Poor economy, 'hidden homeless' see demand nearly double for Choices for Youth services
More than 1,000 young people made use of organization's services in 2016
A tough economic climate is directly connected to an increase in visits to Choices for Youth in 2016, says the organization's director of programs.
Linda Warford says the St. John's non-profit organization — which helps homeless and at-risk youth find places to live, employment, and lends support and counselling for mental-health problems — saw the amount of visits to the organization increase sharply in a single year.
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"A year ago, we would have been seeing 40, 50, 60 young people [at a time], tops," she said.
It's harder and harder to find safe housing, so people are struggling to have a decent place to live.- Linda Warford
"In the last six months, we've been seeing closer to 80 young people per day."
While Choices for Youth has been examining reasons for the hike in demand, the rocky state of Newfoundland and Labrador's economy is hard to miss, as it has been hit hard in the last few years by the global slump in oil prices.
"It's probably a multitude of factors … obviously the economy isn't great, so people are struggling, families are struggling," she said.
"I think that there's more people living in poverty than maybe before. It's harder and harder to find safe housing, so people are struggling to have a decent place to live."
With increased awareness of the organization's services, more people may be making use of them too, she said.
Hidden homelessness
Many of the youth who make use of the program's offered by Choices For Youth have mental health and addictions issues.
"It's pretty common, for sure — lots of complex issues, lots of childhood trauma and that type of thing," she said.
Warford said many of the people who use the organization's programs also don't meet traditional definitions of homelessness.
She said many youth couch-surf at friends' homes and are in and out of shelters, but they're not often people you would see outside on a downtown street.
"How we describe a lot of youth homelessness is that it's more hidden homelessness," said Warford.
"So I think lots of people in the community are often surprised when we say we see a thousand young people a year and more, and they go, 'Where are they? We don't see them.'"
Although more people visited Choices for Youth in 2016, Warford believes the organization offers the right tools to help youth succeed in the future.
"Young people that we work with definitely have lots and lots of challenges, there's no doubt about it, but I think they have lots of successes too," she said.
"If you give young people the right types of supports and you don't judge them and you show them respect, like any of us in society want, I think young people can go a long distance."
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