Many young people end up on the street through no fault of their own. Trying to solve that issue is not easy and without support can be next to impossible.    

“It’s never a straightforward journey and it was exhausting.  

I reached out to one social program, I’m not eligible.  

Reach out to another one, they take two weeks to get back to me. 

Reach out to another one and they give me the wrong info.”  

Lindsey is a young woman with a disability on income assistance, who was abandoned by her roommates at the beginning of the pandemic. She was stuck covering all the rent and internet, until new roommates arrived.  

“They were textbook nightmare. Drinking, being loud, mean, stealing, destroying property. Costing me my damage deposit. I’m told I can’t stay there.”  

She moves but needs proof of lease to continue to receive benefits. The apartment tenant suddenly refuses to sign the sub-lease.  Then the Catch-22 begins…  

“My benefits will be cut off if I don’t have a lease to show income assistance. I had just moved so I don’t have my mail to show the next landlord that I DO in fact have a source of income to sign. A landlord won’t sign a lease without proof of income. Alberta Works won’t provide income until I show them a lease.”  

Young people like Lindsey, who come to The Doorway, work incredibly hard to survive. Rarely is it just one thing.  It is a combination of many factors which prevent them from thriving such as a loss of employment, health problems, a robbery, terrible roommates, addiction, relationships gone wrong…and on it goes. The chaos can consume them. Sometimes the street is the only place left.  

“A friend told me about The Doorway…I reached out and for the first time I talked to someone I felt that they really cared about what I was going through…They empowered me to help myself. I am resilient, I am strong. No matter what situation arises I now know I’ll be able to navigate my way around it. My progress was not linear but my friends at The Doorway keep me encouraged.”  

Since 1988, The Doorway has been a refuge and an opportunity to make change for more than 1200 youth. Consistently, between 60 and 70% achieve stability. We continue to evolve and have recently added Street Outreach to connect with more youth, have a conversation, and distribute food and hygiene supplies.  We have seen a gap in services to young adults 25-30 years of age and are offering support to them in addition to our traditional age of 17-24. Naturally, this has increased our costs. The pandemic has made it hard for young people to access services and there is much despair. The Doorway is working hard to open that door. You can help us help young people both on the street and in our space.  

Ask yourself how you can help Lindsey, or another young person.    

• $15 can be an incentive for a young goal setter.   
• $35 can buy a book of transit tickets.    
• $180 can pay for one month of goals and reflections for a single participant.   
• $500 can pay for a month of Street Outreach supplies.   
• $2200 can pay for a full year of planning for one young person. 

Lindsey’s Friends at The Doorway

I am a young female with a disability on income assistance and have been for a few years trying to get on AISH. When I started with The Doorway I was in a very bad spot, my friends had just moved out without notice as Covid was starting. I was devastated emotionally and didn’t know what I was going to do financially. I had to pay three people’s rent and the internet by myself. Then the new roommates that moved in were textbook nightmare. Drinking, being loud, mean, stealing, destroying property. Costing me my damage deposit. I’m told I can’t stay there.  

I move into the next place. The tenant says he can sign a sublease for me so I move. Once I’m moved he refuses to sign. My benefits will be cut off if I don’t have a lease to show income assistance. I had just moved so I don’t have my mail to show the next landlord that I DO in fact have a source of income to sign. A landlord won’t sign a lease without proof of income, Alberta Works won’t provide income until I show them a lease. 

I’m going to be homeless. I can’t tell you the panic and hopelessness that overcomes you. I knew something was happening to me emotionally, but I had to keep going or I wasn’t going to have a place to live. I had to get my ID to find a new place to live; I had to get in touch with multiple social services; I was dealing with major family stressors and I barely had enough money to feed myself after moving twice and losing two damage deposits out of no fault of my own. I was running around the city trying to make money, trying to make appointments, trying to have a social life. It’s never a straightforward journey and it was exhausting.  

I reached out to one social program, I’m not eligible.  

Reach out to another one, they take two weeks to get back to me. 

Reach out to another one and they give me the wrong info.  

A friend told me about The Doorway. I could do incentivized planning and access resources there. I reached out and for the first time I talked to someone and I felt that they really cared about what I was going through. They offered me food when I came in and bus tickets, which was sooo helpful when money was already so tight. The food that is made for them, you can tell, is made with love. What a nice thing, to feel like you’re getting a home cooked meal. Creature comforts keep you going when you’re in the dumps. 

It was a place I could come to make sense of my chaotic life. I needed to get so much done but how do I do it and what do I do first?  

Around this time my friend and I were victims of a random assault on the street. We had just been outside their apartment deciding where to get food and two people came up and tried to rob my friend’s phone and were choking and punching us. They went and got more people after we called the police and I ran for my life into a more public place. We went to the hospital after and I had a fractured cheekbone.  For no reason they attacked us. It was scary and had a great effect on me.  

I’m dealing with so much pressure in my life and now I’ve learned just being out of the house is grounds to get attacked. When you’re under this amount of stress certain parts of your brain turn off. You’re no longer able to think logically or execute tasks easily.  

With the help of The Doorway I was able to have a refuge where I could come and think and process and make plans, I could have a moment of peace.

I was able to find another place to live in the nick of time but being on income assistance and not having a lot of time to look, I ended up in an illegal rental with 10 bedrooms and the other tenants had problems of their own; mental health and drug/alcohol abuse.  It was not a safe place to live, it left me feeling exhausted and disheartened. Having the volunteers at The Doorway to talk to when I had the energy felt like a life saver while I was going through so much. 

Where I was living there was partying and fights and threats being made, trying to get out of a desperate situation, I moved in with a partner I didn’t have a stable relationship with but I just had to leave this previous place. 

So I moved from one bad situation to another. There was abuse in my relationship, I was feeling very scared all the time. I was in therapy but, I can only work through so much at a time. The work I would do at The Doorway was almost a way to supplement my therapy.  

Sometimes you don’t know what’s going on or how you’re feeling until you have to voice it aloud. With planning and encouragement from The Doorway volunteers I was able to get myself diagnosed with PTSD and get funding to pay for diagnostic sessions. 

Week after week we planned personal things I could work on and I worked up the courage to reach out for help and get housing for myself. 

The planning with The Doorway was great because I was allowed to do my plans again if I didn’t meet the goals the first time. I didn’t feel judged. 

Come Christmas time last year, it was so nice getting a holiday package and being able to get a Christmas tree that had been donated. The volunteers got the tree and decorations to me as well as some baked goods and a Christmas card. It made me cry, when you have next to nothing, kind gestures make you feel human again.  

Being poor is hard work, it’s dehumanizing and exhausting. You’re set up to repeatedly be in bad situations and be traumatized. You’re reduced to basic functioning. Do I have enough money to eat today? Is my phone gonna get cut off? Are my roommates going to hurt me? Will I still have benefits next month? How long can I stay here?  Having one stable institute to depend on kept my morale up.  Writing contracts helped to make me feel like I had some dignity and control over my awful life. They have helped me realize my strengths over the last year. They empowered me to help myself. I am resilient, I am strong. No matter what situation arises, I now know I’ll be able to navigate my way around it. My progress was not linear but my friends at The Doorway keep me encouraged. 

-Lindsey