Two Words: Homeless Youth

I want to take some time to discuss those two words in my title, and I'm going to start out with

YOUTH.

I, like a regular kid, had a tough time growing up. Teen years are confusing! All through high school I dealt with the issues of boys, self-esteem and a mother and father who just didn't understand. I think there was a period of time there where my parents were legitimately concerned that I was possessed. I have a feeling when they said "And who do you think you are?" they half expected me to answer with my demon name. Well, an exorcism never happened (that I can recall), and I made it out alive. In grade 11 we had a pretty big blowout about whether or not I could go to prom party, and in grade 12 I had bronchitis and missed a few weeks of school. I was the lead in the musical (humble brag) and taking a lot of AP courses, but luckily my director put in extra practices with me and my Chemistry teacher helped me study. I definitely had some tough times but those years shaped who I am today.

Now let's tackle that second word, 

HOMELESS.

I have no experience with homelessness. It is not a word that ever coincided with my childhood, with the exception of when I ran away to the Commons and lived at the rink house for about 5 hours. It's a really funny story now, and we laugh about it at family parties or when my parents think back to when my undeniable sass truly began. That's right, the closest my life has ever gotten to the atrocity that is homelessness is a cute joke. When you read about my years as a youth with the lens of homelessness, it's almost disgusting. I was worried about prom party when there are kids worrying about where to sleep. I had a teacher give me extra time to study when there are students who don't get to class because they have more important things to worry about, like when this round of couch-surfing will end, where they'll eat, if their mother or father have reappeared after weeks of absence. Honestly I can only imagine. I really do mean that. I can only imagine, because I was lucky enough to have spent my time worrying about my best friend making out with my crush and my parents enforcing an earlier curfew than my crew. My problems were so silly, and they are the only kind of problems that kids deserve to experience. I don't want to minimize my own, and all teens' experiences because they're certainly authentic while you're feeling them. But when I compare my in-hindsight-idyllic memories with those of a homeless youth in Saint John...there is such a sadness.

 

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And now, Safe Harbour, the Saint John transitional home for homeless youth, is closing its doors due to lack of funding, not even a year after opening. I've heard some grumblings about poor planning or unsustainable whatever, but you tell me what should have happened after gathering information telling us that at least 70 youths in Saint John are homeless. We have organizations with deep coffers claiming to support education and yet do not see the value in providing homing to teenagers. Each body in the beds of Safe Harbour is enrolled in some type of schooling, be it a GED program or a more traditional path. We have well-supported organizations that provide beds for teens IF they're pregnant or young mothers, or running from abuse. We have shelters for grown adults who need a warm place to stay, because it's the right thing to do. And we have Safe Harbour shutting down despite maintaining almost 100% capacity from two weeks after opening until this upcoming closing.


I'm not privy to the inner-workings of Rothesay and Saint John politics, but I'm still going to ignorantly comment on the situation. Rothesay, you damn fools. We spent, what, a cool million putting medians in on Hampton Road that pretty much everyone hates? We spent 2.5 million on a makeover for the rink where I ran away for five hours. Maybe it's just ridiculous to suggest that our pretty medians and our fancy rink are less important than putting roofs over the heads of homeless youth. But maybe, just maybe we could have built a two million dollar rink and just given Safe Harbour that little point five. Maybe when Rothesay Netherwood students hosted their annual fundraiser each year trying to get Rothesay more involved, people could have answered students' phone calls and pledged donations. Like I said, I am not privy to how this all goes down. All I think, all I know, is that Safe Harbour's doors should not be closing. We are failing our community, we are failing our youth, we are failing ourselves if we think it's enough to say "Oh no, what a pity", and carry on. Because there is a group of teens out there who are saying "Oh no, where will I be sleeping?", and we, as a community, have the ability to answer that question with "Safe Harbour" if we just pull together and find a way to make this happen.

To learn more about Safe Harbour, please check out this link: Safe Harbour SJ 

There's a link to donate at the bottom of the page. You know what to do.