‘Extremely important’: New youth wellness hub officially opens downtown

The former Odd Fellows Hall across from the downtown bus terminal was unveiled Monday as the all new Algoma Youth Wellness Hub, which will offer local youth a safe place to hang out, as well as access to a host of services.

A ribbon-cutting ceremony was held Monday morning, including dozens of members of partner organizations that helped make the hub concept a reality in the Sault, including lead agency Algoma Family Services, Canadian Mental Health Association Algoma, Children’s Aid Society of Algoma, John Howard Society, Indigenous Friendship Centre, among others.

Also on hand for the celebration of the hub opening was local MPP Ross Romano and Michael Tibollo, Ontario's associate minister of Mental Health and Addictions.

Tibollo said the province's Youth Wellness Hub project is an investment in today's youth to help prevent negative mental health and addictions outcomes in the future. The new facility at 124 Dennis St. is one of 22 youth wellness hubs currently operating across the province.

“When you think about that old saying, 'an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure,' well think about the investments we are making today and the impact this will have on mental wellness in the future," said Tibollo, in his remarks at the opening celebration. "It’s extremely important."

Tibollo said those 22 existing Youth Wellness Hubs across Ontario have so far welcomed 47,000 unique visitors and over 180,000 total visits.

“Where would theses kids be going, what would they be doing if they didn’t have access to a youth wellness hub?" he said.

Each hub and the services it provides is tailored to the community where it is located. In the Sault hub, a full commercial kitchen, pool table, foosball table and ping pong table are located in the main room downstairs, as well as a large screen television and Nintento Switch game system. A large room, a clinical space and some smaller offices located upstairs will support a number of different kinds of programming.

Tibollo noted the hubs are custom designed in each community with the input from a local youth advisory council.

“Giving the youth the opportunity to sit at the table and say ‘this is what we want’ — finally we are listening to them and giving them the opportunity to maybe school us in some things we don’t quite understand,” he said.

Arwen Cooke, a 19-year-old member of the local Youth Advisory Council, said the hub is important because many local youth are struggling.

“I want them to be able to be themselves. I want them to be able to access the services that they need," said Cooke.

The Sault hub is located across the street from the bus terminal and walking distance to the Station Mall. The building was selected because of its location and access to people using Sault Transit.

When it was announced in June of 2022, Algoma Family Services and CEO Ali Juma hoped it would be open by the end of that year. Now, 18 months later, it has opened its doors, providing services five days a week to local youth.

Although the site has opened to the public, Juma said an additional $200,000 is required to make the hub sustainable into the future. He is hoping the general public and local businesses will kick in the funds to achieve this.

Speaking to Independent Order of Odd Fellows member Bob Wooley in his remarks, Juma thanked the organization for its support and service to the community.

"I hope you will be inspired by what we have done with this place and to know that, for years to come, that all youth who come and walk through these doors will know this was only possible because of the commitment of members of the community, such as you Bob, and the Odd Fellows who created such a facility," said Juma.

The building was purchased from the Independent Order of Odd Fellows for $180,000 and another $350,000 was needed to repair and renovate the hub. A lift will be installed in the near future to make the building more accessible and accessible washrooms were a part of the renovation for the building.

The provincial government, through Youth Wellness Hubs Ontario, has kicked in $450,000 over the next two years in operating funds for the hub. That includes the hiring of a coordinator, mental health and addictions counsellor, intake coordinator, nurse practitioner and peer support workers. 

Juma thanked MPP Ross Romano for his support in helping bring online the youth hub and a number of other significant announcements, including the Community Resource Centre and Northway Wellness Centre. 

In his remarks, Romano said it is important to recognize the services that are available and to stress to people in need that help is available in the community.

“These services we have been recently able to acquire here in our community are a demonstration of our resiliency as a community and none of it would be possible without the incredible people we have in our community and the incredible partnerships that have been formed, because it does take a village," said Romano. “I know we still have many roads left to pave but I think we have some really good roads that we worked on to date and I am very proud of the accomplishments we have made to date."