped me reconnect with my parents as well. Venture has improved my contentment with life, I’m fitter, happier, yeah!
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My experience here has had both ups and downs but overall, the experience has been so helpful to me. I am extremely thankful for my journey here and for the people I have had along the way. I have definitely benefitted, I am a happier person, I am healthier, I have healthy coping skills, and I finally have a fantastic relationship with my family.
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I have benefitted in many ways while I have been here. School is a priority for me. I have learned skills like assertiveness that will help me in the future. I have gotten good grades and have had amazing positivity throughout my time here and will continue to have for a long time!
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I have learned that I need a change of friends, enjoy doing healthy activities and learned from my past mistakes, so I never have to go down the path I was on before.
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Counselling was a positive experience, It helped me to come out of my shell. I enjoyed making forts, playing pool and going for walks. I want to talk through feelings when I go home.
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I believe I have benefitted by doing daily school work and exercise and by having the time to focus on what I love
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I really appreciate all the staff members who helped me through this journey. Everyone give it their all to fix problems as they came up and they treated everyone fairly, which goes a long way with me. I always liked coming to campus because I felt welcomed and that I would be around positive behaviour (for the most part). I really hope that I carry on a substance-free life because I know I can and it will benefit me in the long run! I really like how once a week there was an activity, I found it made me think about other things than school.
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I have realized that my family is the best part of my life and I miss them more than anything. I hope that we will get along amazingly and we will all continue to love each other.
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I have benefitted from the disconnection from social media. It’s allowed me to perform self-reflection. Overall, I had no problem with the function that is Venture Academy.
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If someone I loved was in serious danger I would suggest Venture Academy.
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I was not going anywhere before I came, there were no future plans, not going to school, and using drugs. Now I see I need to reconnect with my family, take school seriously, and stop using drugs. I hope I can use the skills I’ve learned here to better myself in the real world. My host family was very helpful, and so were the staff. Everyone was very accommodating.
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I found that I have changed so much, I love myself and I have done so much school here I feel amazing and so smart.
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Being at Venture has changed a lot of my habits such as eating healthier and exercising, which I would normally not partake in but I have oddly found myself loving that aspect and Crossfit may be a new hobby of mine. I hope that I can continue these habits when I return home.
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What I have noticed is a change in not just how I act but in how I think. Before I came, I used to look at what was wrong and what had happened and was having lots of anger but now I find myself thinking of what is going to happen and how I will be affecting that. I hope I can compromise more with the people in my life and learn to apply the coping skills I have learned.
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I have learned new ways to handle myself and cope with others and obtain goals. I love getting to talk about everything and learn new things to do. I loved going to the parks and picking berries with my host family.
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I believe that Venture Academy has helped me realize that I could do a lot better with myself than I have and that I need to work harder on myself.
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I think Venture has helped me get my life on track by giving me skills like coping, meditation, working at healthy diet and how to communicate in a healthy manner.
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My best time at Venture Academy was being at my host parents. My host parent’s whole family is really nice and chill. She helped me overcome some personal things, like how I’m going to get along with my sister and won’t be so angry
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I loved being here and becoming healthy. I would like to get a job to start saving for a car when I get home. I feel great!
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I believe that Venture enabled me and showed me how to make the changes I didn’t know how to. It’s given me the skills I am going to need in life and shown how to not go down the same paths I did before.
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I have developed a routine and I have stopped drugs and destructive behaviour.
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Being at Venture I’ve learned a lot about myself and my parents. I’ve gotten to learn who’s really there for me and what a good friend looks like.
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I have become sober. I have been able to reflect on my mistakes. I was able to start to regain family relationships. I was able to get my education back on track. I enjoyed doing crossfit 3x / week. I enjoyed the stability of the program. I enjoyed having group therapy and counseling throughout the week.
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My relationship with my family has improved greatly since coming to Venture.
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I believe I can fully trust my parents now and know how much they fully believe in me/support me through thick and thin. My own mental health has matured so that I don’t feel like a stranger in my own head through many talks with staff and host parents at Venture.
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I have learned how to control my anger. I have learned to look at my school in small chunks so I don’t get overwhelmed.
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I liked one on one counselling as it is just me, not my siblings.
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It has been a great honor to attend Venture Academy and this experience is just the start of my successful future.
