Facility will help Indigenous youth in Sudbury live on their own

Helping Indigenous youth in Sudbury An Indigenous child and youth welfare agency has opened a facility in Sudbury that helps young people moving out on to their own.

An Indigenous child and youth welfare agency has opened a new facility in Sudbury that helps young people who are moving from care to out on to their own.

Local chiefs, board members and elders help cut the ribbon Wednesday on a new service hub facility in Sudbury, designed specifically for youth transitioning out of child welfare.

"To support the holistic wellness of the youth we serve," said Denise Morrow of Kina Gbezhgomi Child and Family Services.

"In terms of addressing the emotional, spiritual, physical and mental well-being for the youth so that we can assist them in their self-esteem and support them in terms of knowing who they are in relation to that sense of belonging."

The 7,000-square-foot building on Bancroft Drive is a former female youth justice facility. Kina Gbezhgomi Child and Family Services provides child welfare services to seven First Nations on Manitoulin Island.

Since they also help Indigenous youth living off-reserve in Sudbury. The agency worked to renovate the space. There is housing for seven youths, with space for outreach services and land for cultural tools like a sweat lodge and a teaching teepee.

"We were looking for not only space for some of our programs and services, but land to deliver the cultural ceremonies and teachings," Morrow said.

"It was really important when this came up and there was an opportunity with land adjacent also related to the numbers of youth and families we serve in Sudbury."

The building with an Indigenous name that means 'starting a new way of life' has an elder in residence who provides one-on-one guidance for each youth staying there.

The elder provides cultural knowledge for the youth.

"A lot of them have been brought to care and didn't have a lot of those cultural rights that they should have had," said June Manitowabi.

"What we try and instill is to bring that cultural component back into their life and reignite that fire that they have within themselves."

The building is owned by the Ministry of Children, Community and Social Services, but there is a process underway to sever about five hectares of land for the agency.

Morrow added that their youth advisory board will help advise them on what else should be added to the facility.