Helena House:

A safe place for runaway and homeless youth

Helena House is the Kiwanis Club of Campbell River's major long-term project. The programme will help teenagers prepare for independant living by teaching these youth to budget and survive during tough economic times.

Not just a residence, Helena House will teach youth the value of participating in their community, provide them with the tools and skills that they'll need to survive, participants in the Helena House Programme will have the opportunity to rent subsidized housing once they've graduated from the programme. This subsidized housing will be available to qualified graduates until they have reached the age of maturity.

Besides the standard life skills programme, Helena House is poised to provide emergency shelter for runaway, homeless, children/youth in care, and other children at risk. The emergency beds will be for short term stays at the facility. These children and youth will be housed until they are assessed by Ministry person nel, and suitable arrangements for the child or youth's long-term care are in place. For some, this might mean enrollment in the Helena House life skills programme, or for others, placement in one of the House's subsidized satellites.
 

The plan is to implement this programme over a three year period, growing as the participants' and community's needs change. The programme's mission is to enable youth at risk to function productively with modest incomes, to help these youth become productive members of our community, and to provide them with the tools to realize their dreams.

Life skills/independent living training for youth 15-19 (NOTE: emergency/short term intake as young as 12 years of age, or if necessary younger�this is a last resort short term resource for children below the age of 15) co-ed programme, with adequate notice, and as long as there is no disruption to current residents.

Long-term residents will:

• learn to budget on a fixed income
  • rent,
  • utilities,
  • groceries,
  • entertainment.
• learn to shop for groceries
• learn to cook nutritious meals on a tight budget
• learn job search and interview skills
• participate in the community as active volunteers
• if the resident hasn't completed high school:
  • resident will complete high school at the high school of his/her choice, or
  • at Elm Street School, or
  • North Island Correspondence School
  • other institute by arrangement
• if the resident cannot for good reason comply with the programme's educational requirements, resident will spend four to six hours per day actively seeking employment
  • work search residents will submit daily reports listing their contacts and outcomes for the day
  • work search residents' reports will be checked for veracity

  Home | E-mail Kiwanis of Campbell River | Join Kiwanis | Back | Top | Forward