Youth Haven is a non-profit, Christian organization that operates a youth emergency hostel. For nineteen years we have served the needs of homeless youths between the ages of sixteen and twenty-one. At Youth Haven, we offer shelter, food and a place for spiritual, educational, and vocational counseling. When necessary, we act as a liaison between the youth and their families and various social agencies.

The length of stay by a youth may be as short as one night or more than a month. We require youth who stay for extended periods to be attending school, working or actively seeking employment. The teens are provided a home-cooked breakfast and given a nutritional bagged-lunch, as well as a hot, home cooked supper. Traditionally, our youth were required to be out of the house at 8:00am in order to look for jobs, attend school, or work fulltime. However, we have implemented a new support program which allows youth to drop into Youth Haven during the day for help with Job Searches, application forms, counseling and at-home lunches. In this way we ensure that the youth have continual access to support systems throughout their day.

Volunteers are a very important part of the day-to-day operation of Youth Haven. We have students, church members, and people from the general community volunteering at Youth Haven. It is because of the hard work and dedication of individuals, such as these, that Youth Haven has been able to offer services, to the youth of Barrie seven days a week 24 hours a day.