On Friday, May 5th, the KFLA Region Youth Wellness Hub opened their doors to youth and families in the Kingston, Frontenac, Lennox, and Addington communities.
The new youth wellness hub will provide a full range of services for young people to support the mental health and well-being in an Integrated Youth Services (IYS) model
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May 5, 2023 – Youth Wellness Hubs Ontario (YWHO) and One Roof have launched the KFLA Region Youth Wellness Hub.
The Hub is a safe and welcoming space that will provide easily accessible walk-in services for youth aged 12 to 25 seeking support and living in Kingston and the surrounding communities. These services are free, low-barrier and support a range of needs related to mental health, substance use concerns, primary health care, poverty, trauma, abuse, homelessness, conflict with the law, employment, and other social services, as well as offering skills and wellbeing activities.
“The inclusion of KFLA region in the YWHO Network will provide us with the sustainability we need to establish the best possible care for young people… We are sincerely grateful.” – Gennie Veryard, Supervisor, One Roof.
While the physical site location can be found at One Roof in Kingston, the Youth Wellness Team will also be travelling to rural communities providing primary care, counselling, peer support, and care coordination to the region. This is done in partnership with Maltby Centre, Resolve Counselling, and Kingston Community Health Centres.
To access care, youth and young adults can drop-in to the space or book appointments in advance. You do not need a health card, family doctor or medical referral to access the services. The Hub is located at 622 Princess St. in Kingston, and is open Monday to Friday 8:30 a.m. to 7:00 p.m.
A calendar of events can be found on the www.youthhubs.ca website or on the @oneroofyouthwellnesshub Instagram and Facebook channels.
Supporting the needs of Kingston’s youth
The Hub launch included live music, youth-friendly activities, a ceremonial smudging of the space, and ribbon cutting by the City of Kingston’s Mayor Brian Paterson. Bhavana Varma, CEO of the United Way KFLA, also shared her excitement regarding the launch of these essential services. The event provided community members with an opportunity to meet and greet the five members of the KFLA Region’s Youth Wellness Team: an Intake Worker, a Care Coordinator, a Peer Support Worker, a Clinician, and a Nurse Practitioner.
“Maltby Centre is a proud partner to the KFLA Region Youth Wellness Hub. Maltby supports YWHO through staffing the mental health clinician and providing guidance to the leadership of the program. We look forward to the growth of the program in the coming months and the continued development of community partnerships to support the needs of the youth throughout the region.” – Derek Evans, Interim Executive Director, Maltby Centre.
“Youth have quickly engaged in Nurse Practitioner appointments, demonstrating the huge need and importance that youth placed on having access to primary care. We strive to remove barriers to access to care for marginalized populations, and the KFLA Youth Hub is a wonderful model that creates the space for us to do that. It is a fantastic example of successful collaboration in action, improving care and supports for marginalized youth.” – Meghan O’Leary, Director of Clinical Services, Kingston Community Health Centres.
“We want young people to know they are not alone. With the Peer Support program, it is youth supporting youth. The hope is that in building these relationships we can connect them to services, whether that be mental health support, counselling supports, addictions supports or whatever they need and what they are going through, but do it in a way that works best for them.” – Tara Everitt, Director of Community Services, Resolve Counselling.
The hub team is looking forward to helping youth access the care they need and achieve their personal goals.
To contact the KFLA Region Youth Wellness Hub or book an appointment:
Phone: 613-542-6672 x 4
Email: oneroof@kingstonhomebase.ca