Red Deer’s Youth Winter Inn kept an average of five youth safe and warm each night in December.
And Christmas Eve was no different.
“Everybody was probably with their families at Christmas at some point and these children didn’t have any resources,” said program manager Rose Hatfield.
Donations of a few pieces of candy, snacks and socks filled stockings for the five youth who awoke at the shelter on Christmas morning.
“We’ve had some support from the community, but by no means was it a big Christmas Day.”
The Youth and Volunteer Centre opened the inn at 4633 49th St. on Nov. 1 as a pilot project for intoxicated or homeless youth.
The 10-mat program is open to youth age 14 to 17, from 9 p.m. to 8 a.m. seven days a week.
Hatfield said the shelter has been in use every night, with the majority of clients in before midnight.
Youth accessing the shelter so far have ranged in age from 15 to 17.
“For November, we had 14 different youth and a total of 44 admissions. We were quite surprised with that.”
Twenty-seven out of the 44 were re-admissions of youth who already used the shelter.
Hatfield said in December new faces appeared, including a few from Calgary and Edmonton who used to live in the Red Deer area. One youth came from out of province, but most are local.
They aren’t looking to move on to a larger city and want to stay in Red Deer, she said.
“It looks like the majority of them are just cold and need a place. At that time of night, they have no resources.”
About 80 per cent do admit to some level of addiction.
She said so far a few youth have returned home or turned to other social programs, while others have gone back to the street, possibly resorting to prostitution.
“For them, they’re not at a point to change that kind of lifestyle.
“If that breaks down then we’re here for them to come back and we’ll continue to try and encourage them to access more stable resources.”
Hatfield said it’s all about building a relationship with youth to encourage them to make changes in their lives.
Donation of jackets and socks from the public and stores like Wal-Mart and Winners shows that people in Red Deer care, Hatfield said.
“It’s been awesome. We didn’t think that we’d get such a positive response. But it does seem that the community as a whole wants to be part of the solution.”
The clothing is shared with other agencies helping youth.
The Youth and Volunteer Centre is also looking for donations to help keep the inn open until April 30.
Funding, which came from the city’s federal funding to address homelessness, runs out April 15.
szielinski@www.reddeeradvocate.com