The Manitoba government has committed $1.92 million to create five new Youth Hub sites.
Youth Hubs are designed to help youth access all of the core health services they need in one place including mental health and addiction services.
“Navigating the system to find the right services, especially when it comes to mental health and addictions, can be daunting for youth,” said Mental Health, Wellness and Recovery Minister Audrey Gordon. “Each of these Youth Hubs will bring together mental health care, addiction services, primary care, peer support and other social services together in one youth-friendly site.”
The five Youth Hubs will be located in some of the highest-needs areas in the province.
The new facilities will be at Ka Ni Kanichink serving the Centennial and Point Douglas neighbourhoods, a downtown hub in the West Broadway neighbourhood, a youth hub for families in St. Boniface/St. Vital, a downtown hub in Brandon, and a Selkirk hub serving Selkirk, the Interlake and Peguis First Nation.
On top of the provincial commitment a number of philanthropic partner organizations have committed $2.96 million over three years including the Bell-Graham Boeckh Foundation Partnership, United Way Winnipeg, RBC Foundation, The Winnipeg Foundation, the Moffat Family Fund, the Réseau Compassion Network and others.
The first Youth Hub was created at Norwest Co-op Community Health in Winnipeg in 2017.
Youth Hubs have been shown to:
• improve access to mental health and addiction services for young people;
• better co-ordinate and integrate mental health and addiction services with the broad range of care, supports and services needed by youth and families;
• provide meaningful engagement and involvement for youth and their families in the planning, delivery, evaluation and continuous improvement of IYS;
• more effectively provide early intervention and health promotion to help with issues before they become bigger and affect relationships, school, work or other aspects of a young person’s life;
• decrease stigma around mental health and addictions; and
• increase quality of life for young people.
© News4.ca 2021
