Jacky’s Place
Durham Youth Services operates Jacky’s Place*, a transitional house for youth between the ages of 16 to18. Jacky’s Place provides a supportive environment where youth learn the skills needed to transition to independent living.
Residents can live at Jacky’s Place for a more extended period of time than the shelter, as they work with staff to learn skills, complete their education or job skills training, and find sustainable income and housing. Residents receive intensive case management and life skills training from a trained outreach staff who supports the house.
Jacky’s Place is also -supported by part-time staff who are regularly onsite, available to the residents when needed and have scheduled sessions to work on goals together. The property is located a short distance from Joanne’s House shelter in Ajax.
For more information please call Jacky’s Place staff at 289-980-5557
Harris House
As of Fall 2021, Durham Youth Services operates Harris House*, a transitional house located in Whitby which provides affordable housing for youth between the ages of 18 and 24 who have previously experienced homelessness.
Youth living at Harris House work with our Housing Support Coordinator to have access to 24-hour support.
With the help of the Housing Support Coordinator, youth work to complete school, find employment and learn budgeting and other relevant life skills. The goal of the program is to assist youth to gain the experience they need to transition from supported living to fully independent living in the community.
For more information please call our Housing Support coordinator at 289-388-8179.
*Participants in our Transitional Housing programs come from the Region of Durham’s By-Name List.
The “By-Name List” is run by Durham Region and is one of the tools our community uses to coordinate access to housing. It is a real-time, up-to-date list of people known to be experiencing homelessness in Durham Region. The By-Name List process improves coordination among agencies and provides streamlined access to community supports. Individuals on the By-Name List are strategically prioritized based on needs and capabilities (e.g. ability to live on their own).
Durham Youth Services is both an Access Point to the By-Name List and a provider of transitional housing for youth on the By-Name List.
“I thank Joanne’s House staff for all of their support and showing me that I can be more in life. I am now working fulltime, have been accepted to college and 7 months sober.”
A quote from one of our clients…
“Even though the staff members know about your problems, they do not act or treat you like you are nothing. They act as if you are another person, which is great when it comes to self-esteem.”