The final day of service at the Roots Youth Shelter is Sept. 18. The shelter, operated by McMan Youth, Family & Community Services, is closing permanently due to a cut in funding.--NEWS PHOTO SCOTT SCHMIDT
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Though the Roots Youth Shelter is closing, McMan Youth, Family & Community Services assures it still has other services for those in need.
Tracie Mutschler, executive director for McMan South, says the shelter is closing due to a reduction in funding. While this is a difficult decision, she says they are unable to maintain an acceptable level of service with their current funds.
“We had to really balance just the safety of the youth and the staff. Unfortunately, it just wasn’t financially viable to continue offering a service,” said Mutschler. “There have been multiple funding sources in the past, but there’s been a couple of changes at the provincial level, and unfortunately, we were left with the only funding source being the provincial government.”
She says McMan unexpectedly received notice of the reduction in funding, below what is considered to be safe and viable.
The last night of operations and admissions for the shelter will be Sept. 18, with final discharges taking place the following day.
While the closest youth shelter after the closure is in Lethbridge, Mutschler says McMan South will be continuing to operate its Youth Hub and will provide the organizations other services for those affected.
“We’ll be working with any affected youth, or any youth that are homeless or at risk of homelessness, to connect to different services and hopefully find other housing options for them,” said Mutschler. “The youth hub does housing services, they also work with families for reunification purposes. We also have other services for mental health, employment, schooling, any of those kinds of social services that they may need.”
It is only the emergency housing component which will be closing, says Mutschler. She expressed gratitude to the community for support, both in the wake of the announcement and over the years.
“It’s really been our pleasure to operate the service and have the community behind us,” said Mutschler. “Know that we’re equally sad about this as well.”
