A youth wellness hub — a place for young people to hang out with others, get support, acceptance and understanding — is coming to Sudbury.
Youth Wellness Hubs are funded by the provincial Ministry of Health and are set up to address the needs of youth aged 12 to 25, helping them with such things as mental health, substance use, primary care, education, employment, training, housing and other community and social services.
In Sudbury the wellness hub will be administered by Compass, a local non-profit agency that provides child and youth mental health services.
“Youth have long faced systemic challenges to accessing services in our communities, and the Youth Wellness Hub model offers a solution: a centralized space for a wide variety of social and health service organizations to provide comprehensive care and support for youth in need”, said Mark Fraser, director, clinical and client services, Compass.
Partnerships are important to the process. As a result, Compass will be working with Public Health Sudbury & Districts (PHSD) and other key organizations.
Stacey Gilbeau, Director, Health Promotion Division for PHSD, said it is a welcome initiative.
“We are committed to lending a valuable upstream approach to the work provided in this hub and supporting the needs of youth by ensuring youth have direct access to a complete range of programs and services," Gilbeau said.
The goal is that all young people can lead healthy lives and be the best they can be, she added.
The expected opening date is spring 2023, and the exact location is still being determined, said a news release from Compass.
Youth Wellness Hubs have been created in select communities around Ontario to address gaps in the system for wellness services for young people. Several hubs have been established in the province. There are two in Northern Ontario, in Timmins and in Kenora.
