The Youth Resiliency Hub, an online resource that provides practical information to unhoused youth through curated reviews about shelters, mental health services and employment centres, launched last week.
Helix Foundation created the hub last year after starting a youth advisory team that had experienced homelessness and discrimination, according to the foundation’s president, Kate Butler. She said the foundation wanted to hear from youth about the issues they were facing to inform Helix’s grant strategy.
“We want it to be youth leading the charge,” said advisory member George Yonemori.
But the team didn’t want to just talk about problems; they wanted to take action, which ultimately led to the hub’s development.
Advisory members wanted to address the lack of communication between youth service providers. Members felt that local youth needed a resource hub where they could look up shelters in their area with inclusion ratings, such as being halal-friendly or pet-friendly.
“Even if the resources to help youth exist within the city, the youth don’t know about it unless their particular social worker happens to know about it,” said member Elle Rosen.
Although there are well-meaning people who unhoused youth may be connected to, such as support and social workers, they don’t always know about the range of services, which can prevent youth from getting the help they need, according to Butler.
What services does the Youth Resiliency Hub offer?
One unique feature of the hub is the ability to read reviews of why people liked or didn’t like a certain service or shelter. Butler said it’s an opportunity to read real-time feedback from your peers before you make a decision.
Rosen, who shared their journey through shelters, housing instability and mental health services at the hub’s launch event on May 6, said they wished something like this existed when they needed it the most.
“I wouldn’t have gone through the programs that weren’t helpful or created more problems, and I would have been able to get to the settled place that I am now a lot sooner,” they said. “I hope that’ll be the case for other people.”
What does this mean for Toronto youth?
Butler said this is a platform that’s youth-created and -led, as well as solutions-oriented. In comparison, “many of our services are created by adults for what they think young people need and want,” she said.
From January to March, there are currently 10,569 unhoused people in Toronto, according to the city’s shelter systems flow data. Of those 10,569, 12% are aged 16 to 24 and 20% are aged 25 to 34.
Butler said unhoused youth may not have friends who have the same life experiences, and if they don’t get information via word of mouth, they may not trust certain services. The hub is “trying to connect them to others who have been in their shoes,” she explained.
The hub’s blog section includes articles that explore first-hand accounts of homelessness, including what to expect on your first night at a shelter, when you become unhoused or when you use a mental health service for the first time.
How to access and get involved in the hub
Anyone can access the hub’s website and find services that interest them by clicking the drop-down menus for youth shelters, mental health services and employment centres.
Looking ahead, Rosen wants the hub to grow and is looking for more reviews on the website and more feedback from youth. “Now we have a skeleton, and it needs to get flesh on the bones, it needs to grow, it needs to be more accessible, it needs to be adapted,” they said.
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