A little house sitting empty and across the road from a high school will soon find new life as a living room and safe haven for youth.
The local chapter of Youth For Christ is hoping to turn the home across from Collingwood Collegiate Institute into a youth centre.
“We want to be a visible presence in their day-to-day lives,” said Matthew Bennett, chairperson of the Youth For Christ Steering Committee. “[The centre is] in a spot where they’re already hanging out. Our goal is to build long-term relationships with kids … the centre would be ideally placed to help provide an environment for those connections to happen.”
Currently the Youth For Christ group does not have a permanent home. They’ve been operating out of a box truck to offer hot dog lunch and free coffee and hot chocolate across from the high school once a week.
“We’ve made a positive connection with a couple hundred kids a week,” said Bennett.
Youth For Christ (YFC) is made up of a steering committee with members from Living Faith Christian Church, Hope Chapel and Riverside Church in Wasaga Beach. There are two staff members Aaron and Daniella White, who also work with youth at New Life Church in Collingwood. When the centre opens, the group will be looking for more volunteers.
Collingwood currently has a youth centre on Hurontario Street with a full schedule of programming, resources such as recording equipment, a kitchen, computers and etc. The centre also offers classes in things like cooking, tech, art and music.
YFC’s goal for its youth centre is not as program driven, though there will be some of that.
“There are 3,000 high school kids in Collingwood. Our desire is to see every single one of them find a future full of hope,” said Bennett. “We want every young person to know there are people who care about them and want to see them succeed.”
Bennett knows firsthand the importance of a YFC presence in a community. He attended high school in Montreal and considered himself an average student, not at risk, but not exceptional.
“There are programs that tend to aim at this high strata and low strata, but kids in the middle think they don’t matter,” said Bennett. “As a teen, YFC helped me see everyone has untapped potential … everybody matters.”
The connection YFC hopes to make with teens Bennett says is an effort to provide them with face time they need in order to combat the mental stress and depression that’s become prevalent in youth.
“Instances of teen pregnancy and alcoholism are down, but not because teens are choosing virtue, they’re staring at their devices. They’re not going out,” said Bennett. “Kids are starved for face-to-face connection.”
YFC will be renovating the house over the summer to make it fully accessible and outfitted as a drop-in centre.
“We’ve had good response from the community this far, but there’s a lot of room for more help,” said Bennett.
The group is hosting a charity spring banquet at New Life Church on April 6 at 6 p.m. to raise money for the youth centre. Tickets are $25 and available at Andrew’s Copy Centre (191 Hurontario St.) and at Journeys Blend Cafe (30 Mountain Road).
For more about Collingwood Youth For Christ, click here.
