oneROOF Youth Services is committed to providing for the safety, support and overall well-being of youth who are experiencing homelessness, and youth who are at-risk of homelessness, aged 12-25, in Waterloo Region.
Our five mission statements serve as our roadmap to change…
To maintain the health and safety of youth experiencing or at-risk of homelessness
We achieve this objective by providing hot meals, food hampers, clothing, hygiene products and more to youth who frequent our services. The main ways in which we provide for the immediate health and safety of youth is by means of our LifeLine and Outreach departments. Our LifeLine department includes day and evening Drop-In, where the aforementioned essential services are provided and youth are given the opportunity to participate in daily programming. Our Outreach team is on the streets daily, meeting youth “where they’re at,” distributing essential care items and information.
To support and enable youth to get off the streets by providing resources and services needed to inform and educate
Our emergency shelter, supportive housing program, and youth enterprise opportunities are the key players here. The oneROOF Youth Services campus contains an eighteen-bed, co-ed shelter, where youth can get out of the cold and into an environment that challenges them to improve. This shelter, called Providing A Roof (PAR) meets the immediate need for safety and shelter, allowing youth to give their time and energy to other areas of improvement. Our supportive housing program, Next Steps Housing goes beyond the immediate need for shelter and gives youth a home. After opening its doors in the summer of 2022, our supportive housing building has successfully housed 44 youth in their own apartments. Our youth enterprise program, Streets To Employment & Education (SEE) invites youth to participate in a sixteen-week paid program, funded by The Government of Canada. The oneROOF Youth Services online thrift store (Change4Change), kitchen-culinary experience (Lunchbox), carpentry training (Wood Working), and art development (Street Design), are among the diverse list of skill-building opportunities within The SEE Program.
To educate the public regarding homelessness, street life and related issues
This education and prevention component is provided by way of community forums, public speaking engagements, media relations and the distribution of relevant research. Our website, monthly newsletter, blog, and social media presence not only share news about all things oneROOF Youth Services, but also afford us the opportunity to share our knowledge. On this very website you can find educational resources including digital brochures. Our Monthly Newsletter includes news on upcoming events, youth and/or staff quotes, donor shoutouts, linked resources, etc. Our Blog discusses a different topic each month, sharing facts and anecdotes in hopes of decreasing stigma surrounding youth homelessness. Social media outlets like Facebook & Instagram are wonderful sources of news, while our Twitter is a great place to find stats and educational material. We encourage you to connect with us online and join the fight to end youth homelessness.
To carry out prevention work targeted at youth, particularly those at junior and senior high school levels
Our Host Homes and Family Reconnect programs are of vital importance when it comes to shelter diversion. In fact, as a result of an evaluation by the Canadian Observatory on Homelessness our Host Homes program has been recognized worldwide as a best preventative practice. In addition, oneROOF Youth Services staff and youth frequent local high schools to host ‘peer-to-peer' sessions with local teens. This program informs young people about the realities of homelessness, dispels the myths often associated with life on the streets and affords us the opportunity to connect with youth who are at-risk of homelessness.
To provide an opportunity for youth to gain access to medical attention and treatment
Often youth experiencing, or at-risk of homelessness are without the means to secure health cards and/or various forms of identification. Our multi-building campus allows for onsite visits from both mental and physical health professionals when needed. A Registered Nurse Practitioner, from the Downtown Community Health Centre, offers weekly appointments to youth who are suffering from various medical conditions and/or who are in need of medical treatment. It is important that youth receive immediate attention when wounds are sustained or illnesses occur. During the peaks of COVID-19, vaccine information and education was made available and vaccine clinics were held.