This year, YESS was invited to contribute to a special issue of Parity, Australia’s national homelessness publication. In their October issue, Preventing and Sustaining Exits from Youth Homelessness in Canada, there are articles from agencies across Canada including “Changing the Definition of Success” by our own Camiel Friend, Nexus Shelter Team Lead, and Jessica Day, Director of Program Innovations. We are so proud for this opportunity to share the thought leadership of our Programs team in an international publication.

“Understanding A Way Home Canada’s National Roadmap for the Prevention of Youth Homelessness helped us re-evaluate what was needed in order to help our youth successfully reintegrate into communities: YESS and the partners and community around us must provide safety and stability, help build self-worth, help build the tools for resilience, and help to establish a sense of belonging within the community.” 

The article that I wrote with our Director of Program Innovations, Jessica Day, entitled “Changing the Definition of Success” was our way of introducing one of the most imperative aspects of addressing the trauma of our youth:  when we measure progress and outcomes with demographics and stats, we are missing the individualized unique stories of each youth we serve. It was important that we acknowledge the various barriers our youth face in a collective manner and to present this information in a relatable and understanding way to the general population, who may not have experienced these adversities themselves.

These stories are just as important as strategic stats or demographics and, thanks to the National Roadmap for the Prevention of Youth Homelessness, help to educate communities on what work and support is needed.  As well, we were able to portray how the National Framework can and needs to be applied to local agencies to help increase effective services, broaden the outcomes and stories of the youth served, and help to find a collective language and voice between the national research and our local youth stories. The language used between youth and frontline staff, amongst frontline agencies, from frontline to management and agency management to national coalitions and so on, can be a barrier all on its own. We have the ability to translate this in a way that has a clear guideline and understanding not only to our youth, but also to the people in charge of making important decisions on behalf of our youth.

This reciprocal bridge of communication directly impacts the National Roadmap for the Prevention of Youth Homelessness and its success, as well as directly impacting the local success of our individual agency. This article was a wonderful opportunity to have in-depth conversations about barriers, about language, about community goals, and most importantly how to support our youth while maintaining youth-focused strategies.

– Camiel Friend, Nexus Team Lead

Read Camiel’s article and other articles from Canadian frontline youth workers at homelesshub.ca.

Learn the storied history of our Whyte Ave Building

The YESS Whyte Ave building is 105 years old this year! Built in 1914, it was intended to be a fire hall with room for two pumper engines, stables for five horses, and quarters for seven men. The fire hall was never used, though, as the First World War broke out and reassigned the men and resources needed to run the fire hall.

It wasn’t until 1926 that the building was put to use again. City Council voted to rent the building to the Salvation Army for a dollar a year and it became the Eventide Home for Single Elderly Men with accommodation for 30-40 residents. The Salvation Army ran the building until 1979, completing major expansions and renovations. The building was turned back over to the city, who considered a variety of options including demolishing the existing building to make way for a modern fire hall.

It just so happened that around this same time, a group of concerned individuals—mostly those involved with social work—had started to come together to find a solution for a specific social services problem: until the age of 16, youth came under the jurisdiction of Child Welfare authorities, but would not qualify for social assistance until the age of 18. For youth in crisis and experiencing homelessness aged 16 to 17, resources were non-existent.

To solve this problem, they began to organize resources for youth in need and by 1981 they needed an official space to continue their mission. While there was no property available in the inner city for them, there was an old brick building on Whyte Ave. In order to raise funds to renovate the building and operate a shelter, they formed the Youth Emergency Shelter Society (YESS).

Through generous donations from community individuals and businesses and the hard work of many volunteers, many much-needed repairs and renovations were completed and the Youth Emergency Shelter opened its doors on April 18, 1982. We have been providing shelter and resources for youth in Edmonton ever since.

An old building that sees as much use as our Whyte Ave facility is a constant work in progress—from urgent fixes to beautiful renovations—that is maintained by our incredible Facilities team and the ongoing help of volunteers.

