By Devon Moriarty

Ask almost anyone what they want from life and they will undoubtedly say, ‘Success’ — however they may define it. And so in a move to help young people take their first step towards success, Vancouver immigrant services agency, S.U.C.C.E.S.S. graduated its first Vancouver class from a program designed to help lost youth.

"I am now going to look for another job," said Jesse Silvea, 19, who graduated with 19 other class members on Friday. "This time around I am going to be more focused on what I want. I have a lot of talent and I don’t want it to go to waste. Our program is called S.U.C.C.E.S.S. and I want that."

The 14-week program, dubbed, a Chance to Choose, is an employability skills program for youth between the ages of 15 to 30 who are not in school or employed. Funded by Service Canada and facilitated by S.U.C.C.E.S.S., the program is available in the Tri-cities and now, for the first time, in the Downtown Eastside of Vancouver.

During the program, students wrote, filmed and produced a documentary about the homeless community, Downtown East Side Echos. The documentary, which commented on Vancouver’s seedy underbelly left behind by an economic boom, opened with footage of the East Hastings area accompanied by Johnny Cash’s version of the song, "Hurt."

"You have to realize that everyone has a voice, everyone was once a child and everyone has a story," said Silvea who participated in the making of the documentary. "People should learn to recognize that this could happen to anybody. It is all about choices. It’s like that quote, ‘If you stand for nothing, you will fall for anything.’"

Update to date, over 100 participants have graduated from A Chance to Choose from the Tri-cities. Because of the overwhelming positive feedback coordinator’s received from Vancouver’s graduating class, they are already looking for students for the new semester stating August 5. Anyone interested can contact Evelyn Humphreys at 604-689-9300.