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I learned so much and grew and improved myself to find love for me and others around me which helped me to be more open, honest, caring, self sure and assertive.
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Thank you for all you’ve done for me. I am eternally grateful. It made me see what a jerk I have been and helped me to move forward. I plan to apologize to my family for what a jerk I was
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Everyone was highly supportive.
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I had a lot of positive experiences with Venture. The staff and host parents have helped me figure out who I am. I don’t want to do drugs anymore. I have a sense of who I am and I want to stay clean and keep going to the gym.
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I have become healthier and I am no longer underweight. I have a better relationship with my family.
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I realize that lying is not good and that I have to be better.
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My behaviour has changed for the better, I am more willing to do things I don’t want to and I can now take no for an answer.
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I learned that I can still have fun without drugs.
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I have made positive friendships and relationships. I have learned positive coping skills and learned more about myself. I have become closer with my parents.
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I have been drug-free and got interested in healthier activities like basketball.
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Everyone was really great to me.
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From being here I finally understand I do have things to work on. I learned that having issues is okay, and it’s okay to be yourself. I learned how important a healthy relationship is with family and friends as well. I really enjoyed the constant support from staff, host parents, and students.
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I had a very good adventure being here.
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Since I came to Venture, I have been more positive about myself. I have also improved my relationship with both my parents and my brother.
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I learned to deal with my anxiety and emotions in better, healthier ways. I’ve decided to say goodbye to my old ways. The staff here are great, and I will always remember you guys. I’ve made a way better relationship with my parents, way better than before.
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Venture has helped me through a lot, I had bad anxiety, panic attacks, depression, bad social skills, etc. The group therapy and the Therapist helped me through that.
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I have used Venture to my advantage so that I could benefit by changing the things in my life that contributed to my depression. I’m so glad that I came to Venture and have been here long enough to form bonds with the staff and students.
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Being involved with Venture Academy has allowed me to take a step back from my life and evaluate the choices I’ve made. I came to realize that there are lots of people who support me and who want to see me reach my full potential.
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My relationship with my family has improved.
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Venture has completely changed my life for the better.
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VA has helped me get my life back on track in many aspects/areas of my life. The most helpful part for me was group, the host parents, and family counselling. My self-esteem has greatly increased, my relationship with my family has improved so much and I have learnt lots of very helpful skills that will benefit me all throughout my life. My host parents are amazing and have helped me so much.
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I have a much better relationship with my family. I’m able to talk to them openly about my feelings and any issues I’m having at home or with other people.
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VA’s staff are excellent at what they do. They’re very supportive & know what the youth need to excel. They sometimes use constructive criticism, but there’s always a good reason. It’s hard work, but it really pays off & changes your whole mindset.
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My parents and I’s relationships have drastically changed since I have been at Venture. It was tough at first and really scary, but over the past few months, I have seen it was the best thing for us. I will miss Venture, but excited to go home <3 🙁
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Venture Academy has allowed me to have a second chance with my life.
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I’m happy that I was sent to Venture for the relationship between my parents. I’m thankful that it’s improved a whole lot. Me and my family greatly benefited from my experience with VA.
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Therapy, has given me so much in helping me move forward as an individual. From various coping skills , basic emotion acknowledgement and good planning for the future. Even just the removal of the negative setting has been majorly beneficial.
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I have gotten 10x better since I have been at Venture. I have gotten a better relationship with my grandma. I have learned to be helpful and kind. I have learned many things. I will have a stronger relationship with my grandma. I have learned to manage my anxiety and help myself. My progress at Venture has been hard but worth it.
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We have learned to better connect and express our emotions. I know where I want to go in life and we’re happy again.
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I look forward to living up to my potential I have and am learning more.
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As a family we now communicate more clearly and can convey all our problems to each other in a healthy way to make us stronger. We now are healthier mentally. We communicate about how we are feeling.
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My family and I communicate a lot easier. There is less secrecy. We know how to spend time together better.
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VA has helped me become more open, and more sophisticated. VA made me a better me and helped me find myself, and has helped me understand that I matter.
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My mom and I have benefited a huge amount from this program. We are now able to communicate our feelings, thoughts and worries to each other. I have been able to open up fully to my mom about my traumas and struggles.
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VA has brought us closer together and honest with each other. And taught us all skills to help communicate better. I hope to work through more things with my mom as we haven’t made much progress.
