The province has announced $2.7-million in annual permanent funding for four youth wellness hubs. Timmins gets a quarter of that, much to the delight of executive director Anne Vincent.
It’s the first stable funding for the Timmins Youth Wellness Hub, after three years of depending on community support.
Vincent says the money allows for more mental health services and supports for youth aged 12 to 25.
“Although we’ve been offering counseling and peer support,” she notes, “we haven’t had the budget or the mandate to be offering the kinds of services that we will be through Youth Wellness Hubs Ontario.”
Vincent says the money is also recognition of the Timmins Hub’s mobile model, unlike any other. It rotates among 13 locations across the city when not under pandemic restrictions.
“So it will be an opportunity for us to gain support in Youth Wellness Hub but also share the learnings that we have gained over the past three years in Timmins in terms of how to reach our youth by moving around the community,” Vincent concludes.