What lies ahead – Josh’s story

Pursuing post-secondary education can be a fun, transformative, and deeply gratifying experience. But it can also be a stressful time—especially as financial costs can add up as steadily as layers of epoxy on a new floor.

Josh, who was in government care as a youth, was eligible to tap into the Youth Futures Education Fund (YFEF), a United Way BC program that now provides him with funds for basic living expenses like food, rent, technology, and more.

Three years ago, Josh had a decent—and attainable—vision of his vocational future laid out like a blueprint: study carpentry at the local community college, work hard to acquire real-life practical skills, graduate, apprentice, and become a professional carpenter.

“I started working as a labourer for a little bit, and then I went into doing my first year in carpentry,” he says. “But in the last week of school, I started to notice symptoms of carpal tunnel syndrome.” Josh saw a specialist, who told him that if he continued to pursue a career in carpentry, he’d have to endure multiple rounds of surgery, and his hand would just get weaker and weaker.

This is the kind of demoralizing news that can easily throw a young person into a spiral of worry, depression, and self-doubt. But Josh seized on what he had just learned from the positive interaction with the specialist—a first-hand experience of caring, compassionate physical care. He could offer others the same.

He pivoted and started studying kinesiology. Happily, he didn’t have to change schools. Victoria’s Camosun College is a public post-secondary institution that offers a wide range of programs, including university transfer, applied degrees, career and trades training, and professional studies.

After the academic term wrapped up in the spring of 2025, Josh got a job doing epoxy flooring. Come fall, he’ll return to Camosun, where he’s learning, studying, and laying a different kind of flooring: the foundation for his future as a kinesiologist. And he’s doing it with the support of YFEF.

“At Camosun, we provide people with tools to learn, grow, and build a better future for themselves,” says Dr. Lane Trotter, President of Camosun College and member of the United Way BC campaign cabinet. “Because former youth in care who are studying at Camosun may experience hurdles on their paths to success, we appreciate United Way BC’s role in ensuring beneficiaries receive YFEF funding for everyday needs, so they can focus on their studies.”

Supporting educational dreams

In 2023-24, 580 former youth in care were able to cover basic living expenses while pursuing post-secondary education in BC through YFEF. Thanks to generous donors, United Way BC invested $780,431 to support these students, helping them succeed at post-secondary institutions across BC.

Youth in care, like Josh, ‘age out’ of the system at 19. It’s a tough and arbitrary milestone: suddenly, they lose financial support—not to mention the support network of their foster parents, social workers, and government programs. Unlike many other youth, who have family to fall back on, youth formerly in care often have no one they can rely on.

Imagine how daunting it must seem to pursue post-secondary education and head off on the path towards a future career with nobody in your corner.

But the support he’s received through the YFEF has freed up Josh’s finance—and just as importantly, his mind—so he can focus on the things that really matter, like his studies, work, working out, and his younger brother, who he tries to see every Sunday. And it’s allowed him to enjoy and appreciate the other people in his program at Camosun.

“When I got into the kinesiology program, making friends was just effortless,” Josh says. “It seemed like I just had so many similarities with so many of my classmates. We shared the same values.”

The values that Josh prizes in his friends are the same ones he cultivates in himself: loyalty, honesty, ambition, and optimism. “Considering my performance in high school, where I wasn’t very motivated and definitely lacked discipline, you’d think I was extremely optimistic to do the kinesiology program.” But his optimism is grounded by the same discipline that leads him regularly to the gym, and to study hard, every day.

Studying for success

Josh, who speaks with a quiet self-awareness that belies his age of 24, readily explains how YFEF has helped him. Though he works full-time during summer months, he’s not had to work during the semester. “Getting a grant like the YFEF puts me in a position where I don’t have to work a job and sacrifice the quality of my schoolwork by limiting the amount of time and energy I can spend on it. I’m not nearly as stressed out. And I can focus on my studies and perform to my best ability.”

Josh says that knowing he can get support from the fund “feels incredibly relieving” and the support from United Way BC donors who support the fund is “incredibly kind and inspiring.”

Thinking of his academic path, the support offered by the YFEF, and the donors who make it a reality, Josh says, “If I were ever in a position to donate money like them, I would love to do so, to help students on their journey.”

Together, we are UNITED for brighter futures. Help youth like Josh succeed—and make it easier for him to pay his good fortune forward. Donate today.