Thanks to you, the first group of youth will move into our new Youth Housing Hub next week!
Thanks to generous donors like you and our partners, the Youth Services Bureau’s (YSB) new Youth Housing Hub will open its doors to welcome the first group of youth moving in on Monday, with more to follow in the coming weeks. The facility, located at 2887 Riverside Drive, will offer so much for vulnerable youth in our community.
Along with 39 beautiful new studio and two bedroom apartments, the building offers a Youth Hub to once-homeless young people. Funded by the Ottawa Senators Foundation, Bell Let’s Talk, DIFD, and the Danbe Foundation, a Youth Hub on the main floor of the building will offer a complete range of support services, including mental health counselling, employment services, health care, and support for substance abuse. YSB is providing its services as well as those community partners to provide youth residents and those in the community with additional life-changing services.
YSB is also proud to report that $9.5 million of the project’s $10-million budget has been secured to date. Our focus is to continue to secure additional families, workplaces and groups of individuals who will each contribute $25,000 (paid over 5 years) to fund a room for youth in the building. A total of 20 families, workplace groups and individuals – with 19 units still available for funding – have so far generously stepped forward.
Alongside our Founding Families, YSB is grateful for the transformative in-kind support provided by some of our partners. Tomlinson Group of Companies contributed the demolition service of our previous building located on the site, while Jennifer McGahan Interiors provided the interior design work and creative touches in the new building. These significant gifts helped make this project possible.
Families, corporate teams and youth alike are aware of how important this project is. Josh, a YSB Peer Supporter and former client, is passionate about the new building and how it will impact youth. He’s learned first hand how impactful centralized services can be when young people are fighting to overcome and end homelessness. “Having a centralized place in the building where people live provides easy access, breaks down the anxiety of having to navigate the system and really refocuses the entire system on the youth.”
Urbandale Corporation continues its partnership with YSB with $150,000 gift to fund 6 youth rooms
Our goal at YSB is simple: to help youth transition out of homelessness and build happier, healthier, and more productive lives. This is what your investments make possible.
One such partner, Urbandale Corporation, acted on this goal earlier this year when it announced its commitment of $150,000 in funding for six youth rooms at our Youth Housing Hub.
Urbandale is a major Ottawa land developer, home builder and owner and builder of rental communities and commercial properties within our community. This transformative funding commitment is made in honour of the company’s 60th anniversary, celebrated last year and in support of 11 local charities including YSB.
McDonald Brothers Construction and onsite trades partners leave a legacy
In addition to MBC’s formal role on the project, their team rallied their onsite trades partners on a fundraising program in support of the main floor Community Kitchen. The space will be a welcoming common area where youth can learn basic food preparation and cooking skills, connect with their peers, and enjoy communal meals.
MBC was established by Paul and Patrick McDonald in 1988. Focused on non-residential markets, they are known for their extensive work in the not-for-profit, institutional, commercial, and industrial sectors. Together, MBC and our trades partners created a warm and beautiful new space for youth, and raised $82,000 for the building’s Community Kitchen.
Our Founding Families and friends are wrapping around homeless youth
The Youth Housing Hub will provide 39 new and accessible apartment units to once-homeless and high-risk youth. Coupled with safe and stable housing are the range of services that the Youth Hub, located on the main floor, will offer to youth in the building and surrounding area. When local families and groups fund their own room, they are making all of these solutions for youth in need possible.
If your family, workplace or group of friends would like to join our Founding Families program, learn more by visiting foundingfamilies.ca or by contacting Patti Murphy, YSB Foundation Executive Director, at 613-729-0577 ext. 1262 or pmurphy@ysb.ca
Our deepest gratitude to our generous donors and partners for helping make our Youth Housing Hub a dream come true.
- Ottawa Senators Hockey Talks Mental Health Awareness partnership and
its donors Bell Let’s Talk, DIFD and the Danbe Foundation - The Canyon Fund, a donor-advised fund at the Ottawa Community Foundation
- Urbandale Corporation
- The Home Depot Canada Foundation
- Taggart Parkes Foundation
- Jim & Helen McCartney / The Weider Family
- Kaleidoscope of Hope Gala, DIFD, Ottawa Senators Foundation
- Kiwanis Club of Ottawa
- Jennifer McGahan Interiors
- KPMG
- McDonald Brothers Construction and trades partners
- Greg and Paula Farrell
- Charles Bordeleau & Family
- Joan of Arc Academy
- Scott Lawrence and Dr. Sue Dojeiji
- HOPE
- Popescu & Luchian Family
- YSB & YSB Foundation Board Members and Staff
See all of the pictures from the grand opening event on November 7, 2019 on YSB’s Facebook here!