A new project by the Owen Sound Family YMCA will address youth homelessness in Grey Bruce.
The Y’s Housing Support Program has recently received a 40 thousand dollar grant from the federal government’s Homeless Partnering Strategy.
Program Co-ordinator Joan Chamney says the money will be used to implement a short term project called “Youth Homelessness – Not Just A City Problem”.
Chamney says many people don’t realize that youth are homeless on a regular basis in Grey Bruce, couch surfing or sleeping in parks and other unsafe places.
She says while their figures are not youth-specific — in 2009 the Y assisted over 21 hundred people, 600 of whom were totally homeless.
Chamney says the main goal of the project is to bring awareness to the issue, with the belief that education equals prevention.
The funding has allowed them to hire a Youth Outreach Worker who will be getting in touch with community groups and schools across the region.
Chamney says they want to help children understand the real story of the streets, while also bringing together all the groups out there that can help at-risk youth.
