Kamloops Safe House for Youth

Thanks to the perseverance of the Kamloops & District Real Estate Association, street kids in the City of Kamloops will have a safe house as of spring 1998. The Kamloops Safe House for Youth will provide temporary shelter to youths aged 12 to 19, and especially to kids who are on the streets intermittently, or "curb kids" as they are known.

In 1996, at a Real Estate Foundation sponsored event, Vice Chairman Gary Brady challenged the real estate industry to become involved in the issue of homelessness and youth homelessness in particular. Patrick Lindsay, Executive Officer of the Kamloops & District Real Estate Association, was impressed. "I thought that Gary Brady’s challenge was a good way for Realtors to do something positive for their community and be recognized for it," he says.

Lindsay approached Wrenn Weston, Regional Operating Officer, Ministry for Children and Families, and asked if there was a need for a youth facility. " I learned that lots of kids in Kamloops live on the streets. Within a short time, they’re asked to get involved in the drug or sex trade. Weston said that there was no money for such a facility, but suggested we partner with other agencies," says Lindsay.

Lindsay approached the Kamloops Youth Resources Society (KYRS). "They were very excited about the idea," he says. "The question was What do we do? I knew that the Real Estate Foundation might be a possible funding source, but only for capital costs, not for operating funds. Our first budget, in fact, was far too high, and for that reason our initial proposal to the Foundation was turned down. We were asked to rethink and revise the proposal, so we thought about finding other partners."

Lindsay and KYRS went to local service clubs from whom they got enough support to approach Cathy McGregor, Minister of the Environment, Lands and Parks, Kevin Kruger, Liberal MLA, and MP Nelson Riis of the NDP. All three were enthusiastic about the project, but had no money for operating costs.

At this point, Lindsay asked Eggleton & Associates to conduct a feasibility study to identify the best location for the safe house. The Foundation funded the study with a $3,000 grant. Geoff Eggleton recommended that the safe house be established at an existing facility on River Street that was then being used as a group home by the Kamloops Youth Resources Society.

Eggleton’s solution proved to be a workable one. "It seemed to us that this property would be better used as a safe house," says Tim Pringle, Executive Director of the Real Estate Foundation. "We approved a $200,000 grant to acquire this property. KYRS will relocate its group home."

On October 2, 1997, at a media event in Kamloops, the project’s partners announced that the Kamloops Safe House for Youth would open by spring of 1998 and that the Ministry for Family and Children’s Services, the Kamloops Youth Resources Society, the City of Kamloops, the Kamloops and District Real Estate Association, and the Real Estate Foundation were the major funders.

The entire process took 22 months. Bob Cornish, Executive Director of the Kamloops Youth Resource Society, praises the Kamloops & District Real Estate Association. "Patrick and the Association were supportive the entire time," he says. "This was a wonderful example of how a community came together to identify a need and to work toward a solution."