Celebration in Mississauga on Thursday with the opening of the brand new REST House, a purpose-built housing project aimed at addressing homelessness among Black youth in Peel Region.
The initiative was steered by Black-led charity, REST Centres (Restoration And Empowerment For Social Transition). They note that young people between the ages of 15 and 24 make up nearly 20 per cent of those experiencing homelessness in Peel Region. Of that number, more than half are Black. This new home, which is owned by REST, will act as subsidized housing. Who will be able to stay at the home is partly coordinated through Peel Region and its database of those experiencing homelessness.
“This is such an exciting initiative, and it’s also a great milestone for the REST Centre,” said founder and executive director Dagma Koyi.
“With our partnership with the region, the young people are coming from the By Name List. So the young people will receive an open call that this place is available, and they will have the opportunity to apply to be part of the program. When they come to live in this space, REST continues to provide them with culturally responsive wraparound supports.”
Those supports include case management along with employment and mental health services.
Diana Otieno is one of the lucky few able to secure a spot. The 22-year-old moved to Canada nearly four years ago and says for much of that time, her mental health declined rapidly amid unstable housing situations.
“Two years of kind of being up and down, trying to figure out what’s going on with being alive, with eating and all that,” said Otieno.
The housing project was made possible through a $1.4 million grant from Peel Region’s federally funded Reaching Home program. There’s no set timeline for how long youth can stay. For Dagma Koyi, the aim is to ensure they’ll be able to achieve the steps needed for independence.
“While they’re working on these goals, we’re providing them with a safe place so they will be able to have rest at the end of the night and not have to think about survival,” says Koyi.
Otieno is among five youth who will call this place home starting next month, and plans are already underway to expand the space and add two more in the future.
