What York Region is doing to move at-risk youths from crisis to stability
York Region’s 360°kids provides round-the-clock and full-service support to the growing number of youths leaving home, leading them toward opportunity, instead of life on the streets.

TheStar.com
Oct. 31, 2016
Ryan Starr

Life was fairly typical for Lexx growing up in Richmond Hill. Then, in 2010, when he was 20, his mom died and his dad went to jail, “and things got a bit tricky,” says Lexx (who didn’t want his real name used).

With no family or friends to turn to, lacking steady work, and facing the constant threat of homelessness, he decided to move out to Vancouver at 24 to start a new life. But things didn’t pan out. So Lexx spent his last bit of cash on a bus ticket back to Ontario a month later.

Returning home to Richmond Hill, with no money, food or a place to stay, he dropped in to 360°kids, a local support services agency.

His situation would soon take a turn for the better. 360°kids helped him secure nighttime work stocking grocery store shelves. During the day, he’d sleep on a couch at the 360°kids Home Base Drop-In centre, have a meal or two, and a hot shower.

Before long he’d saved enough for first and last month’s rent, and got a place of his own in Richmond Hill. Today, Lexx, 27, runs a small window and gutter cleaning business with a friend, and in his spare time writes hip-hop lyrics and performs live (including shows at the Annex Wreck Room and Seneca College’s King Campus). If it wasn’t for 360°kids, he says, “things would’ve been a lot more difficult for me.”

In its 26th year, the agency is doing vital work to help tackle homelessness in York Region, a vast geographic expanse where the problem is often hidden from plain view.

“It’s not like in downtown Toronto,” says 360°kids’ resource development director Lesley Sims. “You won’t see kids panhandling on street corners here.”

What you will see are young people who look just like any other young people, just with nowhere to call home. Many couch surf or turn to shelters, or they’re forced to sleep in abandoned buildings, parks or under bridges. Perhaps they’ve been kicked out for revealing to their parents they’re gay, Sims suggests. Maybe they’ve left home of their own volition to escape an abusive situation.

Regardless of what drives them away, youth homelessness is a serious issue across York Region, and Sims says it’s only getting more severe.

Each year 360°kids serves 3,000 young people (16 to 26 years old) through its various programs, including housing assistance, drop-in centres, counseling, and street outreach.

“It’s about surrounding them with the skills and supports they need to be successful in life,” says Sims. “We help them get out of a crisis period and into a more stable and safe environment.”

Her client base is growing steadily. Since 360°kids moved to a more central location at 10415 Yonge St. earlier this year, it has seen the number of drop-ins nearly double. Its on-site youth emergency shelter, Connections, has been full since the day the 14-bed facility opened in March. “And not a day has gone by that we’ve had a bed available for longer than 12 hours,” Sims says. “So the need is real.”

360°kids functions as a youth hub, offering a variety of services all in one place so young people needn’t travel around expansive York Region to get help. “We know from experience that if distance is prohibitive to youth accessing important services, they just won’t go,” says Sims.

Another way 360°kids overcomes the challenges of York’s vast geography is with travelling counsellors like Tahirah Simmons. “I work all over the region,” she says, noting her territory extends from Vaughan in the west to Markham in the east, and north up to Georgina. “We recognize that for many youth there are barriers to accessing mental health counselling and support, including travelling and the financial resources to get to a social worker.”

Simmons, one of two travelling counsellors at 360°kids — positions that are funded by the United Way — meets clients wherever they are: a coffee shop, community centre, park or gym. “Any place they feel comfortable to talk about what’s going on with them.”

That’s how it went with Sami who Simmons helped cope with struggles he was having. “I was getting picked on, and going through family problems,” he says.

Sami had moved into a 360°kids group home, and eventually was connected with Simmons. They’d meet at coffee shops to talk, and before long, Sami, initially introverted and reserved, grew comfortable telling Simmons what was on his mind. Together, they worked toward improving Sami’s confidence in who he is and what he’s capable of.

“It made a big difference for me,” he says. “I don’t feel the same as I did last year, like an outcast who couldn’t connect with people. Things are better for me now.”