SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE
The City of Yellowknife has received a significant boost in its effort to combat youth homelessness.

Mayor Mark Heyck, left, joins Iris Hamlyn, executive director of the SideDoor Youth Centre, and Mary-Jane McKitterick with the Toronto-based Mobilizing Local Capacity of End Youth Homelessness Program at a news conference on Sept. 25. Yellowknife is one of two cities, the first from the North, to be selected to join the three year-old program. It aims to combat youth homelessness and raise public awareness about the problem. - John McFadden/NNSL photo

At a news conference Thursday, it was announced Yellowknife had been selected to join a national program which aims to change the course of youth homelessness.

Officials attending the news conference said youth homelessness is more of a problem than many people realize, pointing out some teenagers couch surf at the home of friends or relatives, so it's often difficult to accurately track their numbers.

Statistics show about 20 per cent of Canada's homeless population - approximately 200,000 people -- are aged 16 to 24.

This is the third year for Mobilizing Local Capacity to End Youth Homelessness in Canada Program (MLC), a Toronto-based initiative.

The organization will work with SideDoor Youth Ministries in an effort to provide information and program ideas that will help with the problem.

Iris Hamlyn, the executive director of SideDoor, said MLC chose Yellowknife for this year's program, even though in the past the group had directed its efforts toward larger communities, including Kingston, Ont., and Saint John, N.B.

She said Yellowknife was chosen because it is a Northern city and has unique challenges with youth homelessness, often different from communities in the south.

"We forwarded them a letter detailing our initiatives and the ongoing problem of youth homelessness in Yellowknife. They put us on their list of communities to help this year," Hamlyn said, adding Brandon, Man., will also be receiving assistance this year. "We want to have a distinct plan by the end of a year to end youth homelessness."

Hamlyn said SideDoor currently has plans for Hopes Haven - a home with about a dozen beds for homeless youth - but that there is no location yet nor a concrete opening date.

This is only part of a larger plan to address youth homelessness, she said.

"The idea here is to assist young people to get a home before not having one becomes a way of life ... a habit for them," she said. "We want to give them a place to call home and then endeavours like finding a job more easily fall into place."

Hamlyn said there is some money that comes from the MLC program, but it's not funding to help build facilities.

"They're providing us with some money to help with our planning. But again, this is larger than just funding a home for homeless youth," she said. "We also want to substantially raise awareness about youth homelessness."

Mary-Jane McKitterick, a community development coordinator with MLC, made the trip from Toronto to Yellowknife for the news conference.

She said she'd also be spending a few days in the city to get a firsthand look at the programs and services currently available to homeless youth and where there is room for improvement.

"We're taking on this challenge at a national level with local input," she said. "We can give a city like Yellowknife lots of information and advice, but we learn every bit as much from people helping on the ground level here as they do from us."

Mayor Mark Heyck said getting young people a home before being homeless becomes a habit for them is critical.

"Having a roof over you head -- a place to call home at the end of the day -- is important. It makes issues like unemployment, drug and alcohol abuse and violence less difficult to deal with," he said. "Addressing youth homelessness is a large part of the city's overall strategy to combat homelessness in general."