So much has changed even since YESS has occupied this building, most notably the expansion and diversification of programs and resources for youth. YESS now runs three facilities: the overnight shelter and supporting housing Graham’s Place on Whyte Ave, the Armoury Resource Centre for daytime programs, and Shanoa’s Place on the west end. It was this expansion that led us to change our name to Youth Empowerment and Support Services to better reflect the services we are able to offer youth.

One thing has stayed the same. This stalwart brick building has always sought to provide safety in our community, as a fire hall, as the Salvation Army’s Eventide Home, and now as YESS. And from day one, YESS has been a place where the community comes together to create safe, empowering spaces for youth who have experienced crisis and trauma. We know that we are not alone in this and never have been. We are all part of creating a city and a community where we can heal together.

Hello everyone, and happy Fall.

I have always thought of Fall and Winter as seasons for rest and reflection. It is the time when we can curl up in our warmest clothes, rest, and build up our resilience for the inevitable challenges that come our way.

Resiliency is a theme that runs pervasively through YESS. We teach the youth about resiliency and self care: about regulating their emotions through breathing, moving their bodies and connecting with their minds, calming their central nervous systems, and building a quiver of tools they can use when facing difficulties. Resiliency is the pot of gold we all seek. We work desperately against an invisible clock that can have trauma and challenges at every hour to help youth choose and begin to learn the techniques and thought processes that build self-control, self-regulation, self-confidence, and self-worth. (In other words, the resiliency to begin to understand that all that has happened to them is not their fault, and to face the next challenges in their life capably, and with their own interests and accountability at the forefront.) Resiliency is typically built from strong, positive attachments to parents, good teachers in positive school environments, safe and positive childhood play and interactions, and a safe, inclusive, role-modelling community. When you have not had these things, and been very hurt at an early age, your resiliency can take on a very different face. It can take on the various masks of coping mechanisms designed to comfort, protect, and hide from the harshest realities: the masks of addiction, abuse, violence, and suicide.

 And here is what I have noticed about resiliency after two years at YESS. While our city’s social workers, youth workers, and support staff are working to help the youth build resiliency, they are depleting their own energy stores, and wearing down their own resiliency. Our city’s frontline youth workers are doing some of the most difficult work you can imagine. They are often concurrently parenting, tutoring, counselling, mediating, de-escalating, and even doing CPR and first aid (ON THE YOUTH THEY ARE PARENTING). Can you imagine the trauma of walking your own teenager through a suicide plan and working each day to help them do their homework, struggling maybe with a learning disability, and then having to administer first aid or Naloxone that night? This is the reality of youth workers. This is our reality. And while the winter months can be restful and reflective, they contain the darkest, coldest months and the deep trauma of the holiday season.

Often, organizations simply do not have the funds or the capacity to provide the counselling, extra benefit support, staff overlap, and training that could truly help build a resilient staff. At YESS, we are in a position to recognize that we cannot afford NOT to take care of the resiliency of those who care for our most vulnerable. We, as a society, keep telling each other it takes a village to raise a child, because of the very fact that parents cannot do it all themselves. And now we need to walk that talk. We need to take care of the very parents who are raising our most vulnerable. 

Just as I have asked you to look closer and with empathy at our youth, I ask you now to see those who serve our city in such a deep and meaningful way and who do so without reward, recognition, and often without the help of the systems and the community they operate within. 

They are my heroes. And I am honoured to serve them. Let us care for them so that they may continue this brave work.

Every youth should have a safe place to call home.  This is our goal, but we cannot do it alone.  You’ve heard the saying, “It takes a village to raise a child”—it takes a community to walk alongside every youth with no place to go, and to ensure no youth ever feels alone.  No one will be forgotten.

We want to change the way our community views homelessness. It is never a choice: the youth who access YESS and other vulnerable youth-supporting agencies have experienced trauma in one form or another, whether it is at home, on the street, or even within our care systems. They do not trust the adult systems or communities that failed them, and they believe that the abuse, neglect, mental illness, or negative experiences that have happened to them are their fault.

