Phoenix Youth Programs

Young people come to Phoenix Youth Programs with a whole range of problems and concerns. Some have no place to live and are looking for emergency shelter, some are struggling with relationships with family or friends, some need food or clothing and some just need someone to talk to (see contact information below).

Here are some of the situations which have brought youth to our doors:

     "A year ago, I wasn't the same person I am now. Living on the streets, shelter to shelter, I was doing drugs just to get through the day. My mom had passed away earlier that year, as well as one of my best friends. I thought that was ‘it' because I felt so low that I felt nothing in the world could help me."

     "Life was what I would consider normal with a few inconveniences such as the fact that my mom was a workaholic (and) my dad was an alcoholic... my brother and I stuck together (by) locking ourselves away from our father in the bathroom til our mother came home. Those and a few other reasons are what finally led me to running away."

     "I was in an abusive relationship. I had tried to leave on numerous occasions and every time he either apologized and promised to change or physically stopped me from leaving. This continued for more than a year until we found out that I had gotten pregnant. Not surprisingly, the abuse continued. Finally, one day while my boyfriend was out, I reached out to (staff) from Phoenix Centre for Youth."

"Like many people, I grew up in a family with an alcoholic family and there was domestic abuse. I grew up having good grades in school and trying to excel in everything... Everything seemed to be going well in my life when suddenly things changed. It may seem a simple thing, but my family hated my boyfriend... When I showed up at a family event with my boyfriend, there was a fight. My family blamed the incident on me ... I was forbidden to move home."

"I am (someone) who doesn't have much in this world to call my own and very few people whom I can depend upon. I have had a variety of problems over the past several years, which range from being homeless, being dependent on drugs and alcohol, as well as having problems with the law... When I became a resident at Phoenix Shelter I had just gotten out of jail, I had no place to go and few belongings to call my own."

"Before I was in the Phoenix Youth Programs I was living on the streets... How I got involved with Phoenix is I was dealing with a lot of stress at school, I was not doing good with school and I ended up getting myself kicked out of there. When I got kicked out of school, my mom kicked me out of the house."