A new five-space mental health group home for youth had its grand opening Thursday in Regina.
Joe and Irene’s Youth Home is run by Eagle Heart Centre, a community-based organization that provides culturally relevant services and trauma-informed care for vulnerable youth and families in Saskatchewan.
Eagle Heart leaders say the goal of the group home is to provide youth ages 12 to 18 with short-term residential care that includes 24-hour mental health and addictions support.
Joe and Irene’s Youth Home was named in honour of the Métis parents of Delora Parisian, founder and executive director of Eagle Heart. Joe and Irene raised 11 children.
“Despite facing racism, poverty and personal hardships, my parents raised us with the values of hard work, financial independence and the encouragement to follow our dreams,” Parisian said.
Similarly, Eagle Heart Centre board president Linda Anderson grew up in a house of 11 people.
“We grew up very poor as well in a small 600-square-foot house, living in poverty [with] no indoor plumbing,” Anderson said.
Anderson got through those hard times and said every challenge makes you stronger.
“I would just love to see the young people become a hero in their own story. and they too can set an example and be a mentor to others,” she said. “That even though times it can be so tough, so challenging, [you can] continue to pursue and you’ll get there.”
Anderson said that naming the new youth home after Parisian’s parents was right on the nose.
“The naming is just perfect because I think that all families of those days that had 10, 15, 20 kids deserve something named after them,” she said with a laugh.
Anderson said it’s far too common to see youth out on the streets in Regina.
“I mean, you have to be blind to not see the need out there.”
She said that even though youth in need don’t know many other people from the community, she wants them to understand that Eagle Heart is really concerned about them and cares about their wellbeing.
“This is an opportunity to grab the brass ring and make the most of their life with the right mentors and the right people that have been put into place. So they too can succeed.”
New group home funded by province
One of the goals of Joe and Irene’s Youth Home is to help young people transition from foster care to stable homes and futures.
Keri Ponace, the home’s team lead, knows a lot about that, having been in and out of foster homes herself. Ponace said she feels like Joe and Irene’s Youth Home was built for people just like her. She saw that need for guidance and mentorship in the last group home she worked at.
“Where do they go when they’re finished, when they age out? What’s out there for them? Because, like, [I was] seeing the youth and watching them walk around like there wasn’t anything left for them to do. And I wanted to be a part of bridging that gap between aging out and finding a stable place for themselves,” Ponace said.
Joe and Irene’s Youth Home is the second of the three planned, with the EGADZ Garden of Hope in Saskatoon as the first to open in December 2023. The third home is currently in development, according to the province.
According to a provincial news release Thursday, the Saskatchewan Health Authority (SHA) works in partnership with the Ministry of Social Services to refer youth with chronic mental health or addiction issues to Eagle Heart Centre.
In a statement to CBC late Thursday afternoon, the ministry said Joe and Irene’s Home for Youth is located in northwest Regina. Since the home cares for youth under the age of 18, its exact address cannot be published.
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