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Had space and time apart. We can talk about our issues and overcome challenges together. I love my family.
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We have all learned to have open communication and to be honest. I have learned how much love my family has for me and how much I have for them. I love how we can open up with each other on our phone calls and I am excited to continue to be open with my family. I hope that I can stay this confident and continue my success in school, family relationships, peer relationships and my mental health. I really loved the system and how the host parents, homework, parent calls and even how therapy didn’t stop because of covid. I love all the support I have received and how the support will continue when I leave.
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I am really grateful to have had this experience that will change my life forever.
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My family and I learned to work together and effectively communicate with one another. The Venture Academy staff has helped me to recognize, understand, talk about and heal from my traumas. I have learned how to create healthy boundaries, relate to peers positively and enjoy life without substance or electronic abuse. I learned how to put my negative thoughts and emotions into physical activities, and I learned how to effectively deal with my anger which for a long time controlled my life. I learned how to form relationships with healthy adults. Most importantly, I learned not only how to love and be loved in a healthy way, but how to trust, be integral and become authentic.
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Venture Academy has helped me and my family move through struggles we were having and I hope that my future is brighter because of Venture Academy.
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I didn’t like it here at first but every day just became better. I truly am a changed person and Venture has changed my life. Thank you so much!
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The Counsellors were very caring and believed in me. I know this support was a part of what helped me open up and believe in myself to accept it and while doing the work for myself.
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I hope to live a simple life – the simpler the better.
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I feel like me and my family have become closer and a lot healthier while I’ve been here at Venture.
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I feel much better!
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I went from having really horrible calls with my parents, yelling and fighting and basically hanging up on each other to having good and happy calls where there is NO conflict and we talk and actually listen to each other
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My mom and I both had to do the work while I was at Venture Academy.
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The Therapist helped me understand my anxiety and gain tools to regulate and understand myself.
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I hope to continue with my success in school & get on the right path.
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My family and I talk about what we want to improve on, they are more accepting to feedback (I am too) and want to improve. I respect them so much more and am so grateful for them. I listen a lot better than I did before venture.
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The family therapy was really helpful. I feel truly loved by my parents and I know they are not going to leave me ever.
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I believe I have really matured with being at VA.
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We have built trust in our relationships. No substance used in the home. We enjoy being around each other.
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I would have been in a really bad place. Thank you for saving my life – mentally, physically and literally.
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I have totally changed for the better during my time at Venture.
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This program I will always remember for it has forever changed my life and I wish the team and everybody love.
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I realized how special and important my family really is. I hope for this to stay the same forever, I have never loved my family more than I do now, our communication love for each other, and respect has grown so much during my time at Venture Academy
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I’m going to miss this place so much.
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“Thank you for everything even though it was hard at some points I do really really appreciate”.
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The most amazing and special things I will be taking away from Venture will be; 1. The love I have found for myself and 2. The relationship I have built with my mom. I would not have changed this experience for the world.
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Venture Academy has definitely turned my life around. Thanks to all the teaching staff for helping me improve on my school work and thanks to the program for helping me help myself.
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I really enjoyed doing activities with my host parent family, like swimming and going to the library.
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The Teachers are amazing! So helpful to me! The Program Counselors are so thoughtful!
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I’ve just had a wonderful experience while being here!
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I got to do a lot of things I could never imagine myself doing and ended up enjoying. I think I matured at least 2 years through the 8 months of being here, which feels good.
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I never thought that I would get so much out of Venture until I realized how much all of you want me to succeed. All I can say is how thankful I am to have met all of you! I’ll miss you all!
See you soon!
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The first time I was here in a seat alone, today I sit together with my mom.
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Thanks for all the great support and help. Not only did you help me get back on my feet, but you helped me discover more of who I really am. Your wisdom continues to inspire me:)
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Venture was really helpful in allowing me to acknowledge and embrace my strengths, develop new skills and fix my relationships. It has really put things into perspective and helped me grow.
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My life was a roller coaster and now it’s a straight line to my greatest adventures.
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I believe I grew from Venture but I was not here for drugs/addiction. I look forward to becoming more successful in my schooling.
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My family and I have benefited with me coming here because we are now able to talk more assertively and deal with problems.
