By Josh Hall (Twitter: @Vancan19)

housing youth

McMan gets additional funding for Arcadia youth homelessness program

Sep 16, 2019 | 3:40 PM

A program in Red Deer which provides transitional housing for homeless youth aged 16-24 is getting a nearly $40,000 boost.

A request for that funding from McMan Youth, Family & Community Services Association came to Red Deer city council on Monday.

The dollars, which come out of The City’s provincial Outreach and Support Services (OSSI) allotment, go specifically into McMan’s Arcadia program.

Arcadia utilizes ‘house mentors’ who live on site to ensure the safety of a property and the community. They also provide assistance on how to be a good neighbour, and notify the housing coordinator when there are illegal activities happening, or if a client has questionable guests over.

McMan has unfortunately been unable to attract mentors over the last 18-24 months, hence the request which will pay for an additional part-time housing coordinator to support clients.

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In the meantime, the program has experienced an uptick in clients staying in transitional housing longer, and clients being evicted.

Senior Practice Specialist for McMan – Central region, Tammy Corsiatto, explains why they haven’t been able to find mentors.

“The youth that are requiring service come to us come with a wide variety of struggles. Some of them have mental health and addictions issues, and there are a lot of behaviours and struggles attached to that obviously,” she points out. “Sometimes for people who haven’t worked in the field or been exposed to those kinds of things, it’s not always a comfortable thing to enter into.”

According to Corsiatto, the program could use up to four mentors, two each for males and females. Mentors don’t need specific education, but it is an asset to have experience with or knowledge of issues related to mental health, addictions, and homelessness. Mentors also live with their clients in the downstairs suite of a home.

Arcadia has historically served seven to nine youth each year with an average stay of six months. Clients served in the last two years have dropped because stays have increased up to one year, partially thanks to the lack of guidance from mentors.

“Youth at risk are obviously of great concern to our community, obviously just because of our ethical imperative, but also because they’re at a critical stage of decision-making in life, and it’s important as a community that we look after them,” Mayor Tara Veer added.

The 2018 Point in Time homeless count conducted by The City of Red Deer showed 17 per cent of Red Deer’s 144 homeless people were under the age of 25.

McMan’s current agreement for OSSI funds from The City runs out next March. Arcadia currently receives $180,000 per year through the agreement.