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SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE
The SideDoor Youth Centre has taken a leap of faith in its goal to help troubled young Northerners find stability and make it through the teen years with a roof over their heads.

The organization has been in the process of acquiring two four-bedroom homes since the end of the summer to house troubled youth. The houses are currently owned by Aurora Oxford House which provides housing for men who are recovering drug and alcohol addicts. The SideDoor is aiming to have both homes running by Dec. 1.

"Generally there is not a big problem to find homes for kids ages zero to 10," said program director Christopher Cobbler.

"But during the ages of 12 to 16 is when kids are entering their teens and we are finding they have less of an opportunity to live at people's houses."

The two homes are located at 67 Con Road and 68 Bromley Drive, and SideDoor officials say the homes are in great condition to begin taking in teens without anywhere else to turn.

Aurora had been using the homes to service recovering drug and alcohol addicts up until July but its funding had dried up so the organization approached SideDoor to see if it was interested in acquiring the properties, said Cobbler.

He said Aurora is willing to hand over the houses providing SideDoor cover the $150,000 still owing on each mortgage. Aurora president Phil McPhail could not be reached for comment as of press deadline.

Gary Hubert, executive director of the SideDoor, said the acquisition is risky because of the mortgages that need to be paid.

The SideDoor is now looking for financial support from various levels of government and other community organizations that might be able to help with some of the costs.

Because of the financial requirements, Hubert said the organization remains open to selling one of the homes but hopes to find funding support to run both and help incoming troubled youth.

"We definitely are taking a big risk and youth are a part of our mandate," Hubert said. "We hope to either run one of the programs and maybe sell the other home or if feasible, operate both homes.

"We want to do whatever is most feasible and has the most impact for youth in Yellowknife and the NWT."

Hubert said the demand for housing youth seems to be increasing from year to year.

Last year, he said the ministry provided 2,500 bed nights for teens between the ages of 16 to 19, with more than 40 per cent of those teens coming from communities outside of Yellowknife. Youth are allowed to stay overnight at the ministry, which provides couches for them to sleep on.

"That number (2,500) is growing always by about 200 or 300 each year," said Hubert.

"We are seeing more and more mental health issues and younger and younger youth requesting the services. They don't have many other places to turn."

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