Eight-bed residence for youths who have been through trauma to open soon in North Bay
It’s been a long time coming, but officials with Children’s Aid Society North Bay and Parry Sound say it’s almost time for Arbour House to begin operating.
The former Near North Youth Centre will see eight youths between the ages of 12 and 18 who have experienced trauma move in this fall.
The individuals will stay for 60 to 90 days and will receive services to help work through the trauma they’ve experienced.
"The youth that we work with have experienced some really traumatic experiences throughout their lives," said Gisele Hebert, executive director of Children’s Aid Society North Bay and Parry Sound.
"We really do want to serve them differently. Our motto is all roads lead home, and I think the focus is returning youth to their home community."
The Arbour House is a pilot project and Hebert told CTV News it’s the only one of its kind in northern Ontario.
"On average over the last five years, we have been uprooting 85 children and youth and placing them out of community," said Hebert.
"Some youth require some residential care and we really want to keep them close to home. They shouldn’t have to leave their families and connections in order to be served."
The provincial government is providing $1.5 million to help get the Arbour House through its first year of operations.
"It’s to really help with a local approach,” said Nipissing MPP Vic Fedeli. "The whole idea is to give our local youth this continuity of being able to remain in their home community, close to families."
The young people will have access to a full classroom, a music room and an exercise facility.
"They will be pursuing their education. We have Indigenous cultural activities, we have physical activities, art, we have horseback riding therapy,” said Hebert.
"We want to provide them with as much of a productive environment (as we can) while they’re here."
Sixteen people will be hired to staff The Arbour House, including a clinical supervisor, coordinators and child and youth workers.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
'They needed people inside Air Canada:' Police announce arrests in Pearson gold heist
Police say one former and one current employee of Air Canada are among the nine suspects that are facing charges in connection with the gold heist at Pearson International Airport last year.
House admonishes ArriveCan contractor in rare parliamentary show of power
MPs enacted an extraordinary, rarely used parliamentary power on Wednesday, summonsing an ArriveCan contractor to appear before the House of Commons where he was admonished publicly and forced to provide answers to the questions MPs said he'd previously evaded.
Leafs star Auston Matthews finishes season with 69 goals
Auston Matthews won't be joining the NHL's 70-goal club this season.
Trump lawyers say Stormy Daniels refused subpoena outside a Brooklyn bar, papers left 'at her feet'
Donald Trump's legal team says it tried serving Stormy Daniels a subpoena as she arrived for an event at a bar in Brooklyn last month, but the porn actor, who is expected to be a witness at the former president's criminal trial, refused to take it and walked away.
Why drivers in Eastern Canada could see big gas price spikes, and other Canadians won't
Drivers in Eastern Canada face a big increase in gas prices because of various factors, especially the higher cost of the summer blend, industry analysts say.
Doug Ford calls on Ontario Speaker to reverse Queen's Park keffiyeh ban
Ontario Premier Doug Ford is calling on Speaker Ted Arnott to reverse a ban on keffiyehs at Queen's Park, describing the move as “needlessly” divisive.
'A living nightmare': Winnipeg woman sentenced following campaign of harassment against man after online date
A Winnipeg woman was sentenced to house arrest after a single date with a man she met online culminated in her harassing him for years, and spurred false allegations which resulted in the innocent man being arrested three times.
Woman who pressured boyfriend to kill his ex in 2000s granted absences from prison
A woman who pressured her boyfriend into killing his teenage ex more than a decade ago will be allowed to leave prison for weeks at a time.
Customers disappointed after email listing $60K Tim Hortons prize sent in error
Several Tim Horton’s customers are feeling great disappointment after being told by the company that an email stating they won a boat worth nearly $60,000 was sent in error.