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I used to see this place as a threat. Once I got over it, I see this place as a positive and a very supportive environment. Venture Academy has helped me so much; my self-esteem, self-worth, and has brought my family a lot closer. I now see how important family life, education and a relationship with myself is.
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The staff are super supportive and interact with youth positively through crossfit and academics. I had a great experience with my host family. I got a lot of support and encouragement. They helped me see a different perspective with family’s point of view and just everyday situations. I recommend Venture Academy to a lot of teens that go to my school.
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I have had lots of time to stop and reflect on many aspects of my life, It definitely helped me move forward and way from the negative stuff in my life.
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The time being away from home and getting help with school has helped a lot and allowed me to focus on me. I hope to have a better future and relationship with my parents and to stay away from drugs
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I have changed by owning up to what I’ve done wrong.
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Self-esteem is greater than when I arrived. My jealousy is improving. I have been happier for more than a week. Finding more joy in life. I like the compliment part of check-in. I have learned how to take a compliment. I have received compliments.
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Not having social media and being able to avoid the drama has benefitted me.
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I feel like I smartened up and finished all my work.
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I have become a healthier, happier, more active person because of Venture.
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Before I came to Venture, I didn’t have any skills or strategies for coping. But having spent some time in the trenches I learned to take into action the ones that I’ve learned here
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I was able to find myself and being genuinely happy again. I discovered what it felt like to live without toxic substances and I’m happy with who I am.
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I have changed with and overall happy mindset. Trying to think more positive and not letting those negative thoughts take over.
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I feel I have learned new skills on dealing with my anger management, problems and building back family relationships.
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My Dad and I have a little stronger relationship. I care about what my Dad thinks now. Learned to deal with difficult people by acknowledging their differences.
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I’m finally starting to get to know myself better and love myself. I am able to make healthy decisions and obtain healthy relationships. I would like to thank you for supporting me and my family all the way. Thank. You.
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All of us have gained trust back, we have our relationships back, and can be a family again, and do activities all together without fighting all the time. It helped me find myself again, and be happy with my surroundings and myself.
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We’ve been able to get through a lot more in our lives and struggles with Venture’s help
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I like how Venture was constructed. The courses and activities were well done. The skills you get to learn were well constructed. The staff were helpful and supportive. The crossfit training was fun and hard.
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I’ve improved strongly with rebuilding relationships over the past 12 months.
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My involvement here at Venture was very beneficial for my family and friends. But I am not done yet. I still have a long way to go.
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Venture has just been an awesome support to me. All things positive overall. Before Venture my life was a wreck. I was withdrawn physically and emotionally and I was headed down a path to destruction.
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I hope other kids will give Venture a chance.
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I feel more confident in myself and the things I do. I feel that in future I’ll be more confident and happy around others which will allow for better communication and stronger relationships.
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My time here has helped me get off drugs and alcohol. I do not need to party anymore. I have improved my relationship with my Dad and I love him again.
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Venture has made me stronger and helped me learn who I am and who I want to be. I’ve learned that I love my mom and need her support. I’ve learned my strengths and weaknesses and to overcome my faults. I liked how the staff played games and know how to control situations.
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I learned what assertiveness was and being able to approach people assertively.
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I have found a part of myself that I never thought I would. I have done so much that I never thought I would find. I’m happy and respectful again. I know who I should surround myself with and I am truly grateful.
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I received a lot of stuff here. I finished my grade 8 here. I’m sober, healthy, strong.
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I really enjoyed my Host Parents. They have treated me like family.
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Venture has taught me lots of great strategies and skills for how to behave/react in many situations.
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My HP’s are very loving and caring. Everyone at Venture is very loving and supportive.
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Before my stay here, I struggled a lot with lack of motivation sadly, I wasn’t even doing the basics to take care of myself such as eating or brushing my teeth. I gave up on myself, I felt in that time that I was stuck and nothing I could do would get me out. Venture has helped me through a lot and I think and hope I will have a better life.
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I can trust my family now and I learnt skills to make our family stronger. I LOVE THEM.
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Thank you to all the Venture staff. Me and my family have a better relationship. I hope to keep our close relationship and continue to improve at school.
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My family and I have definitely benefitted we have learned how to communicate effectively and how to be patient with each other plus, we are making time for each other again.
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I feel VA has completely turned my life around, I don’t know where I’d be without it. I have learned to work through my anger, express my emotions in a positive manner and build confidence/self-esteem.
