Saskatchewan’s second integrated youth services HOMEBASE hub officially opened its doors in Moose Jaw on Thursday.
Located at 52 High St. W., the hub offers access to mental health and addictions services, physical health services, peer supports, education, employment and training supports, cultural and traditional supports, and social and community supports for youth.
With the motto “For Youth By Youth,” every aspect of the hub was designed by youth between the ages of 12 and 25.
A youth impact committee was struck that looked at every aspect of HOMEBASE, from the design to establishing and promoting awareness of the site.
“We’ve discussed anything from furniture to brochures to paint colours to even just little things like what fidget toys should be included in our self-soothe baggies,” said Aria Swanson, who was on the youth impact committee.
The John Howard Society of Saskatchewan was tasked with implementing four HOMEBASE sites across the province with $3.4 million in funding from the Government of Saskatchewan.
The YMCA of Regina was contracted to operate Moose Jaw’s HOMEBASE facility with support from the Saskatchewan Health Authority and other community partners.
Pam Reimer, director of integrated youth services with the John Howard Society, said the support they have received from the Moose Jaw community has been outstanding.
“The support that the YMCA of Regina has been able to share with us, the way they built out their services, the way they’ve built out this space, the way they’ve come together really for the youth here has been just amazing and so exciting to see,” Reimer said.
Meanwhile, the support from Moose Jaw didn’t come as a surprise to YMCA of Regina CEO Steve Compton.
Compton said when the YMCA first applied to have a HOMEBASE hub, there was no doubt in his mind that it was going to be located in Moose Jaw.
“And the reason for that is the connectivity of all the organizations here, the relationships, the trust, the willingness to support this. It was a no-brainer of where we’re going to apply to be part of this,” he said.
In January, the John Howard Society of Saskatchewan announced that the four integrated youth services hubs would be opening across the province. The first HOMEBASE hub opened in September in Humboldt. Other HOMEBASE hubs will be located in Regina and Sturgeon Lake First Nation.
Additional information about HOMEBASE can be found at www.homebasesask.ca and Integrated Youth Services.