The Grove Youth Wellness Hubs Ontario is coming to the YMCA of Three Rivers in Guelph.
A new hub is set to open at the YMCA at 130 Woodland Glen Dr. summer next year. The space will be on the second floor of the Y. The Grove Youth Wellness Hubs aims to provide a variety of programs, services, support, and guidance through one door so it can be easier for youth ages 12 to 16 to access.
The Grove Hubs are in Erin, Fergus, Palmerston and two in Guelph, one at the University of Guelph and the other at 733 Woolwich St.
What will be different about the hub at the Y is that youth who access it will be able to use the Y facilities like the pool and gym without needing a membership.
The hub will include the Y’s programming like the alternative suspension program and The Grove Hub’s programming to help with mental health.
Visually the hub on the second floor which is currently offices and boardrooms will turn into a flexible, funky and fun space where youth can play video games, use a sewing machine and study.
There will also be a quiet space with a nursing chair and changing table meant for young parents to use.
Right now some rooms aren’t in use because renovations are going on. “So we're a little pressed for space at the moment, as you can imagine. The construction is a little inconvenient, but we are sort of holding our breath, waiting for that beautiful new space to emerge at the end of it,” said Lisa Hood, vice-president of philanthropy, marketing and communications at YMCA of Three Rivers, in an interview with GuelphToday.
The renovations are being made possible through a generous donation from W.C. Wood Foundation and money from the federal government’s Investing in Canada Infrastructure Program.
Hood declined to say how much the donation was.
The Y is grateful to the Wood family and without their donation the space would not have been possible, said Hood.
The Y has had a relationship with The Grove prior to this partnership with new space. When the Y was able to invite people back in during the pandemic The Grove had drop-in programs youth could participate in.
"With this new space at the Guelph Y, we’re excited to expand our reach and offer even more ways to support youth in their well-being journey,” said Jeff Hoffman, executive director of The Grove, in a press release.
Along with mental health help “we all know that there's upstream interventions that we can do. We can move our bodies, we can have social relationships, we can have confidence, we can have self-esteem, and all of these things are goals of our youth programs. So if we can start to reach young people before they reach the stage of crisis, our whole community will be better off,” said Hood.
