Sudbury Action Centre for Youth to close Monday

The Sudbury Action Centre for Youth (SACY) will close its doors on Monday, its board of directors has confirmed.

Earlier this week SACY's board said it would close its doors on April 1, but in a press release it said that timeline has been shortened.

"Although we were hopeful we could continue delivering services until March 31st, we unfortunately are insolvent and must close our doors by Monday March 18, 2024," the statement said.

SACY provides outreach, housing, shelter, and harm-reduction services to 650 clients each month.

In the update on Facebook, SACY its day program would close by the end of the day Friday, and it's drop-in youth shelter would be closing Monday morning.

"The staff at this agency would like to express our heartfelt sorrow and horror at the situation and we would want everyone to know that we are aware of the consequences of this closure for our most vulnerable community members," the update said.

The board said it has reached out to like-minded agencies to ensure its programs and staff can continue their work under new leadership.

The executive director of Réseau Access Network in Sudbury says it was "very upsetting" when she learned SACY would close.

"They offer some very valuable services to members of our community that are not duplicated anywhere else within the sector," said Heidi Eisenhauer.

Eisenhauer said the unique services it offers in the community include the city's only drop-in shelter for youth, a bulk clean needle delivery program for people who use drugs and TG Innerselves, a program that provides peer support for trans youth.

Réseau Access Network also provides harm reduction services and runs the city's supervised consumption site, which is also due to close by the end of March if no funding from the province is secured. 

Eisenhauer said she immediately reached out to representatives with the city, public health and Ontario Ministry of Health when she learned SACY was closing.

"Just to say what are we able to do within our sector to support some of these needs that are not going to be met," she said.

With both SACY and the supervised consumption site expected to close around the same time, Eisenhauer said a lot of vulnerable people in the community won't be able to access harm reduction services.

"We're just going down that rabbit hole of really, you know, a crisis that we're all feeling within this sector," she said.

SACY's board of directors hasn't provided much detail as to why the centre is closing.

"In doing this, we remain focused on our situation having as little impact as possible on the people who rely on our dedicated staff, who have consistently offered support in meaningful ways, without judgment," the board said in a news release.

In January, SACY reported it was facing financial challenges due to a sewage backup at its offices, which required a $10,000 deductible to address.