VITAL PEOPLE: The Kiwanis Emergency Youth Shelter is the only one between Victoria and Nanaimo and demand's high. Tess van Straaten reports.
You may be surprised to learn there’s only one youth shelter between Victoria and Nanaimo.manager Thea Pichurski. “We see them from a breakdown in the family home or a foster placement. We see kids who are using substances or experiencing homelessness.”
“We do lots of longer stays than we used to,” Pichurski says. “We see a lot of kids using substances that they didn’t use five years ago. We have 14-year-olds using fentanyl when 10 years ago, most of the kids were just smoking pot.” “It’s unfortunate because no 16-year-old should be living in a shelter, but there’s nowhere for them to go,” Pichurski says.“The Victoria Youth Empowerment Society has been in operation for more than 30 years now, and our goal is to really offer youth safe, supported services that really help them meet their goals,” says Victoria Youth Empowerment Society Executive Director Julie-Ann Hunter.
“We’ve definitely seen a higher demand since COVID,” Hunter explains. “We’ve seen a lot of youth that are requiring extra services around social isolation and anxiety.”Sign up for our newsletter to get breaking news and daily digests sent to your email.“There’s not enough mental health support, there’s not enough substance use supports, and the drugs are so toxic that people try things for the very first time and they don’t survive,” Pichurski adds.
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