Tuesday, September 11, 2012

Yarmouth Shelter Seeks Government Understanding & Help

The operators of this shelter for homeless youth in Yarmouth say it might be forced to close if the province stops covering an operating deficit after March 31. (BRIAN MEDEL / Yarmouth Bureau)
SHYFT House - Yarmouth
Homeless youth is not a social problem unique to the city. Its a province-wide issue according to the co-chair of a shelter in the Yarmouth area. Bernadette MacDonald says the provincial government, which didn't renew funding for the shelter last year, doesn't understand the issue.



The Supportive Housing Youth Focus team, or SHYFT, was designed to provide troubled and homeless teens with a place to live while helping integrate them into the community. Now, enough money has been provided by the federal government to keep the facility open daily from 8am to 8pm. However, SHIFT is in need of about 40-thousand dollars to hire "live-in" staff for a 24-7 operation until at least next June.
Officials are looking to government, foundations and fundraising to help reach their goal.