Red Deer High Risk Youth Coalition marks 10 years

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“The best thing we do is we sit together to support youth where they’re at, and to identify how we can support each other on different projects, which is amazing.”

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In 2017, around 100 youth came through the doors of the youth shelter, she adds.

Another coalition partner is Heritage Family Services, which recently launched Haven, Canada’s first group home for LGBTQ2+ youth.

Haven program coordinator Shay Vanderschaeghe there is a dramatic need for more services and supports to help high-risk youth.

“We can learn and share and network and discuss cases, and provide support to folks so that youth get better service and can be healthier and more productive as they grow older,” she says.

“Often the supports need to be inclusive of what their lived experiences are, and sometimes youth have a hard time because they’re different, or they’re not from here, or because they use drugs, and sometimes the stigmas get in the way of getting good service.”

Vanderschaeghe says nonetheless, service providers are doing the best they can with the resources they have.

At the BBQ on Wednesday, CACHE Productions was on hand to create a video featuring local high-risk youth talking about what could be done to better support them. It will be available online in the near future.

The Red Deer High Risk Youth Coalition is comprised of many organizations including the two named above, as well as others like McMan Youth Services, Youth HQ, RCMP, and local school districts.