The Shelter

CHOICES Youth Shelter

59 Townline
Orangeville, ON
L9W 1V5
Phone 519-942-5970 Fax 519-942-5913

1. Develop and promote community support for youth which will ensure their successful integration into the community as productive members.

2. Provide emergency and transitional housing for homeless youth 16-24 years of age from Dufferin County and surrounding areas.

3. Create awareness of support for the homeless throughout Dufferin, while creating and developing strong community partnerships.

4. Provide opportunities to develop life skills within the community through access to education and community support to build positive self-esteem and empowerment.

Your support enables CHOICES Youth Shelter to implement and maintain the services that our homeless youth require:

1. Emergency Shelter:
The emergency shelter component is vital to the very basic fundamental need for safety, food, and shelter. Residents can make use of this program for their first 30 days of residency.

2. Youth in Transition Program:
Once a resident has stayed for 30 days, they can continue their residency at CHOICES if they are motivated and focused on making positive life changes. For those who qualify we process and administer Ontario Works Applications and Benefits.

3. Today Program:
This provides assistance to local youth that are not currently residing at the shelter. They have access to a mid-day meal, shower, telephone, and community referrals.

4. Rights and Responsibility Program:
This program works jointly with the local Police Force, Court System, and Probation and Parole. The purpose is to ensure that youth who have legal issues are dealt with fairly and in a timely manner, and that they understand the need to take responsibility for their own actions. The intended outcome is that they will choose not to re-offend.

5. Day Programs:
        Life Skills:
This program is offered every Monday from 1:30pm to 3:30pm at CHOICES Youth Shelter. This program is important to           our residents because many of them come to us lacking in basic day to day skills.
         Anger Management:
This program is offered every Wednesday from 1:30pm to 3:30pm at CHOICES Youth Shelter. This program is a vital resource as many of the youth we see have issues dealing with their own anger and often express it in ways that are not always socially acceptable or positive.
          Art Therapy:
This program is offered every Friday from 1:30pm to 3:30pm at CHOICES Youth Shelter. Art Therapy is an exciting program for CHOICES Youth Shelter; it gives youth a chance to express their feelings through creative art.

6. Follow Up Program:
This program provides past residents with access to our support after leaving the shelter.

7. Outreach Services:
This program provides an educational aspect to the shelter programs. We provide guest speakers to community service clubs, youth groups, and school classes who can inform the groups about the problems and issues of homelessness. Our goal is to lessen the need for our services by educating the youth and the public to healthy alternatives.

CHOICES is a truly unique organization. Since our opening in January 2000, the shelter has grown through community support and the dedication of many volunteers. During these seven years we have had over 650 intakes of Orangeville and area youth.

In 1999, an outreach worker from a local church called all interested citizens together to discuss the problem of affordable housing and homelessness. From this meeting, several areas of concern were identified. Among them was the rise of youth homelessness. Members of this group were encouraged to find a community-based solution and thus the concept of a youth shelter was born. CHOICES Youth Shelter was able to open and operate for the first year through generous community donations and volunteerism. From this humble beginning, CHOICES Youth Shelter has developed into a leader in the needs of the homeless youth of Orangeville and area.

As a true grassroots organization, our programs have evolved to meet the needs of homeless and at risk youth between the ages of 16 and 24. We offer a safe haven for youth who would otherwise be living in less than desirable circumstances. Before youth come to us many have “couch surfed” with friends in their homes, slept in laundromats or in abandoned buildings, lived on the street sleeping in local parks, under bridges, or in local forests. This tragedy is occurring more frequently throughout the world, and is now within our own community.

The youth that come to CHOICES not only receive immediate shelter, nutritious meals, and access to shower facilities, but also referrals to local service providers based on their personal needs and goals. But more importantly, these youth have someone to listen to them, and hopefully to point them in the right direction.

We believe that if the youth are involved in every step of the program and are supported by our community, we can assist them to be the capable adults that we want to see in our community.