A new youth hub that's coming to North Delta will bring much-needed support and resources closer to home for Delta families.
At their July 8 meeting, Delta city councillors unanimously approved a plan that will see a Made for Delta Youth Hub set up shop in the North Delta Recreation Centre.
The project will see Pacific Community Resources Society 鈥� which runs youth hubs in 性视界传媒 and Vancouver 鈥� partner with local organizations and agencies to provide a multi-service hub for youth, with drop-in spaces, counselling, health services, employment resources and safe, youth-oriented spaces. The hub will offer programming and services from a range of partners, including Fraser Health, the Ministry of Children and Family Development, the Boys and Girls Club, DIVERSEcity and Deltassist.
The City of Delta is providing the premises, in the form of the space currently being created at the North Delta rec centre to house the Delta school district's alternate education program, Changes. The youth hub will take up residence in the space after school hours, running one day a week to start and expanding up to three days per week as demand grows.
The Delta Police Department, which is a member of the city's Youth Action Team, will hold the licence agreement on the space for the first year.
Acting Insp. James Sandberg told council that the project is the result of a long-term effort by many partners. Research undertaken with a provincial grant showed significant unmet needs in Delta for services for youth, he said 鈥� highlighting a survey that showed 54 per cent of parents reported needing to leave Delta for services for their children.
Trin Van Rheenen, a member of the youth advisory panel, told council that the lack of options close to home means Delta teens may have to take transit to Richmond or Vancouver to get the help they need 鈥� trips that can take an hour-and-a-half on a good day and three hours on a bad one.
"When you are panicking and in need of help, that is not an OK amount of time to need to travel," Trin said in a video message. "Having a youth hub in Delta would mean that my siblings, my friends and myself would not have to travel as far to get the resources and help we need."
Sandberg pointed out Delta has the added geographic challenge of being made up of three distinct communities. He noted that the North Delta hub is intended to serve residents of the whole of Delta until it's in a position to expand into other communities.
Ultimately, he said, the goal is to set up a Foundry centre in Delta, which would come with stable provincial funding. Foundry, a provincewide network of integrated health and wellness services for youth and young adults, requires data that the new Delta youth hub will be able to collect in support of a future application.
Council members lauded the plans, noting the project has been years in the making.
Coun. Dylan Kruger said the North Delta rec centre will be the perfect, stigma-free location for youth to access the help they need.
"It's going to be just beautiful when the renovations are done 鈥� a space that's made for youth, that's designed for youth," he said.
Coun. Jennifer Johal said she was "thrilled" to see Pacific Community Resources Society will be on board with their extensive knowledge and experience in operating youth hubs, while Coun. Rod Binder noted the commitment and expertise of the many different agencies that are involved with the project.
Mayor George Harvie also threw his support behind the plan.
"As a council we need to continue to do everything possible to improve health and the well-being of our youth," he said. "It鈥檚 extremely great to see that we鈥檙e making a start, and I hope the momentum continues so that we can offer a duplicate program in South Delta too.鈥�
Delta's Youth Action Team is a division of Delta's Child and Youth Committee. You can find out more at .
