Kingston Youth Shelter sets up temporary housing in McGillivray-Brown

Queen’s has partnered with Kingston Youth Shelter to temporarily house 16 new sleeping pods for youth experiencing homelessness in the gym of McGillivray-Brown Hall.

 

The pods will provide youth aged 16-24 a safe and private place to sleep beginning in April ,until Kingston Youth Shelter can transition to a new permanent location in July.

 

“Our current home is at 234 Brock St., and that’s where we’ve been since 1999 when the shelter first opened. Through the pandemic, we haven’t been able to use that space as the shelter,” Anne Brown, Executive Director of the Kingston Youth Shelter, said in an interview with The Journal.

 

“Because of space restrictions, we could only have six youths each night. We needed to find another temporary space until we can occupy our new building.”

 

Cathy Borowec, CEO of Habitat for Humanity Kingston Limestone Region, worked with Brown to build the pods with supplies donated from Atkinson Home Hardware. 

 

“Last week, I got a call from the executive director of the Kingston Youth Shelter to ask if we could pull together some volunteers to help build. We’re happy to help out another organization that deals with housing in the community,” Borowec said in an interview with The Journal.

 

The construction, which began the morning of Mar. 23, was completed by the afternoon. The completed pods measured 6’0 by 8’0 tall with dividers for privacy between pods, and room for a bed and some additional personal space.

 

“The location is ideal for the circumstances because we’re only a couple of blocks away from our house on Brock St., so it is probably the most ideal temporary solution that we can have. We’re just so grateful for the support of our community to be able to make this happen to support the youth in need,” Brown said.

 

Donna Janeic, Vice-President (Finance and Administration) at Queen’s, addressed the opening of the new shelter space in an email sent to The Journal.

 

“As they prepare to move into a new facility this fall, Kingston Youth Shelter was in need of a temporary space. We are pleased that Queen’s was able to accommodate the Kingston Youth Shelter requirements by providing a temporary location,” she wrote.

 

Kingston Youth Shelter’s counselling, food, and hygiene services will continue to operate out of its location on 234 Brock St.