If Orillia wants to make a meaningful investment in fighting youth homelessness, prevention is key.
That was one of the messages that came out of a panel discussion Tuesday at Orillia Secondary School.
“Homelessness is a crisis in Canada and the way we’re coming at it is wrong,” said Stephen Gaetz, director of the Canadian Observatory on Homelessness, who was the keynote speaker at Tuesday’s event.
More than 40,000 Canadians between the ages of 13 and 24 are homeless over the course of a year, he said, while that figure is 7,000 on any given night.
That’s where the importance of prevention comes in, as homelessness can lead to a decline in physical and mental health and leaves people more likely to be victims of crime.
Gaetz noted 40 per cent of homeless youth said they first experienced homelessness before they were 16. That’s why it’s important to look beyond the emergency options, such as shelters, and help youth before they end up on the streets.
“In North America, people have been reluctant to look at prevention,” Gaetz said.
Fifty-eight per cent of homeless youth had previously been in foster care, he noted, and their problems continued after they “aged out” of the system.
“If we know young people are leaving home at 13, what are we waiting for?” he asked.
The Canadian Observatory on Homelessness is one of the partners in the Upstream Project, a school-based program aimed at preventing youth homelessness. It works with students and staff to identify risks and offer support.
Another partner in the Upstream Project is Raising the Roof, which works with community agencies on homelessness prevention and supports. Its CEO, Michael Braithwaite, was also on the panel Tuesday.
“There are many paths into homelessness. There are very few out,” he said. “Why … is our only thought to react?”
Braithwaite called on a group of students from the audience to make a point. Each was given a small spoon and asked to scoop water out of a bowl (representing homelessness) and drop it into small containers (each representing a different type of support service) set out on the stage. The container farthest from the students was empty, and Braithwaite used that opportunity to point out some services are out of reach for homeless youth, sometimes geographically too far away.
Kevin Gangloff understands that problem. As director of the Orillia Youth Centre and a member of the Orillia Youth Opportunities Committee, he watches as local teens are sent down the highway to youth shelters.
“We send youth to Barrie, Newmarket and Toronto, and that doesn’t work,” he said, noting it is not ideal for youth to be leaving their hometown to find support. “That’s not the way we should be dealing with it.”
When Gangloff moved to the area in 2003, he joined the effort to bring youth transitional housing to Orillia. It was close to becoming a reality, but funding fell through. He hopes Tuesday’s presentation inspired community members and decision makers.
“We hope this brings people around the proverbial table to build a plan,” he said. “We’ve got way too many youth right now that are falling through the cracks.”
The Orillia Youth Opportunities Committee – which partnered with the Simcoe County District School Board and Simcoe Muskoka Catholic District School Board to put on Tuesday’s event – has been working on a plan, and Gangloff expects information gathered at the panel discussion will help inform that work before any recommendations are made to city council.
