Doors wide open at Hope's Haven
'No one is ever banned' says shelter executive director
Evan Kiyoshi French
Northern News Services
Friday, November 20, 2015
SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE
The biggest difference the 23-bed Hope's Haven transitional and emergency shelter can make for the city's at-risk youth is an open-door policy, according to Iris Hamlyn.
Hope's Haven staff members Chelsea Thacker, left, and Emily MacKiddie, stand out front of the shelter. - Evan Kiyoshi French/NNSL photo |
The executive director for SideDoor Youth Ministries, which switched its shelter operations over to a new $1.2 million property on 52 Street over the summer, said the building is the only place in town homeless youth are guaranteed a place to stay.
"No one is ever banned from Hope's Haven," she said, adding the shelter is currently housing two youths who have been banned from another shelter in town.
She said she wouldn't discuss why this pair were banned, but said in many other instances "it's because of behavior exhibited while under the influence of alcohol."
She said her staff finds ways to work with problem cases, negotiating terms allowing booted-youths to return. She said since opening they've had two instances in which a tenant had to be removed because of violent behaviour. In both cases staff were able to work out a strategy to let the youths come back. They haven't had repeat offences, she said.
"Our approach is a harm reduction approach," she said. "In the absence of perfect solutions we will put solutions in effect that cause the least amount of harm. If you look at the youth who come in intoxicated, turning them away would only increase their problems."
Kassandra Spencer, the home's manager, said the tenants have access to computers, lockers for storing medications and other valuables and get three meals a day with snacks.
She said the doors in the 10-bed emergency shelter are open from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m., but youth are allowed to come back throughout the day for meals or to use laundry or washroom facilities.
"It's nice that we're staffed in the building 24/7," she said.
Hamlyn said SideDoor had four employees before the organization moved into its new home. Now there are more than 10 staff.
Spencer said the adolescents are divided by gender into separate rooming areas in both the transitional and emergency shelters. She said while the transitional rooms have separate bathrooms for each gender, the emergency shelter rooms share a bathroom. She said all of the doors lock from the inside, but staff have keys that would allow them to enter in an emergency.
"We really try to respect their privacy," she said. "We do have cameras, but they don't point toward any of the bedrooms or bathrooms."
Security cameras cover common areas, such as the lockers.
"The cameras help (staff) to see if someone went where they shouldn't be," said Hamlyn.
The emergency rooms are filled with cots and aren't brightly decorated yet, but she added the transitional rooms are under renovations in order to get the tenants feeling more comfortable in their surroundings. She said she has taken the tenants out to shop for paint, rugs and other amenities to personalize their rooms.
"We buy accents for the rooms, the bedding, the curtains, the prints," she said. "All of those decorative things. The youth get to pick that. You put your personal accents in there and that has a lot to do with youth taking ownership."
Hamlyn said she feels her role is that of a guide, helping friends through the trials of youth, but she added she is not a parental figure.
"We are not at all attempting the place of that role in their lives, but recognizing that most of the youth with us don't have positive parental support," she said. "We want to replace that. And be a friend to them and support them to healthy adulthood."
Hope Haven's clients range in age from 15 to 24.
The facility has one apartment - with its own kitchen and bathroom - where tenants who are closest to moving out of transitional housing get to stay. She said the idea is to get the youths used to living in a room with two other people, sharing tidying duties and other responsibilities. She said there's no fixed time limit for how long the apartment dwellers can stay, but when they do move out on their own a new set of transitional shelter tenants will be selected to live in the shelter's apartment.
The city chipped in $594,000 to the project in February, sourced from funds received as part of a federal homelessness program.
Hamlyn said staff hope to raise around $600,000 to cover the new mortgage.
