The Youth Hub is under construction and thriving going into the end of the year.
As the calendar is getting closer to flipping to the new year, the Haliburton Youth Hub has released the December newsletter detailing a number of things including an update on the construction and the programming offered by the hub.
The hub says construction on the former church is well underway. According to staff with the hub, $85,000 has been “earmarked” for capital expenses and renovation costs in the first year of three-year funding they received from the Haliburton County Development Corporation and Youth Wellness Hubs Ontario. In a previous interview with My Haliburton Now.com Marg Cox, the Director of Point in Time, explained they have removed the pews, pulled the carpeting and replaced it with plywood flooring which youth hub users will be allowed to decorate.
At it’s the core, the Youth Hub was designed to give youth a place to go and things to do. Programming at the hub has started with Thursday nights being designated ‘drop-in programming.’ According to hub staff, they have seen as many as 15 youth in there on a Thursday. Most of the time the teens will play music, video and board games or generally hang out.
Getting teens home has also been sorted out to a certain extent, the hub says the Haliburton Highlands Health Services has provided a 7 seater van to get the young people home after the programs.
Another update given from the hub is the fact that they are in conversation with Virgin Mobile’s RE*Generantion to help train and educate youth to topple barriers that prevent them from finding work. As well, Centre 3 in Haliburton has connected with the hub to discuss hosting Shift Creativity Workshops for the youth hub members.
The Haliburton Youth Hub will be having a Thursday night Coffee House on January 8th from 3:30pm to 5:30pm.