More homeless young people asking for help, says Kitchener youth agency
The number of homeless young people who have accessed a Kitchener youth support agency this year has gone up about 10 per cent compared to the previous years, estimates the CEO of the organization.
When Sandy Dietrich-Bell began working at what was known as Reaching Our Outdoor Friends (ROOF) in 2006, she says about 300 youth who were homeless came through the doors seeking support.
By the end of this month, the organization estimates more than 1,000 youth aged 12-25 years will have come in 2014, an increase from the 911 youth who came in 2013.
“I think the problems are getting more and more severe,” said Dietrich-Bell, who now serves as CEO at the organization, recently re-named oneROOF.
“What the youth are experiencing in their homes, whether it be neglect or violence or just extreme poverty, is causing them to believe what they're leaving is much worse than what they're going to go to...that the streets - for some - they feel, is a safer place to be.”
Dietrich-Bell said many youth who are homeless or at-risk of becoming homeless are also dealing with mental health and substance abuse issues.
Dietrich-Bell added that it is crucial to find these individuals within the first two weeks of being homeless. If oneROOF does not get to them in time, someone else will.
“And often that someone else is a drug dealer, or someone who’s going to use them for prostitution…,” said Dietrich-Bell.
“It doesn’t take very long for those who have a mindset for exploitation to find these young vulnerable people and embrace them and let them know that they’re there to help, when really it’s a manipulative thing.”
The majority of youth using oneROOF’s services are from Waterloo Region, but some have come from as far as British Columbia.
The organization is celebrating its 25th anniversary this year. Its founder, Kate Millar, first began the organization in 1989, working out of an office that her friend donated. OneROOF now offers a myriad of services including, emergency shelter, counselling, hot meals and access to a shower and a computer lab.