Skookum Jim Friendship Center (SJFC) – Emergency Youth Shelter Program

OK folks, so two weeks ago, we took our Word on the Street team to a rally held on Main Street outside the Elijah Smith Building. The rally was in support of the Angels Nest Project, a supportive living/ youth shelter program that is having trouble take route. We at Word on the Street took the time to ask some passersby a few questions on how they felt about this situation.

One of our questions asked if people felt that the Skookum Jim Youth Emergency Shelter Program was enough and if we needed a second youth shelter program. The responses were varied and many people seemed confused. Few people knew there already was such a program, and those who did made comments about kids staying in a detox centre and other “unsafe” environments. As promised Word on the Street went out to find the truth of the situation and bring it to you.

First of all, finding information on this program was surprisingly difficult, in the past local press  have been less then helpful about accurately portraying the good this program is trying to do. While we strongly value the role press plays in helping the cause of youth homelessness, there was so much probing into SJFC’s program, and even some misreporting of facts, that program spokespeople at SJFC needed to shy away from press backlash and to be a little more careful about who they talk to and how much they say. Suffice it to say we managed to talk to staff at SJFC and here is what we’ve found.

The Skookum Jim Friendship Center (SJFC) runs a Youth Emergency Shelter Program, this program has a crisis line (335-1216) that youth in the community can call is a youth is in need of shelter or help. The target group is youth aged 17-20 but youth on either side of that age spectrum who are in distress are still welcome to call the line. Many youth have been helped in the past seven months of the this YTG funded pilot program, which runs seven days a week from 9pm to 9am.