A Collingwood woman used to connecting with the community’s youth is determined to keep doing so, now as one of about a dozen voices on the other end of a phone or online chat.
Danielle White and her husband Aaron run The Door youth drop-in centre across the road from Collingwood Collegiate Institute.
“Before all this started we were running quite a few lunchtime drop-ins throughout the school year,” said White. “We recognize there is a large number of youth we’re serving for whom that relational connection is an important part.”
The drop-in centre is part of the Youth Unlimited, Youth For Christ Highlands network that operates The Door youth centres in several communities north of the 401 from Guelph to Parry Sound - Muskoka.
Since a physical drop-in centre doesn’t work under COVID-19 public health controls, the organization fast-tracked an idea to start an online chat and phone line specifically for youth.
People like White are working shifts to cover the phone line and web chat portal Monday to Friday from noon to midnight.
“Our focus is, first of all, to just be there for them,” said White. “Basically we’re there to serve any needs that youth might have.”
Through the network, White can access things like food banks or support services in the community the youth is calling from and refer the caller to those services if necessary.
She said it’s not a crisis line, and staff are trained to refer youth in crisis to police and expert support.
Outside of emergencies and crises, White and the others working for the service are still seeing needs.
“We have youth call who want someone to talk to,” she said. “The way they are talking and who they are talking to has changed drastically … For some youth, work and school are a break from some home dynamics.”
She said she’s heard of youth calling with concerns like food security, or issues in the house they want to talk about.
YU Chat has been live for a week now and though it’s been a bit of a slow start, White said she’s glad the service is there and hopes youth know there’s someone to call or chat with if they want.
“We’re just really happy to offer it,” said White. “Youth don’t necessarily have to have a recognized need to call us. They can call us if they just want to talk.”
Youth will be able to reach YU Chat using a phone at 1-800-991-8984 or online at yuchat.ca.
Funding for the service is currently coming from donations of time and money and support of program partners.
