The 49th Street Youth Shelter is looking to increase its stock of winter coats for clients.
Operated by Youth HQ, the 12-bed shelter provides a safe place for youth, age 12 to 17, who don’t have an appropriate place to stay.
Donna Stansall, acting program manager, said the shelter is back to running at full capacity after reducing access in recent years due to the pandemic. About eight beds are currently in use.
“The majority of our youth are coming from the Red Deer area, but they definitely come from all over because we deal with 12 to 17-year olds,” said Stansall, who added that most youth shelters in Alberta do not accept clients as young as 12.
She said those young clients are becoming more common at the Red Deer youth shelter.
Related:
She said demands on the shelter didn’t increase during the recent cold snap, but last year’s supply of coats is depleted.
“We’re definitely going to be going through those. Winter is not over yet,” Stansall said.
People can donate gently used coats to Youth HQ, or support Mission Thrift Store which provides gift cards to youth in the shelter so they can chose what they need from the second-hand store.
Related:
Red Deer youth shelter will increase capacity in 2018
The 49th Street Youth Shelter opened in 1992.