Youth homelessness will be the centre of discussion during an event in Saint John this week.
Centre for Youth Care, a non-profit in the city, is holding a youth homelessness forum on Thursday.
Experts, advocates and community members will come together to discuss the challenges and explore solutions.
Karen Cummings, the centre’s executive director, said the overarching goal is to amplify the youth homelessness crisis.
“Youth can be very transient. They will do what’s referred to as couch surfing, so they will spend a couple of nights at one person’s home and then a couple of nights at a different person’s home,” Cummings told our newsroom.
“You might not be seeing them in our community, but they are in fact experiencing homelessness. I think a lot of times, we just don’t see the actual issue, and because we don’t often see it, we don’t often think of it.”
The forum will feature a presentation by Dr. Melanie Doucet, who put together a collaborative photovoice research project with young people who had aged out of care and experienced homelessness in Halifax.
Doucet will also participate in a panel discussion with Cassandra Monette from the University of New Brunswick’s HOME-Research Lab and NB Social Pediatrics.
Cummings said there are hundreds of youth who access shelter services each year.
“We do want our community talking about it more. It really does take a village. This is a community crisis. These youth are our youth,” she added.
Cummings said they also want to shed light on the urgent need for affordable housing and comprehensive support services for youth, particularly those aged 19 to 25.
The centre recently launched a $1-million fundraising campaign to help finance a supportive housing program featuring nine bachelor apartments for youth.
“Homelessness and housing is not a one-size-fits-all crisis,” said Cummings.