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I really enjoyed VA because the program helped me overcome my struggles and my behaviour towards people. This program has shown me how to show respect towards people and to show respect towards myself. And how to be assertive when there is a conflict going on.
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Before whenever a teacher told me, I cannot do something I felt angry and I’d take my anger out on them, now I just go back to what I am doing and get the work done. My parents and I, have been getting along quite well now and now we talk about things that we need to get out. I hope that we continue it for the rest of our lives. I hope we get to know each other a little bit more by talking to each other a lot.
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Communication is still a struggle but it is better than before. Spending time watching tv with family. Coming back to Venture after being at home for 5 weeks was a motivator to change my behaviour. Hope to go back to the life I had before doing all of the unhealthy things I did.
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My family has benefited from a much closer, respectful and healthier relationship.
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I caught up on my school work and I’ve gotten a better relationship with my mom. I’ve been clean of drugs and alcohol for almost 6 months.
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I have gone through a few tough times here, but I overcome those. My family and I are closer than ever. I feel grateful that I can open up to them and be honest . Having that relationship back really means a lot to me . I hope that now I’ve started that healthy relationship. I can learn more from my parents.
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Me and my family have rebuilt our relationship and communication.
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My family and I have benefited in all ways from our involvement with Venture Academy. We learned how to communicate successfully and how to do everything related to that, i.e. problem-solving. My hopes moving forward are that I will be able to continue our positive and effective communication and be successful in all ways.
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I have learned about what kind of life that I want to live when I’m home. Venture taught me the importance of integrity. I appreciate the effort that everyone has put in even when I wasn’t putting in effort. I learned how to be assertive and that conflict isn’t bad. Venture has also helped me learn patience and how to deal with boredom, which is a skill that I lacked. I have learned a lot and believe that I can be successful moving forward.
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It was good and it helped my relationship with my family.
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In the beginning, the separation from my environment and technology taught me the liberties I had were a luxury. It has taught me to value and appreciate my family and what they have provided for me.
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Being sober for 4 months, losing the extra weight, developing healthy eating habits, and being a whole person now. Being here has made a huge impact on me and my parents.
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Our communication within our family has improved and each of us has improved in our roles in the family. I have also learned to not take anything for granted.
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I have gotten stronger self-respect, self-love, and so much more of myself. My family has benefitted through all aspects of the program which includes therapy, coping strategies, and more reasonable and appropriate parenting styles. Through this journey both my family and I have benefitted through the service Venture Academy has supplied. Thank you so much all!
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I appreciate life and my parents more. My birthday here was great, the staff made me feel special. Before: Drug addiction, attempted assault, sex addiction, nicotine addiction AFTER: no longer addicted to drugs. I am nicer to my body in many ways. I learned I deserve a lot in this world.
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We now have good communication. We see each other’s perspective and actively listen, and respect each other. I have become a healthy weight and now actually respect and take care of my body but also enjoy doing it. My mental health has improved significantly as well as my confidence in myself. My parents and I have built a good amount of trust and are looking forward to continuing to building on it
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I turned around my life quite a bit. I lost old bad habits and got new ones that are healthy. I can communicate more and I have more willpower. Better able to move on from frustrations.
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I was able to detox drugs and alcohol. I worked on my depression and self-harming. Focused on myself (emotionally and physically)
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I really learned how to care for myself, improved my self-esteem and really learned that being physically active is really important. I got so much out of my schooling and learned how to focus better on it. I am going to continue everything I learned here do more physical activity stuff and really focus on myself.
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Me and my family have a stronger connection. I feel leaving Venture I will have a brighter future with my family.
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I think Venture has really not only made me feel confident about going back to school, it has made my family feel confident.
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Better communication. Thank you for having me and for helping me.
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The Therapist gave me confidence in myself. The Behavioral Counsellor would help me when I had bad nights with psychosis. I had a great teacher. She helped me with work and was super nice to me. The program counselor checked in on me to see that my new meds worked for me and was chill to talk to. My host parent was just an overall good house parent, and great to talk to.
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Venture Academy helped us get closer and build a more positive relationship. It also helped me realize the importance of my family and how much they care for me. It showed me that I have to spend more time with them and that I should follow the directions they give me because they know what is good for me. Another reason it has helped is that it will get us to be more open and express ourselves so that we can grow together. I have built good habits such as cardio workout, writing in a journal, praying, and meditation and helped me get rid of bad habits such as smoking, cursing, getting mad easily and overreacting.
