A big day for A Way Home Kamloops today as it opens up Phase One of its Safe Suites project.

Executive Director Katherine McParland says it will be six new housing units with 24/7 staffing to support six homeless youth in Kamloops.

“So we’re pretty excited and that was the community coming together,” she said on NL Newsday. “We know that Kamloops loves our communities kids and so we really trust and have faith that everyone will come together, and we’ll be able to achieve our goals.”

She says the units will give youth a place to stabilize themselves and find wellness, while allowing them to follow their dreams.

“A lot of youth need support in stabilizing,” McParland added. “They are coming from the trauma of the streets. They might be struggling with mental health, and really need that safe place where they can begin to have their basic needs met.”

McParland says A Way Home Kamloops has been working on their Safe Suites project since 2015, noting the money raised from the first two ‘Camp Out to End Youth Homelessness’ events in 2017 and 2018 went towards Safe Suites.

“So this home will be Phase One and we’ll have six youth moving in. Our goal is to find land and our hope is to open Phase Two as soon as possible.”

She notes a 2018 youth homelessness count identified 136 youth that had experienced homelessness in the past year, saying when communities invest in young people, it creates a better future.