WELCOME!

The purpose of this wiki is to provide a clearinghouse for info and an ongoing dialogue about youth housing needs, resources, possibilities, and potential collaborations.

This on-line dialogue has evolved from monthly "Brown Bag Lunch Meetings" between youth service providers and concerned community members. This wiki is an opportunity for anyone interested in supporting the development of youth housing resources to participate in the discussion: service providers, community members, parents, teachers, youth, we hope you'll join us here.

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Facts about youth poverty in the Capital Regional District

The Canadian Council on Social Development 2007 Urban Poverty Project (http://www.ccsd.ca/pubs/2007/upp/) states that:


- Victoria’s youth poverty rate is the highest in Canada.

- British Columbia is the only province with steadily increasing child & youth poverty rates, while all other provinces have seen rates decline since 2000.

- One out of every 4 impoverished community members in Victoria and Saanich are 15-24 years old.

The Community Council 2008 Youth Housing Needs report (http://www.communitycouncil.ca/resources/index.html) found that:

- Approx. 200 youth (minors aged 13-18), and approx. 300 young adults (aged 19-24), are without stable housing and struggling with extreme poverty in the Capital Region


As we address homelessness, we must remember that youth (aged 13-18) are not an “interest group” equivalent to any one special-needs sub-group within the adult homeless population. Rather, youth embody the full spectrum of adult sub-groups (ex. male, female, single parents, addictions, mental health, disabilities, immigrants, and First Nations), as well as being legal minors with developmental needs unique to adolescence.

If people aged 15-24 comprise one quarter of those facing homelessness and extreme poverty in Greater Victoria, then the need for youth-specific housing is immediate and urgent.

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