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Chapter 4 - Effective Programs for Homeless Youth:
What do we know about what works?
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section:   |
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sub-section:           
A Cross Canada Overview
Organizations across Canada have developed a range of innovative responses to address the needs of homeless youth. The following is a brief overview of just a few of these initiatives:
4 - Regroupement des Auberges du Cœur du Quebec
There are 27 independent Auberges du Coeur across the province of Quebec. Their role is to work with homeless and marginalized youth to provide, in addition to shelter, a broad range of supports taking into account their needs, hopes and dreams. The view of the Auberges is that the various challenges being faced by this group of youth – poverty, social isolation, addiction, affective disorders – are interrelated, and require a global, holistic, integrated response.
The Auberges share the following objectives:
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To help homeless youth to leave their precarious housing state;
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To support youth in difficulty in order to avoid the situations they find in the street;
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To support the social integration of these youth in a way that supports their quest for autonomy;
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To support the resolution of family conflicts and the reintegration of adolescents into the family;
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To help youth to recreate the significant links that will enable them to invest themselves in their future;
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To act on the socioeconomic factors that drive youth to the streets, and that compromise their integration into Quebec society: poverty, access to employment, housing, education, etc.
The Auberges provide over 300 beds to serve over 3,000 youth every year across the province. Youth stay for periods ranging from one day to one year. In addition to food and shelter, Auberges offer the following supports:
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Lifeskills (food, budgeting, etc.)
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Group skills
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Support for resolution of family conflicts
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Resources
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Support for defending their rights
Auberges offer a variety of initiatives to assist youth with social integration, including training enterprises and some social enterprises in the following areas:
Following their stay in an Auberge, youth can continue to access a range of supports:
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Individual meetings
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Meetings of alumni
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Training
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Collective kitchens
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Artistic activities
Some Auberges have implemented different types of transitional housing, including:
The Regroupement was created in 1987 to link together the 27 Auberges in Quebec. The Regroupement has four main objectives:
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To defend the existence and the autonomy of community shelters for young adolescents and young adults in difficulty or homeless;
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To act as a voice for homeless youth to authorities whose decisions may have an impact on the life of these young people;
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To support information sharing and dialogue between the auberges, the youth and the partner organizations regarding the needs of the youth, collective projects, and daily practice of the Auberges as a way of improving the support offered to these youth;
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To promote the development of additional resources of the same type.
The Regroupement offers training workshops to members on a variety of topics, and organizes exchange days where members can share approaches.
The Regroupement has also created a foundation to support the work of the Auberges du Coeur. Its mission is to collect funds to support the work of the Auberges, but also to sensitize business people to the situation of homeless and marginalized youth in order to mobilize groups to address this situation.
For more information, contact:
Rémi Fraser
Directeur
Regroupement des Auberges du coeur du Québec
Montreal, QC
Tel.: 514-523-8559
Email: remi.fraser@aubergesducoeur.com
www.aubergesducoeur.com
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