Streets of P.A. Filled with Northern Youth

Streets of P.A. Filled with Northern Youth

Friday, April 02, 2004 at 08:55

A youth outreach worker in Prince Albert says he worries that kids from the North who travel to the city looking for a good time often don’t realize what may be in store for them.

Steven Humble has worked with street youth for four years now and says he has noticed many of them don’t originate from P.A., but were drawn to the community hoping for something better.

Humble says visiting teenagers may believe they will find a base of support among cousins or friends, but often find themselves “couch-surfing” instead.

He says that scenario inevitably leads to disaster, as they endure hardship and encounter pimps and gangs that are all too eager to take advantage of them.

Humble says he doesn’t expect the government to solve this problem overnight, but a few extra dollars directed towards various social agencies would be nice.

He also can’t believe the city’s youth resource centre, which catered to homeless youth in a variety of ways, was recently closed down.