MAPLETON – The Grove Hub in Palmerston is a popular place for Mapleton teens.
Grove Youth Wellness Hubs aim to provide “one-stop-shops” for youth, including support for mental health, education, employment, housing, substance use, primary care, training, and access to community and social services.
Grove executive director Jeff Hoffman and Palmerston hub site lead Tiffany Fagan gave an annual update to Mapleton council on Aug. 12.
For the 2024-25 fiscal year, there were
Around 35,000 people visited seven Grove Hubs locations in Guelph and Wellington County in the 2024-25 fiscal year, with nearly 20,000 of those at the Palmerston site.
In comparison, 33,000 overall visits were made last year, with 12,500 at the Palmerston hub.
Along with the increased visits, Hoffman said there has been a 50 per cent increase in youth accessing clinical services from Grove Hubs.
Hoffman said when youth walk into the Grove Hubs,
Staff ask youths specific questions, demonstrating a personal connection, Hoffman said.
And youths share challenges and successes with Grove staff, he added.
According to Grove Hubs data, nearly all youth visiting the hubs have reported satisfaction with received services, found services to be welcoming and would recommend them to a friend.
Almost 70% of youth surveyed said they waited less than 24 hours for a first appointment, and 80% had a first appointment within 72 hours.
Hoffman said such wait times are “unheard of in the health care system.”
About 40% of respondents said the hubs addressed their mental health needs, 25% said education needs were addressed. Others listed a variety of needs met spanning from food security to body image.
If Grove Hubs was not available, 20% said they wouldn’t have gotten help, and another 20% said they weren’t sure.
“Young people who wouldn’t typically be accessing supports are getting help today,” Hoffman said.
Fagan spoke more about teens getting help at the Palmerston Hub.
A Grade 9 student who was new to the area, and whose parents were recently divorced, felt “isolated and lonely, bottling up his emotions and going into a deep depression,” Fagan said.
He skipped classes, slept too much, withdrew from old friends and had suicidal thoughts, according to Fagan.
During school lunches he visited the Palmerston location, Fagan said, finding peers with common interests and accessing counselling.
Fagan also spoke about a student who had an outburst at school and “verbally accosted” a principal.
He left school in a huff, and went straight to the youth hub.
Fagan said he was precariously housed, didn’t have identification, and fearing getting expelled.
But he kept returning to the hub, where staff provided support.
Fagan said he recently popped by to tell the staff there he got a job.
Fagan said the youth said he doesn’t know where he would be today without the hub.
Success stories “really hit home for what we are seeing … that’s what we do every day,” she said.
“And we do it in such an informal way that some days we don’t know it’s happening.”
A key piece is showing young people that somebody cares.
“This is really working here,” Hoffman added.
The Grove also integrates with local services and partners, Hoffman said.
“The community is coming together to wrap around young people, and it works every day.”
Early concepts felt “almost like a dream,” Mayor Gregg Davidson remarked.
“I really appreciate everything you and your team are doing to help the youth of our community, and the surrounding community as well,” Davidson told Hoffman and Fagan.
Councillor Marlene Ottens said Grove Hubs are needed in small towns such as Palmerston.
Hoffman said the hubs are doing well financially, reporting a small surplus in 2024.
He said the challenge they had is that
However Hoffman said the only reliable funding received toward a $2-million budget is $700,000 from the province.
The rest, he said, is raised each year through philanthropic donations.
“If we look ahead over the next couple of years I feel confident where we are at from a financial position,” Hoffman said.
Though when it comes to long-term sustainability, Hoffman said, solid revenue sources are needed.
