"When you're homeless you don't have a door you can close. That might sound small, but it's actually huge."
That's one of the reasons, says Louise Smith, manager of youth outreach and intervention for YMCA of Greater Toronto, that she, her colleagues, and her clients, are so excited about the recent official ground-breaking of the Vanauley Street YMCA.
The ground-breaking was another step towards the completion of a new YMCA hub for youth living in poverty. When complete, the building will be the permanent home of the organization's youth homeless shelter.
"One of the things that we did [when we decided to renovate Vanauley] that was important to us, the residents and the people who were staying with us, was to get their input into the redesign," says Smith."It's because of this consultation that the new shelter will have rooms that are only double-occupancy and each with their own bathroom. We kept hearing how important privacy was to young people for them to be able to thrive."
Located at 7 Vanauley Street, near Queen West and Bathurst, the Vanauley Street YMCA began operations in May 2012 after another community group vacated the space.
"The previous group in Vanauley (they left to concentrate efforts in the Scarborough area) had been operating a drop-in from homeless youth out of the the building. And because we had a long working relationship with them and were located so close, they asked us to step-in and fill the gap," says Smith.
The Queen Street West YMCA Centre (formerly YMCA House) has been operating a shelter in the area since 1986.
"It got so young people would stay with us during the evening and morning at the YMCA House and then spend part of their time at this drop-in that was operating during the day," says Smith. "So when they asked us if we could continue the services we knew that this something that was important and really needed in the community."
As Smith points out, while the number of youth living in poverty is growing, services for homeless youth in the area around Vanauley are continuing to decline.
"We've seen an increase in young people accessing our shelter and this is coupled with a decreasing service, so when we moved into Vanauley we moved some of our employment programs into the building as well to offer a sort of holistic approach for working with people who used the space."
After operating there for almost two years, the YMCA decide to transform Vanauley into what they deem "a true Centre of Community," a space that combines multiple services and is responsive to community needs.
The new Vanauley building, when complete, will be 3,000 sq ft larger and will provide enough room for the YMCA to move its emergency shelter from the Queen location.
"In the meantime we’re squeezed into YMCA House," says Smith. "It's very tight, but it's okay, because we know it's short term and are excited for the new space.
"It's very important to be able to serve the multiple needs of homeless youth in one space. Some people might walk through our doors who need food, shelter, or a hot shower. Others might need all these things but maybe are also ready to look into employment options or look into getting housing. It's great to be able to offer shelter services and other services in the same place and not have to refer people to one place and then another."
Writer: Katia Snukal
Source: Louise Smith, YMCA of Greater Toronto