Youth Without Shelter located in Etobicoke, Ont
Ensuring homeless youth have access to hygiene products is a top priority for ‘Youth Without Shelter,’ highlighting their commitment for providing urgent product needs.
Youth Without Shelter is a non-profit organization located in Etobicoke, Ont., that offers a secure home for youths aged 16 to 24 who frequently, due to circumstances outside their control, have become homeless.
The National Youth Homelessness survey reported 20 per cent of the homeless population in Canada is youth between the ages of 13-24. In a given year, there are at least 35,000 to 40,000 youth experiencing homelessness.
Monika Fox, the director of the non-profit organization says the shelter’s mission is to ultimately end youth homelessness, by providing a safe place for the youth, while educating the rest of society.
“We provide a very stable home to youth experiencing homelessness. We are a 53 bed facility and we’re a split into two sections. We have 33 beds on the emergency side and then we have 20 beds on our stay in school. We are also trying to educate people on youth homelessness so they can become more empathetic towards youth that experience it,” Fox said.
This empathy is most apparent during the holiday season, as Fox says the shelter receives 80 per cent of their donations during this time of year.
“The month of December is our busiest time of year for donations. Each youth member gets various hygiene products such as their shampoo, their conditioner, their body wash, lotion, dental hygiene, makeup, feminine hygiene products, and so much more. The supply we get in December usually gets us through the entire year,” Fox said.
Fox explains that the shelter caters their request for donation products due to the demographic within the shelter.
“When we ask for donations of hygiene products, we do ask our donors to give us more black care products such as argan oil, and bonnets, just so it reflects more of our demographics, that way we’re giving our youth members the right products for their hair texture and their skin type and all of that,” Fox said.
Eva’s Initiatives for Homeless Youth —an organization that provides emergency shelter, transitional housing and community-based housing for homeless youth in Toronto— has reported that 48 percent of identified homeless youth are from the black community, 26 per cent are from the 2SLGBTQ+ community, and 14 per cent is the refugee community.
Dr. Nabil Mikhail, who has been a physician for 42 years, says that maintaining physical health such as proper hygiene practices is a considerable challenge for young people when they experience extreme forms of poverty and marginalization, such as homelessness.
“It all starts with hygiene. If these kids do not have access to clean showers, or basic products like toothpaste, hair wash, nail clippers, or soap, then they are significantly more exposed to contracting harmful diseases or infections that can impact their health tremendously,” Mikhail said.
Dr. Mikhail said things like lice, athletes foot, cavities, and skin allergies are common for people who do not practice good hygiene, and similarly, lacking in certain areas of hygiene can cause a lack in one’s mental health.
“How we look on the outside can easily impact on how we feel on the inside. Making sure our kids are clean, and they have everything they need in order to keep their health in check is a big reason why funding homeless shelters is so important for their physical and mental well-being,” Mikhail said.
The Without a Home study conducted in 2016 found that young people who experience homelessness are exposed to various factors that result in poor health such as inadequate nutrition, poor hygiene, lack of proper rest, high levels of stress, increased risk of injury, increased exposure to STIs, and greater exposure to a range of communicable diseases.
Fox also reported that the COVID-19 pandemic increased their numbers at the shelter due to the reports of domestic violence at home and unstable environments.
“The number of calls that we get keeps increasing and increasing. There are around between 60 and 80 calls a day today from youth asking for a safe bed,” Fox said.
But the COVID-19 pandemic did more than just increase the numbers at the shelter. It also decreased the number of donations, which has made it difficult for the shelter to keep a sufficient supply of hygiene and other products.
“We’ve seen a decrease in the number of groups coming in and volunteering, and a decrease in giving kind donations. The need for food and shelter has risen just because of the high costs. Everyone is feeling the pinch and people are less likely to donate when they’re struggling themselves, which is also one of the reasons why we’re trying to be more frugal with how we hand out some of those donations to our youth,” Fox said.
But through the pinch of it all, Fox says that Youth Without Shelter is trying to change the narrative that comes with the assumptions of youth homelessness.
“I think people unfortunately have a lot of stereotypes of what homelessness looks like. Whether they associate it with a person on the street asking for money or the “dirty” kid,” Fox said.
Youth Without Shelter understands that it’s not that black and white in reality, especially for when it comes to youth experiencing homelessness.
“They could look like any other teenager that you see on the street. They could be the kid in your classroom, or your neighbor right next door. A large majority of these kids struggle in finding proper resources such as hygiene products and a safe place to live, and we are trying to provide a space that can guarantee those essential needs for our youth,” Fox said.
To donate or lend your support as a volunteer to Youth Without Shelter, begin by exploring their official website, where you can take the first step towards effecting positive change within our youth homelessness community.
