Children's Aid worker Nicole Belair remembered with new bursary
Belair, 33, died in May 2014 while visiting clients in an apartment that caught fire
The Children's Aid Society in Sudbury is starting a bursary to commemorate Nicole Belair, one of its workers who died in a fire one year ago this week.
Belair was visiting one of her clients in Hanmer on May 12, 2014 when the apartment they were in caught fire. The 33-year-old was found unconscious and did not survive.
The bursary will be given to a young person who is, or as been, in the care of the society. It will be used to help with the costs of post-secondary education.
"Nicole was very, very passionate about education and really felt that for kids to have a brighter future they needed to have a good solid education," said Olwen Lavoie, the director of services at Children's Aid in Sudbury.
The anniversary of Belair's death was a difficult day for the dozens of young people who knew Belair, Lavoie said.
She said Belair worked with dozens of young people in the Sudbury area, but it hit several of them particularly hard.
"Many of our youth in care have experienced all kinds of different loses and this was a huge loss for many of them," she said.