Partnerships
Building futures together
New Steps works alongside businesses, trainers, and community organisations across Winnipeg and Manitoba to create real opportunities for young adults building their independence.
6
kinds of partnership
Employers, trades and training providers, certification bodies, community organisations, Elders and Knowledge Keepers, and landlords — each one listed below.
Our Partners
Partners making a difference
These organizations provide real skills, certifications, and pathways to employment for our residents.
Lavilash Beauty Lounge
In partnership with Lavilash, residents can earn their lash technician certification — a real, portable skill that opens doors to self-employment and the beauty industry.
Who we partner with
Six kinds of relationship, all of them operational. Every one of them starts with a single conversation and a single date.
Employers
A shift, a placement, a paid entry-level role, or a day of shadowing. The first job is the hardest one to get, and a young person with a reference behind them is a different candidate a year later.
Trades & training providers
Hands-on tastes of a trade, shop tours, tool time, or a seat in an existing intake. Enough exposure for someone to find out whether they want more of it.
Certification bodies
Credentials a young person carries out of the building and can use anywhere — first aid, food handling, workplace safety, and trade-specific tickets.
Community organisations
Recreation, arts, wellness, legal information, and health sessions delivered by the people who do that work every day. We host and coordinate; the specialist teaches.
Elders & Knowledge Keepers
Cultural gatherings are authored and led by Elders and Knowledge Keepers. New Steps arranges the space, the meal, and the rides — and never writes, leads, or tests the teaching.
Landlords & property owners
Units in Winnipeg for young people moving toward a lease of their own, with our staff and supports staying attached to the tenancy.
What a partner actually gets
Partnering with a residential program can sound like a lot of unpaid work with unclear boundaries. Here is what we carry so that it is not.
- One named contact at New Steps — not a general inbox. Someone who answers, confirms the date, and tells you the day before if numbers change.
- Logistics handled: we book the room or the ride, bring the group, and provide the meal. You bring the thing you are good at.
- Staff in the room the entire time. A partner is never left alone to manage a group, handle a hard moment, or make a judgment call about a young person.
- Participants who have already worked through the practical groundwork — showing up on time, workplace expectations, safety basics — before they reach you.
- A short, honest debrief afterwards: what worked, what did not, what we would change. No inflated claims about outcomes we cannot evidence.
- Recognition on this page and in our materials, when you want it. Some partners prefer to stay unnamed, and that is equally fine.
How the relationship works
A conversation
Twenty minutes on the phone or in person. What you do, what you could realistically offer, and what you are hoping to get out of it.
We scope one thing
One session, one placement, one certification run. Small enough that it can actually happen, specific enough to be worth doing.
We run it
We handle the group, transport, food, and supervision. You deliver the piece only you can deliver.
We review it, then repeat or change it
What worked stays and gets scheduled. What did not gets rebuilt or dropped. Most long-running partnerships here started as a single afternoon.
What we need from you
Five things, none of them onerous, all of them worth saying out loud before anyone signs up.
A real activity, not a tour
The strongest sessions put a tool, a task, or a decision in someone's hands. Watching a presentation about your industry is the weakest version of what you can offer.
A date you can hold
Young people notice cancellations more than almost anything else. We would rather book one session a quarter that always happens than four that sometimes do.
Patience with attendance
Some days the group is eight and some days it is three. That is not a signal about your session — it is the reality of a life in transition, and we plan for it.
A safeguarding conversation
Before anyone works with our residents we go through expectations together — supervision, boundaries, photos, privacy, and what to do if something is disclosed. It takes one meeting.
No expertise in child welfare required
You do not need to know the system, use the right vocabulary, or have worked with young people before. That part is our job. Bring your trade.
One thing this page is not
Partnership at New Steps is operational. It is about programming, placements, skills, and space — not capital. We are not raising money on this page, we are not offering an investment, and a partner is never asked to fund the program. If you would rather give something material than give time, the in-kind list on our Get Involved page is the honest place to start.
Growing Network
More partnerships on the way
Interested in becoming a partner?
We are always looking for local businesses, trades programs, and community organizations to expand opportunities for our residents.
Contact usCommunity Partnerships
We are actively building partnerships with community organizations to provide even more pathways to independence for our residents.
Become a partner
Whether you offer skills training, employment opportunities, or community resources — partnering with New Steps means directly impacting the lives of young adults building their independence. Call (431) 444-2114 or send us a note.