At Pathways Vancouver, a trusted mentor helped Stephanie build a lifelong commitment to giving back.
Three nights a week, Stephanie heads to the Pathways Vancouver centre on Keefer Street, where youth from Strathcona, Chinatown, and the Downtown Eastside gather after school. A site support worker, she’s there early to set out program supplies and stock the food station with healthy snacks. She knows it’s the one meal a day many students can count on.
As the space fills up, Stephanie moves between roles depending on what’s needed. One moment, she’s a tutor, helping with math problems and essays; the next, she’s a sounding board, sitting down with students for quiet conversations and connecting them with the right support.
“After three years, I know these kids,” says Stephanie. “I grew up in the same neighbourhood, so there’s a lot of trust. I let them know that it’s okay to ask for help.”
It’s a lesson she learned seven years ago, when she was a new Pathways student herself.
Stephanie remembers her first meeting with her support worker, Kathryn. Her mind was full of questions: Why do you want to know about my life? Why do you care? She didn’t expect anyone to listen, let alone offer the kind of support she needed.
Stephanie grew up in the city’s Downtown Eastside as the eldest child in a Vietnamese immigrant family. After losing both her parents, she had to grow up quickly, stepping in to help care for her three younger siblings.
The practical supports she found at Pathways helped take the pressure off, from transit fare and grocery cards to free tutoring sessions and after-school snacks.
“There was a moment where I felt like I couldn’t change anything about my life or my circumstances,” Stephanie says. “But Pathways was somewhere I could go to and be a normal kid, have some food and do my homework. That meant so much to me.”
Pathways students are also paired with support workers who take the time to build trust. For Stephanie, that person was Kathryn, an adult mentor she could turn to without hesitation.
“Kathryn was always there, listening to me,” Stephanie says. “I never felt ashamed to tell her if I was struggling.”
Stephanie with her Pathways support worker Kathryn (left), at her high school graduation ceremony in 2023.
Kathryn helped her talk to teachers and ask for extensions when Stephanie couldn’t find the words to explain what was happening at home. She also nudged her to try new things. At her suggestion, Stephanie signed up for her first volunteer role at a summer program called Fresh Roots.
“I spent the whole summer farming across the Lower Mainland. I made new friends. It was a leadership program, and it really encouraged me.”
When the summer ended, Kathryn asked a simple question: What are you going to do with everything you’ve learned?
After some thought, Stephanie decided to start a gardening and cooking club at her school. That meant talking to teachers, planning meetings, and then actually asking students to come. It was nerve-wracking, but she did it anyway.
Not long after, Stephanie ran for student council president, wanting to represent students whose voices were rarely heard. “I went and talked to the kids who don’t get asked for their opinions,” she says. “I felt like I could help people. That was my motivation.”
At 16, she took that commitment further, co-founding Nurtured Youth Community, a teen-led organization that offered young people virtual workshops on self-care and mental health, guided by volunteer experts.
Two years later, Stephanie stepped into an even bigger role, joining the board of the Britannia Community Services Centre in East Vancouver. She wanted to make sure that young people had a say in the programs and services that affect them. But the step up was daunting.
“As an 18-year-old, I was part of a group approving $25 million renewal budgets! I kept thinking, ‘Am I in the wrong place? Does my voice matter?’”
When she doubted herself, she came back to what Kathryn had always told her: her voice did matter, and she was capable of making change.
In recognition of her community work, Stephanie was awarded the 2023 Simon Fraser University Uggla Family Scholarship, a full-ride scholarship she describes as “life-changing.”
That belief continues to guide Stephanie’s choices. Now studying Political Science at Simon Fraser University, she wants to become a lawyer, hoping to better understand the systems that shape young people’s lives. For her ongoing community work, she has been awarded ten scholarships to date—experience she now draws on to mentor others.
“I feel like I need to give back,” she says. “I have all this scholarship information. I don’t want to let it disappear.”
What started as sharing advice with a few peers has evolved into a focused effort. Over the last three years, Stephanie has supported young people in low-income communities to secure over $2.4 million in scholarships, guiding them through applications and helping to open doors.
In 2025, she was nominated for the YWCA Young Women of Distinction Award for Metro Vancouver.
Stephanie at the 2025 YWCA Women of Distinction Awards ceremony for Metro Vancouver.
“It was surreal,” she says. “To be in those rooms, alongside Olympians and businesswomen, and to feel like I belonged there, even if I might be the only kid from my background.”
For Stephanie, one of the most meaningful spaces is still Pathways Vancouver, where long-term relationships have sustained her and helped her grow. Now, students sometimes ask her the question she once asked. Why do you care so much?
“I care because I can. I’m able to now,” she says. “Pathways gave me that chance to help other kids. That’s the simple answer.”
Stephanie running in the BMO Vancouver Half Marathon in 2023. A long-distance runner since age 14, she has completed 15 half marathons and two full marathons and sees running as a way to relieve stress and stay grounded. She runs annually in the SHLF Run, supporting youth in Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside.