Ryan Kyliuk is a proud volunteer at Sara Riel, a role he says helped him take the steps he needed to start building the life he wanted. Up until the fall of 2025, he was one of the friendly faces welcoming clients and guests at the office reception at 66 Moore Avenue.
He only pulled from volunteering to make way for school, but that was always the plan. Kyliuk is currently training in Medical Laboratory Sciences at Red River Polytechnic, with the goal of re-entering the workforce after a long break to care for his mental health. “I hadn’t worked in a long time, and I hadn’t had a schedule to stick to,” he shares. “The idea was to start doing some volunteering, just a bit of light work a few times a week, just to get back into the swing of things.”
When he felt comfortable, he went back to school part-time to get the last prerequisite he needed to be able to enter the laboratory program. In September, he started in school full-time. “The plan was to do an incremental step-up to get me back to work,” he explains.
His lived experience has made him a great addition to the Sara Riel team. “I worked at the welcome desk,” Kyliuk shares. “I helped people find their way, I accepted deliveries and did lots of troubleshooting. Something always comes up, you know! Most of all, it was about being welcoming to people.”
Clients arriving for appointments or even people coming in from off the streets can be scared and vulnerable. A friendly face like Kyliuk’s can make a world of difference. “I know from my experience, that if you don’t have all the answers or you don’t know where to start, there are people here who can help,” he continues. “I tell new people who walk through our doors: you’ve come to the right place. They’re going to find something that will help.”
He’s most impressed with the knowledge that staff have of services available within the city. “There’s so much on offer to support people, but if you don’t know where to look, it can be hard to find,” he admits. “If you come to Sara Riel, it’s the best place to start. We once had someone stop in and tell me that he wasn’t doing well and just needed help. We don’t typically do walk-ins, but I knew someone here would be able to help him, and they did.”
The volunteering that Kyliuk has done has helped him build his confidence while helping others in community. “The good thing about volunteering is that they’re not paying you, so it’s less pressure,” he says with a laugh. “This experience really helped me move towards my goals. It was the proof I needed that I could do this, that I could go back to school and back to work. I was dipping my toe into the water and this was a safe place to do it.”
When he finishes his studies, Kyliuk is looking forward to finding a job in his new field, and moving forward. But he’ll make some time for Sara Riel. “I’ll definitely come back and help out when I can,” he concludes. It’s such a relaxing environment with so many friendly people around. It’s always nice to see staff and chat it up a bit!”