He spearheads innovative ways to help care for youth in need
Age: 34
Job Title: CEO, CarePros
Charles Wong believes that his career path is one of serendipity. It’s twisted and turned, but he’s now at the head of a company that’s been nationally recognized for its work with kids with complex behavioural needs.
He first ventured into the care-providing business by creating a service for seniors. He was inspired by the plight of an elderly relative, who was “neglected” while receiving homecare support.
“That’s what initially fuelled my passion — to help folks where there was an equity gap,” says Wong. “I’m not a physician, I’m not a private-care provider, but I approach things from a problem-solving perspective.”
Then came requests from families who had other challenges — when parents of a quadriplegic child asked Wong if his service could help them, he accepted. And then he saw the gap that existed in the province when it came to providing for youth in need. Ministry and department staff from the province said there was a real need to help youths in group care.
So, in 2020, CarePros entered into a master agreement with the province to provide beds for kids who need care. The company added capacity in a social sector that really needed it.
“What we have seen in the system, is that children and youth who are in the system but waiting for a bed, there’s some real significant human cost,” says Wong. “Some people say time is money, but for us time is life or death in a lot of circumstances.”
CarePros is in the process of adopting the neurosequential model of therapeutics — a system where every child is treated individually. Caregivers take account of the traumas that child has suffered, from
in utero to adolescence.
CarePros has been repeatedly recognized as one of Canada’s fastest-growing companies by The Globe and Mail. And it has entered into an agreement with the Province of British Columbia to bring its services west.
All in all, not a bad pivot at all.
This article appears in the Nov/Dec 2023 issue of Edify
