Youth society ‘stunned’ by shelter plan

The Youth of Today Society’s executive director was more than a little surprised to hear the territorial government and the Skookum Jim Friendship Centre are moving ahead with a new emergency youth shelter.

The Youth of Today Society’s executive director was more than a little surprised to hear the territorial government and the Skookum Jim Friendship Centre are moving ahead with a new emergency youth shelter.

Vicki Durrant had a meeting scheduled with Health and Social Services Minister Doug Graham for the afternoon the announcement was made.

She planned to discuss options for opening a supportive living program for youth.

“When we found out that they had already made a huge decision with regards to the shelter, we were kind of stunned,” Durrant told the Star.

They wondered why they were even meeting if the decision had been made.

But Durrant, who runs Angel’s Nest, decided to let it go ahead as scheduled.

“We figured at least we can ask some questions with regards to what kind of decisions have been made and why we weren’t included,” she said during the interview at Angel’s Nest after her meeting with Graham.

Angel’s Nest provides a safe, warm place for at-risk youth to go, have a meal, hang out, or talk to one of the society’s staff members.

The Youth of Today Society has 65 youth members, 22 of whom are of First Nations descent.

It’s licensed to sleep up to 10 youth, and the nine rooms and five bathrooms make for plenty of space. It isn’t currently used as a shelter though, because that would require 24-hour staff.

Durrant has been trying for years to set up a supportive living program at Angel’s Nest. She told Graham the location is still available for use as an emergency shelter.

A few years back, before Graham became minister a year ago and before the emergency shelter beds were set up at the Sarah Steele Building, Durrant made an application to open a supportive housing program.

Ultimately, her proposal was discarded. The government went with the Sarah Steele shelter, which since then has been very rarely used by youth.

Many who work with at-risk youth have blamed the shelter’s institutional feel and tightly enforced rules as two key reasons for its limited use.

In an interview Thursday before the opening of the fall sitting of the legislative assembly, Graham said he will resurrect Durrant’s years-old proposal and have department staff give it another look.

“What she talked about (Wednesday) was different from what we’re doing with Skookum Jim,” Graham said.

“What Vicki and I talked about (Wednesday) was more of a transitional housing arrangement than strictly an emergency shelter,” the minister said.

In addressing homelessness, there is a need for both emergency shelters and transitional housing, as the Yukon Anti-Poverty Coalition’s housing action plan clearly outlines.

The action plan also specifically highlights gaps in both areas for street youth in Whitehorse.

“We’re going to take a look at it, I didn’t make her any promises, and I haven’t given the department any marching orders – that’s for sure. But we’re always willing to take a look at things and see what can be done better,” said Graham.

The department is not releasing the specific location of the youth emergency shelter, citing safety concerns for the youth if the shelter’s location is well-publicized.

The minister did say the shelter, which is set to open in December in a downtown Yukon Housing Corp. building, will have four beds with the potential to move to six, and will offer 24-hour staff.

“We based the four and six on the fact that there hasn’t been a huge amount of use at the current one at the Sarah Steele Building. Now that’s probably not an appropriate measurement but it’s the measurement we had to use,” said Graham.

“If there’s a huge uptake, than we can increase the number at a later date, that’s for sure.”

This shelter, run by Skookum Jim’s, will have a more welcoming feel and will hopefully encourage more use by youth who need it.