A New Key Role at West End 24/7
An Important Pilot Project
While participating on a provincial task force focused on ending youth homelessness, Réseau Compassion Network (RCN) was approached with an opportunity to support a three-year pilot project of a centralized resource supporting staff and operations at four youth overnight safe spaces in Winnipeg.
These new safe shelters are part of a three-tier support system promoted as critical to addressing the needs of these young people, starting with a safe shelter system, followed by transitional housing with wrap-around support, and then a third tier of employment and education supports.
Over the course of this pilot project, RCN will have contributed $225,000 towards supporting the first tier of supports by funding this new role deemed essential to ensure the success of these safe spaces and thus to better support the young people who need it.
Staff from WE24 work around the clock to welcome guests (photos courtesy of WE24)
Creating Safe Spaces for Youth
Summer Price is the new Youth Safe Space Sustainability Coordinator for West End 24/7 Safe Space (WE24). She says it’s a long name to say that she’s here for youth, whatever that looks like. At WE24, teens and young adults aged 13 to 26 are welcome to stop in for food, friendship and a quiet place to spend time on Langside Street. Prince and a team of dedicated staff work around the clock to make sure youth in the neighborhood have someone to turn to when they need it.
The organization works with youth from all walks of life. Some live with their parents or families but need extra support. Some are in care and have perhaps left their placement or are feeling lost and lonely. “We greet everyone with a trauma-informed, non-judgmental approach,” explains Prince. “We don’t do a traditional intake, with forms and asking them questions. We don’t want to be just ‘another worker,’ we want to build relationships with them.”
Currently, Winnipeg has many organizations providing overnight shelter and services for youth: Rossbrook House, Tina’s Safe Haven, Velma’s House, The Link and WE24. What they were lacking was a way to connect across sites and easily work together for the good of their communities. That’s where Prince’s role came into play.
“We’d been invited to the Manitoba Social Innovation Office’s meetings where we were focusing on better supporting kids and young adults who are encountering more barriers than most,” explains RCN’s CEO, Daniel Lussier. “There’s a direct correlation between those youth aging out of care and those who find themselves without homes, on our streets. When we heard that places like WE24 needed funding to be more efficient and work in a closer partnership with the other organizations providing similar services, we were very interested to hear how we could support.”
“The needs of youth are only growing, and there’s a lot of amazing work happening in community” shares Prince. “We’re working with the same kids and young adults, we’re meeting the same challenges, and we can help each other out. If one shelter is full, or we need a referral for housing services, for example, we can rely on each other. We don’t want anyone to fall through the cracks, so we’re working closer together.”
Lussier confirms that this is what drew the Social Innovation Office to this new role as a potential solution. “There’s been a huge increase in the past few years, in terms of how many young people are seeking shelter at night,” he explains. “We heard that it’s not just the youth that need more support, but the teams working also need better supports for how to deal with crisis situations and how to support each other as coworkers.”
Larger, central shelters in the downtown core are intimidating for younger folk, and might not have the specific services needed for someone experiencing homelessness as a youth. The three-year pilot project will help ensure that the special needs of these people continue to be served in more appropriate ways.
Prince is grateful for the support of the funding agencies for this important work.
