2 non-profits aim to end homelessness in Whitehorse with new youth program, community plan

Ottawa is giving the Safe at Home Society $3.45 million for youth programming that's aimed at combating homelessness in Whitehorse.

The new program will target youth aged 16 to 24 at risk of homelessness or in unsafe housing arrangements, Safe at Home's executive director Kate Mechan said.

"Disenfranchised youth are under-served and often forgotten in a lot of work that happens in relation to housing," said Mechan. She said the society, which was established in 2020, hasn't had enough youth-focused programming.

The funding agreement runs until 2029. The money is coming from the federal Crime Prevention Action Fund. 

More than half of people surveyed in a 2024 point-in-time count in Whitehorse said their first experience of homelessness occurred before they were 20. 

"If we prevent youth homelessness, we have a higher likelihood of preventing experiences of homelessness later in life," Mechan said.

The new program will hire two youth outreach workers, a community and cultural liaison, and an employment and recreation coordinator. It will also fund recreation and career training for at-risk youth. Mechan said hiring staff is the "major bottleneck" right now. She's expecting the design and implementation phase to last up to a year.

Whitehorse getting a revamped plan to end homelessness

The Yukon Anti-Poverty Coalition is also working on a new plan to end homelessness.

The first plan, which was published in 2017, involved all levels of government and people with lived experience. But it only accomplished 15 out of 76 action items, the coalition says.

"It was a really exciting and kind of new way of doing things, but it didn't have the impact that we hoped because there weren't clear and measurable outcomes and goals attached," said Maddie Porter, project lead with the coalition.

That's why the coalition is calling a do-over. It invited the same governing bodies to the table — including the Yukon government, City of Whitehorse, and Kwanlin Dun First Nation — to rewrite the goals and take responsibility for them.

"We want to have collective ownership of the plan," Porter said.

Kwanlin Dün Chief Sean Smith said there are major gaps in program and service delivery in the Yukon that need to be addressed. 

Smith says the First Nation will bring the experience of its front-line staff to the table. There's also the possibility of developing First Nation-owned land into supportive or semi-supportive housing. In return, other agencies might have resources to combat some of the root causes of homelessness, he said.

Smith, like the coalition, said the plan needs accountability frameworks. He wants the advisory board to meet regularly.

"Then we can identify what we can be responsible for and how we can flow resources, whether it's dollars or capacity on the ground to help support people," he said.

The advisory board is planning outreach this month to shelters, service providers, business owners and front-line workers, as well as people with lived experience. There will also be a community survey. The deadline to finish the plan is late June.