REGINA - A new mental health group home for youth is now officially up and running in Regina.
Joe and Irene's Youth Home is a new, five-space mental health group home in the city's north end. The home has come to fruition through a partnership of the Government of Saskatchewan with Eagle Heart Centre.
The province is providing $800,000 in annual funding for the home, with $400,000 each coming from the Ministries of Health and Social Services.
Minister of Mental Health and Addictions Lori Carr said this home “really will transform the lives of the youth that will attend here for mental health and addiction services. And just having that home environment and that loving, caring facility that they can come to.”
They will provide at the home what Carr described as “a caring and safe living environment” for young people ages 12 to 18. The home will also provide 24-7 mental health and addiction services.
“This home will have five youth at a time. So it'll be small enough that it'll feel like a family environment, but it's big enough that you have enough people to lean on for that support.”
The group home will be Indigenous-run by the community-based organization Eagle Heart Centre. The services provided will be aimed at Indigenous youth and delivered in a culturally appropriate way.
Delora Parisian, outgoing Executive Director of Eagle Heart Centre and the daughter of the two Métis individuals for whom the home is named, described what support will be provided daily.
“During the day, we have two staff that work during the day, and they take the youth to appointments. They also engage them in life skills activities for those who don't know basic life skills development. They also try to connect them with maybe (addressing) addictions or whatever it is they use, the challenges that they are presenting," said Parisian.
“And then at night, we have a night staff that comes on, and they're also trained in a variety of different ways.”
The province says in a news release that this group home is part of a larger commitment of $2.4 million in the 2023-24 Provincial Budget, with Social Services and Health each providing $1.2 million to develop three mental health group homes to serve youth struggling with mental health and addictions issues.
This is the second of three planned group homes to open after the EGADZ Garden of Hope in Saskatoon in Dec. 2023. A third home is in development, says the province.
