RED LAKE -- A brand-new community youth hub was opened in Red Lake on Aug. 19.
The youth hub is being run by the Red Lake Indian Friendship Centre in partnership with MOU, the Municipality of Red Lake, the Township of Ear Falls, Firefly, Kenora District Services Board, the Francophone Association of Red Lake, the Northwestern Health Unit, Red Lake Career and Employment Center, and OFIFC.
The RLIFC worked closely with the OFIFC to get funding for the youth hub, and needed to be supported by more community partners. Monique Tougas, administrative assistant of the RLIFC, says that the community came together very quickly to get the project off the ground.
“I’ve never seen so many organizations come together so quickly to make something happen,” says Tougas.
The youth hub is run by four rotating RLIFC staff members while they get up and running. The hub is currently open seven days a week during their trial period that will run until the end of September. Their hours are Wednesday to Sunday, 1 p.m. to 9 p.m. Monday and Thursday, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. This will provide insight to when the hub is most frequented to create a schedule in the future.
“We are looking to get feedback from the youth, to see what they want to do,” says Tougas.
The centre is doing drop-in style days during the trial. The RLIFC plans to host many various classes in the future, including cooking classes, sowing classes and music lessons. They have already brought in a guitar for the youth to play at the hub.
Firefly also plans to run children’s mental health programming and the Francophone Association has plans to hold French activities as well.
“Right now, we are just trying to create that safe space for everyone,” says Tougas.
