The City of St. Albert has taken the next step to establish a youth transitional home to support young people in the city who have nowhere to go.
On Aug. 17, council approved a motion for the city to do a capital project charter, which would outline the home's structure and implementation, as part of fall budget discussions. It passed in a 5-2 vote (Coun. Natalie Joly and Coun. Sheena Hughes opposed).
The move came from the Mayor’s Task Force to End Homelessness meeting on July 17. Youth experiencing homelessness have the fewest resources and greatest need in St. Albert, according to the task force – a transitional home would house and provide guidance for youth left without access to any supports.
Administration estimated a 10-bed home with staff would cost approximately $650,000 a year to operate, though the amount depends on how much grant funding and available land the city is able to secure for the project, and the building itself. The goal is to have an outside agency operate the home.
Council also passed a recommendation to develop a business case to hire a social housing coordinator in a 5-2 vote (Joly and Hughes opposed). Those opposed noted that recommendation had failed at the committee level, which estimated costs for the position at $98,000 a year.
Emotional discussion
Youth homelessness requires unique strategies, said Coun. Ken MacKay, who sits on the task force.
MacKay has a long history of working with young people in need of support through his previous roles with the Edmonton Police Service and the Office of the Child and Youth Advocate.
A lack of shelter or safe space in St. Albert could force youth in need to gravitate toward larger cities like Edmonton, where they have little resources and no support network, he said.
“Once a youth ends up in street culture ... there is a very small window of opportunity to access these kids and get them back. If we don’t, we are at peril of getting into a chronic homelessness situation.”
Coun. Jacquie Hansen has also worked with vulnerable youth through her role with the Alberta School Boards Association. Many young people wanted to do well but just didn’t have the support, she said, calling the transitional home “a no-brainer.”
“To me, this is a huge investment in people that will have lots of return on investment later on.”
Coun. Ray Watkins shared his own efforts to house multiple young people in St. Albert who needed a place to stay. He’s currently helping a 24-year-old man from Toronto who is living at his home to get away from the violence he experienced out east.
The young man just needed a chance to get out of the situation he was in, Watkins said.
"This is a place for transition and to try and help kids get a hand up ... if we don't look after them, who is?"
Cart before the horse?
As someone who had two members of her immediate family experience homelessness in St. Albert, Coun. Natalie Joly said the issue is “near and dear to her heart.”
However, the current plan “is not a plan,” she said. If this recommendation had instead directed the city to reach out to community organizations to submit their own plans for a transitional home, she’d be “all over it.”
Mayor Cathy Heron said the task force did reach out to agencies, like the Mustard Seed, for their ideas beforehand.
While Coun. Sheena Hughes said she supported this at the committee level, she said the city should have an idea of potential partnerships first instead of finding an agency that fits the vision. The city should also lobby the province for financial support or seek out a financial partner before committing any money, she added.
“The idea of coming up with a solution and then trying to figure out who’s going to be able to either run it, or contribute to it, or anything else, seems backwards to me,” Hughes said. “It’s not about whether or not you want to solve the problem, it’s whether or not you’re actually going to solve it because you’re going down one (path).”
–with files from Kevin Ma