Investment in our youth is an investment in our community.  Making an investment in programs, staff, and housing for youth gives them the space to heal, learn to trust, and learn life skills every child should be provided. 

It currently costs just over $6,000 to serve one youth at YESS for one year. Compare this number to the approximately $112,000 it costs our city to serve entrenched and addicted homeless adults. It is also important to note that YESS currently receives just over 20% provincial funding for our operating budget. We spend most of our year fundraising to keep operating.

We need your help—we cannot do this without you.  Look to our future. Help us to give our kids the future we all deserve. A future that will give back to the community that believed in them and never gave up!

You are truly part of the community our youth need. Let’s #healtogether at YESS.

In February we hosted ART at ARC: Stories of Resilience, Strength & Creativity, the youth art show and sale to celebrate the artwork created by youth in the YESS Art Connections Program. There were over 80 pieces of original art in 8 types of media and up to 100 pieces of printed art! This program is an important part of helping youth on their journeys towards healing, providing them with a safe space to express themselves and work through their trauma through the power of art. Their guide to exploring their creativity is Svitlana Kravchuk, art program facilitator. Svitlana is a multidisciplinary artist, mainly concentrating on painting, mixed media, and performance art.

“I feel like there are a lot of talented young people in our community who have a lot of passion and creativity that should be shared with others,” says Svitlana. “I wanted to be a part of their support system through making art together and finding way to visually express and communicate what might be going on for them.”

“Often when youth are traumatized, the first piece of them to disappear is their voice; being able to speak their truth, say what they feel, identify what scares them and reach out for help,” says Jessica Day, Director of Program Innovation at YESS. “When a youth is silenced through trauma, talking with a therapist or a friend or a youth worker can be intimidating and easier to just avoid, despite a system that pushes for youth to speak up and speak out. If youth do not have the tools to rebuild their voice, they will forever stay silent in their journey. Art and the art programming at YESS have been an incredible outlet for youth to begin to build a relationship with their feelings and their thoughts. It is a visual representation of their stories, their emotions, and their world view, and it allows them to see positive and healthy responses to their expressions. Art gives them back their voice and reinforces that their voice is important and beautiful.”

There are a lot of new experiences to come in the Art Connections Program with Svitlana at the helm. In April there will be a workshop with spoken word artist Buddy Wakefield. Buddy is a three-time world champion spoken word artist who will also be performing at Underneath the Stars, the 2019 YESS Gala for Youth.

Our partner in sharing this love of creativity with our youth is Simons, who have generously supported the YESS Art Connections Program for severalyears. Simons is committed to celebrating arts and culture in all their diversity and beauty. Yvonne Cowan, Director of Store Operations in Edmonton, is very proud of how Simons champions the young artists and supports the Art Connections Program at YESS.

“Our continued commitment and support of the Art Connections Program at YESS is truly an honour for us at Simons,” says Yvonne. “Art evokes emotions, inspires conversations, and creates community. You can’t help but be inspired by these talented youth who take us on remarkable spiritual journeys. Their ability to convey messages of hope and healing in an honest, genuine, and pure form is courageous.”

The Art Connections Program also gives youth the opportunity connect with other artists, cultures, and communities.

“What I am most looking forward to is inviting Indigenous artists as well as other artists who represent our communities to share their own stories, knowledge, and experiences through art,” says Svitlana. “I’m hoping to engage more youth and more professional artists in the program, helping youth to be proud of their work and motivated to continue with their artistic endeavours.”

Svitlana uses her own art to explore concepts of displacement, trauma, and female experiences. She understands how art can be used as a powerful tool for expression and coping.

“Everyone’s experience is different. For me, art is a raw expression of heart, mind, and soul. Sometimes it can act as an emotional, mental, physical, or spiritual release and grounding. It can also act as an incredible communication tool that tells a story or reflects where the artist may be in their journey.”