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I feel like Venture helped with my behaviours and I’m looking forward to having a healthy relationship with my parents.
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I got a better relationship with my dad.
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They helped with becoming a better person and helped, me live up to my potential and helped me realize how much I liked CrossFit.
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Me and my parents got back the relationship that we lost, they learned a lot more skills and have become more open, patient and kind. I hope that it stays the way it is right now because it is the way I always wanted it to be and I hope that we continue to grow and become closer over time.
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I believe the greatest benefit to being at Venture was my ability to recognize and accept my past attention-seeking behaviours and begin to work on how to achieve attention in a positive manner.
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I feel happy and content with myself. My family relations have greatly improved. I hope to come back during the summer to volunteer and help other people.
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I think just my overall relationship with my parents has improved so much.
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My family and I have grown and matured together. I learnt that I can trust my family. I have learnt that my family’s love for me is endless. My specific highlight is seeing how my mom and grandparents supported me and loved me through my disclosure. My hope is that my family and I better our relationships and are able to live peacefully together.
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Me and my family have developed better communication with one another, using new strategies that will help in the future.
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I am able to communicate with my family much better and be more honest with them and myself. To look to them as support and to develop a relationship with them, as well as deepen appreciation for them.
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My family and I became much closer again. I overall have a more positive outlook on life. My family and I have begun to build trust again. I have begun my academics again and am excelling in them. I wish to graduate high school and move on to University.
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By sending me to Venture I’ve realized how much my family loves me and cares about me and we’ve learned lots by me being here and them working on making our home environment a better place.
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I have learned how to cope with my suicidal thoughts. How to control my anxiety. We’ve all benefited from being away from each other for these 30 days. My hope is to continue to be able to control my suicidal thoughts and self-harm thoughts. And continue to use assertive behaviour.
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I think me and my family are going to be stronger and Venture really helped that. Calling my parents was hard and getting letters was also hard but the staff really had my back. Venture is a great place to grow and be stronger. Going for dinner with my family will be much more enjoyable and everything in between. This place is a kind of magic.. Thank you Venture!
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It helped me realize I am a great person that I have changed and that I’m the person in control of what I do and it has helped with how I handle my anger and my words. I am so grateful for VA
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Our communication and trust has improved.
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Me and my mom have a better understanding of each other. I have accepted myself for who I am and what I can do. I decided I wanted to set boundaries with my uncle and dad. I think I have become more mature.
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Me and my family learned how to better understand each other. I gained so much respect for my mom and family and gained the resources for coping
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I no longer feel the urge to use substances. I think being at Venture has provided me an opportunity to get back on track with being a “normal” kid. This was the intervention that was needed.
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My family had a break from my behaviours and actions. I was able to have a break from situations in the community. Venture Academy helped me quit smoking and I was away from everything I often distracted myself with.
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I have learned how to cope with my suicidal thoughts. How to control my anxiety.
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“The staff and host parents helped make my stay better”
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I dreaded going to day plan, group was too long and boring, and too many rules.
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They helped me realize that the road I was on wasn’t going anywhere and that if I set my mind to something I could do it.
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I met many amazing people, fellow students and The Program Counselors and The Executive Director.
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I have the motivation to do things that I feel passionate about. My confidence has grown. I love my mom. We have a better relationship. I’ve started to like English and some of the Socials. I’ve really appreciated guitar and voice lessons and going to look at guitars. I hope to do what I love which is create and play music. I hope to stay confident in myself. I want to be me and happy.
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So far I have benefited by coming to know my worth and learn that I deserve to be treated with respect. I have come to know that what my parents say and do to me does not define me and I am stronger than I realized.
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I have gained the necessary knowledge about my struggles plus learned more ways to cope with them. The psych assessment was very helpful. I learned a lot about myself and my struggles. I gained some new perspective on my future.
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Being here has helped me to learn to be respectful and think before I say disrespectful things.
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I am more level-headed and calm.
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I believe I have benefited a lot from all the time alone to think about myself and how to improve. I really enjoyed connecting with my parents each week over the phone as well. I believe it has been good for all of us to have a break from each other.