Transitional home for youth opens
SideDoor's efforts to help young homeless should be applauded, says councillor
Shane Magee
Northern News Services
Friday, June 19, 2015
SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE
A 10-room youth transitional shelter has opened in the former Aurora Village building on 52 Street.
Iris Hamlyn, SideDoor Youth Ministries executive director, stands outside Hope's Haven on 52 Street, which is the organization's new youth transitional housing. - Shane Magee/NNSL photo |
Hope's Haven, run by SideDoor Youth Ministries, opened June 11 beside the Union of Northern Workers building.
It offers shelter and support services to youth aged 16 to 24, with a focus on those transitioning out of the foster care system. Already several people are staying in the facility.
"It's exhilarating and overwhelming at the same time," said Iris Hamlyn, SideDoor Youth Ministries executive director, about the opening of the building, a project nine months in the making.
Coun. Linda Bussey, who co-chair's the city's community advisory board on homelessness, said SideDoor's efforts should be applauded.
"I think it's a real success story," Bussey said. "They were able to create something in a very short time, they were able to secure a facility quickly."
Hope's Haven represents an expansion of the emergency shelter service for youth the non-denominational organization has offered at its downtown location for about 10 years. That shelter will be located at Hope's Haven and the drop-in centre will continue to operate, renamed the SideDoor Resource Centre for Youth.
Last year SideDoor provided emergency shelter to 119 individual youth, up from 67 the year before. The increase is largely due to an extension of the age limit for those using the service from 19 years old to 24.
Hamlyn visited more than a dozen youth facilities around the country, such as transitional housing and foster homes, to learn from other programs.
Addressing youth homelessness requires a different approach than adults, she said.
That means a focus on fostering skills development so when young people transition out of housing they're prepared.
Rent rooms
Hope's Haven will rent the rooms to youth who must be committed to education, learning basic life skills, such as cooking and getting employment experience. Rental rates have not yet been decided, according to Hamlyn.
The building has four bedrooms on the first floor that are wheelchair accessible, one of which will be used for emergency housing. It has a common space that acts as a living and dining room and has several staff bedrooms.
The building cost $1.2 million. The city, which gets money through a federal homelessness program, announced in February it would contribute $594,000 to Hope's Haven.
The remainder is a mortgage and Hamlyn said efforts to raise about $600,000 are planned for later in the year.
Having funding directed specifically to address youth homelessness is seen as an achievement by Hamlyn.
"That was a huge milestone for us," she said. "We got youth on the agenda."
Hope's Haven isn't the final step for SideDoor, Hamlyn said. In January a plan to end youth homelessness will be launched.
