I want to take a moment to spotlight what YESS | Youth Empowerment & Support Services (YESS) do for the Edmonton youth. Not only do they provide emergency shelter for young people, they also have tons of resources that help our youth in need. They provide food, clothing, school supplies and packed lunches for those attending school. In addition, they offer help in dealing with traumas, provide addictions and mental health counselling. They also assist in integrating them with the community to hopefully help avoid re-entry into homelessness by connecting them to resources to help build life skills.
My wife, Jezelle, worked at the Stollery Children’s Hospital, and knows they have used the organization’s services a lot to find a place for our homeless youth once they’ve been discharged from the hospital.
To walk beside traumatized youth on their journey towards healing and appropriate community integration.
YESS Mission Statement
What They Do:
Based in Edmonton, Youth Empowerment and Support Services (YESS) provides immediate and low-barrier overnight and day shelter, temporary supportive housing, and individualized wrap-around supports for young people aged 15-24.
YESS helps youth aged 15 to 24 who are experiencing difficult realities such as addiction, abuse, and homelessness. Young people come to YESS from all cultures, economic backgrounds, religions, communities, sexual orientations, and gender identities. They have had many traumatic experiences which, unaddressed, create self-esteem, self-worth, and self-regulation issues.
Often young people are not connected with Alberta Children’s Services, leaving them without resources or financial support. As a result, they are seeking guidance, stability, and a caring environment in which they can access the supports they need.
They work collaboratively within a network of care focused on the prevention of youth homelessness by providing youth with the necessary supports to stabilize their housing, improve their wellbeing, build life skills, connect with community, and avoid re-entry into homelessness.
Their Focus:
1. Focus on prevention and diversion of homelessness.
Prevention means providing proactive resources for youth and their caregivers before youth become homeless. Diversion means finding appropriate housing for youth before they become entrenched or as an exit out of homelessness.
2. Focus on healing trauma through relationship.
Trauma has a negative impact on the physical, emotional and developmental well-being of an individual. Among many other serious effects, trauma can have a lasting impact on the ability to develop healthy relationships.
3. Focus on walking beside youth to minimize falling through gaps.
Barriers are policies or expectations that put resources out of reach of those who need them. These restrictions often prevent people from seeking help.
4. Focus on collaboration (with everyone).
They work together with other organizations and in line with local, provincial, and national plans to create a holistic approach to addressing homelessness.
What you can do to Support!
Donate
Your donation supports YESS program and resources that help youth reach their goals. Click here to donate.
Host a Fundraiser
YESS will help you host a fundraiser for you and your team. Read through their fundraising package, submit an application form for approval and host your event!
Could do in-person events such as Skip the Depot (for bottle drives) or virtual events such as Facebook and Canada Helps.
Current Needs:
All general in-kind donations can be dropped off at the Bissell Thrift Shop (8818 118 Avenue) and identify that the donation is for YESS. The Bissell Centre will provide YESS with these essential items, and surplus items will benefit the Bissell Centre clientele too.
If you have any questions or need more information, please contact them at 780.468.7070 ext. 249 or email giving@yess.org
Resources used in this article:
https://www.facebook.com/YESSorg/
https://www.canadahelps.org/en/charities/id/39052/impact/view/
Contact them here!
Summary
YESS is an amazing organization that focuses on the overall wellbeing (albeit physical or mental) of our youth. They are focusing on the long term success of the individual by providing them with the resources to improve life skills for education and employment. I support this organization and believe in what they stand for.