Inuvik Youth Centre board plans more structured programming
Malcolm Gorrill
Northern News Services
Inuvik (Apr 20/01) - Closing time, a lack of volunteers, staffing and maintenance are causing problems at the Inuvik Youth Centre, but nobody wants it shut down.
During a presentation to council last week, Tracy MacPherson, a member of the Youth Centre board, addressed concerns about closing time on Fridays and Saturdays, which is 2 a.m. This is the same time as the bars close.
| Youth centre hours
Board members: |
"I'd much rather have them be in a safe environment until 2 a.m. then be on the streets for two hours, with people coming in and out of the bars."
Deputy mayor Arlene Hansen agreed.
"Parental responsibility has to come into play here," Hansen said. "If people don't want their children on the streets at the same time as the bars close, then they ask their children to come home at 1 or 1:30 or whatever."
Staffing an issue
The centre currently has two part-time staff and one casual worker. MacPherson said the board used to go with one full-time position and one part-time, but that turnover was too high.
"Staffing has been a huge, huge issue because the hours are so difficult, and the job is so demanding."
MacPherson said as many as 50 kids can be at the centre at once, with at least 30 there regularly. Those under 14 have to leave at 9 p.m.
"Because we have one staff member working at all times, and sometimes 50 kids in there, our main concern as a board is to ensure the youth are properly supervised," MacPherson said.
"The staff, if they turn their head for 30 seconds, there's usually something going on behind them."
She said staff from Ingamo Hall recently put on a presentation at the centre, and that her board would like to have more structured activities held there in the future.
She said once the board is finished tidying up its year end business, it will look for additional sources of funding so it can hire more staff, who would be able to conduct more structured activities.
MacPherson said maintenance is also a constant issue at the centre.
"Usually monthly there's something that needs to be repaired or fixed," she said. "We try to keep up on that or get different contractors to come in and do volunteer work."
Community support
Coun. Clarence Wood emphasized that while he has concerns about the centre, he feels it's very worthwhile.
"I'm completely in favour of what you're doing," Wood said.
Hansen said, "The Youth Centre has played a very important role in our community. I think vandalism and youth crime is at quite a low."
MacPherson said support from the community is important, and that getting parents and volunteers to help has been difficult. She pointed out that last fall the centre was closed for about a month due to staffing issues, and that during that time many people asked her why it wasn't open.
"That's when we saw the need for the youth centre more than ever," MacPherson said.
The next meeting for the Inuvik Youth Centre board is May 6 at 6 p.m. at the centre. Members of the public are invited to attend.
