Youth Wellness Hub gets official launch in London, Ont.

Youth Opportunities Unlimited (YOU) unveiled its new Youth Wellness Hub in London, Ont. on Friday morning.

According to advocates, it puts them on to better path to helping young people dealing with mental health, addictions and poverty challenges.

The Youth Wellness Hub has been more than a decade in the making and those who supported the concept said the journey has been worthwhile.

YOU Executive Director Steve Cordes told those gathered for the launch, "You stick with something that has the goal of being transformative and then you work on how it is going to achieve its goal."

The hub had a soft-launch in June and continues to ramp up services. Currently housed in the YOU headquarters at 332 Richmond St., it provides wrap-around supports for young people from ages 12 to 25.

"It's in a space that's familiar, that they belong to,” said Youth Advisory Group member Angus Ronan. “Where they don't have to go out and look for help because it's met them where they're at."

The hub draws on expertise from a number of agencies, including the Canadian Mental Health Association and the London Health Sciences Centre. It focuses on quicker access to mental health and addictions programs, but also offers a variety of other supports including primary health care and a path to stable housing.

Youth Opportunities Unlimited Executive Director Steve Cordes discusses London, Ont.'s new Youth Wellness Hub at an event on Oct. 27, 2023. (Gerry Dewan/CTV News London)

Dr. Elizabeth Osuch is founder and lead physician with the London Health Sciences Centre’s First Episode Mood and Anxiety Clinic.

"It's very easy to get isolated,” Osuch told CTV News London. “COVID really accentuated that, the pandemic, where everyone was forced into isolation. It really made it hard for young people, particularly if they were in a certain window to appreciate the value of reaching out to others and being with others in the same place."

Associate Minister of Mental Health and Addictions Michael Tibollo attended the program launch.

Tibollo said he spent a decade working at a residential therapeutic community that helped men with addictions, and it reinforced his opinion that outreach at a young age can make a difference for a lifetime.

"If you teach a young person mindfulness today…they’ll carry it for the rest of their lives. We all studied math, we all studied history. Some of us remember a little bit more of one subject than another, but all of those life skills are with us to this day,” he said.

Tibollo said the hubs will also help reduce demands on the medical system.

"In some cases, you have to go to the doctor or you have to go to the hospital but there's so much work we can do by supporting these organizations that are doing the heavy lifting that haven't been funded properly by governments,” he added.

Ultimately, the new wellness hub will be located in Joan's Place, currently under construction on the northwest corner of York and Richmond streets. Joan’s Place will include accommodations and wrap around supports for youth, young mothers, and mothers-to-be who are risk of homelessness.

Cordes said the goal is to create satellite locations throughout London to serve as Youth Wellness Hubs.

The province is currently helping to fund 22 youth wellness hubs across the province, as part of the $33 million being dedicated to addictions services annually.