Supports for youth coming to FSJ: Foundry, YMCA form local partnership
A broader range of integrated youth services will soon be available in Fort St. John, thanks to YMCA BC which is the new lead agency developing Foundry Fort St. John.
Heading up the project in Fort St. John as the community development and project lead is Asuncion Sta Maria who, along with YMCA BC’s Chief Operating Officer Amanda Alexander, and Director of Community Programs Melissa Cailleaux, spoke to council on January 27 about the project.
YMCA is a well-known and established provider of programs and services, and in the North Peace, the Y currently operates the Taylor Pool as well as three childcare programs in Fort St. John. Since 2017, YMCA BC has operated the Foundry in Prince George.
Foundry’s mission, says Cailleaux, is to support young people in living a good life.
“It’s part of a provincial movement that’s working on transforming access to care for young people 12 to 24 and their families,” she said. “Family is defined broadly as whoever it is that’s on their side, supporting them.”
Every Foundry across the province, although operated by different lead agencies, has the same five key pillars: Physical and sexual health; Mental health; Substance use services; Peer, family and caregiver support; and Social services.
“They serve youth across the spectrum, so everything from the Grade 8 student who’s started a new school and hasn’t quite landed with friends yet, who’s worried about the test coming up, right up to youth who’s maybe a little older, struggling with more significant mental health or substance use issues.”
Cailleaux acknowledged that a Foundry had been announced for Fort St. John some time ago, and that the community has been patiently waiting for more news of the project.
“The Y has been attached to this project since last year and we’re so excited to have moved forward as the lead agency. We really believe in the Foundry model, based on our experience in Prince George.”
Funding is already flowing for the project, primarily in the development phase. This is long-term funding that comes from the Ministry of Health and consists of $200,000 this year to carry out early work and fund the community development and project lead position.
From year two onwards Foundry will see an additional $500,000 annually provided, as well as $1.5 million in capital support. Once Foundry is open and operational there will be an additional $1 million annually.
“We know that Fort St. John, as well as many other communities, is facing lots of big challenges, and we’re excited to put Foundry forward as part of the answer to those challenges,” Cailleaux said. “It’s not going to solve everything, and it’s going to be in partnership with all of the really great work being done already to support young people and their families.”
“We feel like there is something we can add to addressing those challenges.”
By having integrated services at Foundry – whether it’s Ministry of Health, Northern Health, or the Y – everything is under one roof to provide seamless service to young people and their families. The service model makes it easier to respond to needs and make the best use of human and financial resources.
Each Foundry is unique. That uniqueness comes from basing the services on what each community that has a Foundry needs.
“When doors are open, we’re going to see everyone from those mild needs to ultra high-risk needs,” she said.
Cailleaux expects that they will see young people who aren’t being served elsewhere, based on experiences with the Prince George Foundry.
“Initially when Foundry was starting, there was a hope that it would take pressure off of wait lists, and I think it has to some extent, it has helped to fill some gaps, but it’s also brought in people that no one was seeing, who wouldn’t have gotten help elsewhere if Foundry didn’t exist.”
While waiting for the physical Foundry location to be up and running in Fort St. John, there is access to the virtual Foundry, online or through the Foundry app. Cailleaux says that although it doesn’t replace in-person services, it is a valid service stream and is available seven days a week.
Currently the team is working on Indigenous and community engagement, and doing a community needs assessment as Alexander says it’s important to understand the needs of youth and family in each community.
“It’s important that we work with the current existing strengths and be able to support some of those areas where there might be some gaps that we can augment,” Alexander said.
They are currently interviewing for a part-time youth and family engagement position, to learn what is important to youth and families in Fort St. John to structure both the building and the services to create a space to promote healing, such as a vented space for smudging.
The next steps include looking for a location to build or renovate an existing space, and they are looking for funding partners in the community to supplement the provincial government funding.
“We’re hoping our conversations and our excitement, and the meaning and value of this work, that’s where we really hope to be able to get the financial support is really around the capital need, because it will be a significant gap,” said Alexander.
“We know once we’re up and running, those operational dollars will situate us really well. It’s really the hump around the capital that we’ll be looking for financial support on.”
For more information, contact Foundry Fort St. John via email.