About Love

From our humble beginnings as a small program run in the basement of a Montreal college to becoming a national emotional and social support resource for young Canadians, this is our LOVE Story.

LOVE's Roots

LOVE was founded in 1993 by Sheila (Twinkle) Rudberg who was inspired to end the cycle of violence in the lives of youth. following the death of her husband by a 14-year old boy, Twinkle came to see that the youth himself was a victim of violence.

What started as a small, grassroots, youth photojournalism project running out of the basement of Montreal's Dawson College soon blossomed into a well-established program, warmly recognized for the meaningful impact it was having on young people, with programs offered in Quebec, Ontario, British Columbia and Nova Scotia.

LOVE Nova Scotia

LOVE began operating Halifax in January 2000 with one program and 15 youth enrolled. Since then, we have grown to serve over 200 youth every year through 8 programs in Halifax, Sipekne’katik, and Membertou First Nation. We are unique in that every youth enrolled in our programs has access to a Youth Worker and Registered Social Worker 24/7.

Our Youth

LOVE youth are intelligent, caring, and full of potential; however, we often meet them at a time in their lives when they are disenfranchised, unhappy, or hurt. LOVE youth are aged 12-18 at intake, and often remain involved in our programs into their twenties. Youth alumni have gone on to be involved with LOVE as camp staff, program staff, and workshop facilitators.