International Youth Day

This year's theme for International Youth Day is "Different Contexts, Common Aspirations" which rings significantly true for youth experiencing homelessness. 

The youth at Threshold come from many different contexts, from all over BC, with our top referrals coming from currently unhoused youth, youth aging out of foster care, and youth fleeing violence and abuse. Homelessness repeatedly and disproportionately affects youth coming from different contexts, and is shaped by intersecting social, structural, and identity-based factors, highlighting homelessness is not experienced equally by everyone: 42% of our youth are Indigenous, 39% of our youth are 2SLGBTQ+, and 50% of our youth are young girls and women, all communities continuously over-represented in homelessness. 

These contexts see youth in Victoria devoting their lives to survival, but like any other youth, our youth deserve the chance to be young. To find joy. To connect with friends. To experience life beyond the constant worry of where they will sleep and where they will find their next meal. All youth do have common aspirations: safe housing, time and space for connection with friends and loved ones, and positive communities of their own.

This International Youth Day, we'd like to highlight the resilient youth currently in our programs, and all unhoused youth in Victoria accessing support from our incredible community partners as we work together to help youth access food, counselling, health and wellness essentials, life skills, family services, and recovery support. This collective work is helping young people heal, recover, and imagine futures that once felt out of reach. 

At Threshold, our goal is to create conditions for youth to heal. And then, with a bedrock of support they know they can trust, youth begin to start thinking about a brighter future for themselves, because life is about more than surviving.

🌎🌍🌏 Wherever they're from, however they show up in the world, every young person deserves the same shot at opportunity, belonging and being heard.