The United Way East Ontario is pledging to raise $1 million over the next five years to prevent and end youth homelessness in Ottawa. The pledge was announced Friday morning during the “Ending Homelessness in Ottawa: Reimaging Emergency Shelters and Diversion” event at Ottawa City Hall. “Our new investments will focus on prevention-first strategies that tackle youth homelessness at its root by focusing on early intervention and long-term stability,” Rachael Wilson, president and CEO of United Way East Ontario, said in a statement. “By preventing youth from entering the shelter system, we can end youth homelessness – early intervention changes lives.” According to the United Way East Ontario, approximately 1,200 to 1,400 young people in Ottawa experience homelessness each year and Wilson says it is becoming a “chronic and critical issue.” “We know that 50 per cent of adults who are experiencing homelessness experienced homelessness as a youth,” Wilson told CTV News. “We want to make sure that we are focusing on prevention to ensure that kids don’t get into the shelter system.” In September, Mark Sutcliffe pledged to end youth homelessness in Ottawa by 2030. “One single young person who is homeless in our city is too many. We owe it to the youth of our city,” Sutcliffe said. Sutcliffe says diverting youth away from homelessness is a key component of the larger project. “If there are fewer youth entering the shelter system, if you can find a solution for them before they even enter the shelter system, that is the best solution,” he said. “The pilot projects that have happened so far have proven to be effective and if we can keep young people out of the shelter system, that’s a giant step towards ending youth homelessness.” The United Way says its work to prevent youth homelessness includes wrap-around supports, including mental health counselling and life and work skills programs, and essential resources such as affordable housing and food. Operation Come Home braves the cold Staff members of Operation Come Home spent 24 hours outside in the cold on Thursday to raise awareness and funds for youth homelessness. “The idea actually came from some of our youth, way back in the day,” John Heckbert, executive director of Operation Come Home told CTV News Ottawa. “They thought it would be fun to challenge the staff to try it out.” The overnight windchill reached a low -35, which Heckbert says made for a cold night outdoors. “It’s very difficult,” he said. “My trick, which I learned over several years of doing this, is to sleep as early into the evening as possible because when the cold really settles at 3 or 4 in the morning, you’re doing what a lot of people are doing, which is out walking around, moving your body, trying to stay warm in the colder parts of the night.” Heckbert says the challenge helped raise $11,000, and the fundraiser is still ongoing. “There’s no way that you can ever simulate what homelessness is like, but it is a challenge to help people understand what it feels like to be on the outside with a night like that,” he said. With files from CTV’s Natalie van Rooy.
