Modified mobile home hopes to help youth in Muskoka

It's increasingly difficult for youth and young adults to access mental and physical health resources in Muskoka, but now there’s a new approach.

A 40-foot bus, designed with mental health services, resources, and care for children, teens, and young adults, is now rolling through the roads in the north.

"We’re saving lives. We’re working with young people who are potentially suicidal, and all it takes is that one person who cares, who will listen to their story, and help them connect the dots to care," said Jody North, executive director of MiND-AID.

The newly launched mobile integrated services hub is run by MiND-AID and will be making stops around the community to introduce itself to students, teachers, other community service providers, and the community at large.

“We thought, What if we go to them? We bring it on the road; we don’t have to worry about the lack of public transit; we don’t have to worry about the confusing system; we’ll just coordinate all services through one door,” added North.

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The Hub Team had a soft launch in September.

“We’re offering fun hangouts, so we’ll be doing special activities, bringing in guests, workshops, and speakers, but also just a safe space for all young people to feel like they belong. If they just want to quietly hang out or bring their homework or come and have a snack, we’ve got food, we’ve got free hygiene items, and on top of that, we’ve got a nurse practitioner on board who can bring primary care to people who don’t have a doctor or have a problem that they want to have a look at; we have therapists associated with us; we have clinicians; so any kind of help, connections to housing, financing,” said North, who has been running MiND-AID for the past four years.

“It all starts with relationships. I think that’s one thing that sometimes gets missed in clinical care: when you’re walking into a hospital, you don’t necessarily have a relationship before you start to share what’s wrong. We want to change that a little bit, especially around the mental health piece, because most young people aren’t really comfortable sharing about their mental health if they don’t feel comfortable with you," said North.

MiND-AID is a registered charity addressing a huge and growing need in the community.

“There’s many challenges: isolation, transportation, being able to find the resources, get to the resources, and the funding associated with it. Whether they have the ability to consistently show up to those appointments as required, there’s so many barriers. Identification, many of the youth don’t have ID, they don’t know how, there’s fees, so being able to bring the hub to the youth is good and is going to be critical and create a sense of community," said Kaitlin Odom, director of housing for the Elizabeth Fry Society of Simcoe Muskoka.

Young people face several barriers when trying to access help in Muskoka, often only receiving care through a hospital ER once they’ve reached a crisis point.

“There’s a huge increase in youth homelessness and poverty, and not having those resources available and accessible is going to be detrimental to our community, so it’s fantastic that we’ll have that," added Odom.

MiND-AID staff and volunteers are always on hand to provide navigation assistance and support to young people and their families who are looking for help on their journey to mental wellness.

Through the Canada Helps fundraising site, over 160 individual donors gave a combined $38,629 to MiND-AID.

The organization sees roughly 500 young people annually, ages 29 and younger.

“So right up to young adults, and we’re seeing every type of need, so financial, mental health needs, physical health needs, housing needs, some are victims that are needing an escape from whatever circumstance they’re in; they need that extra support; they don’t have at home; young adults trying to stabilize in life,” North explained.

The new mobile hub will be out and about supporting those that need it until the winter months, when it becomes too dangerous to drive the vehicle. At that point, MiND-AID navigators can meet with young people in a public area or professional office setting, over the internet via video chat, or even over the phone or text.

If you or someone you know needs assistance, the organization can be reached at 844-646-3243 or via email.