Palmerston Youth Wellness Hub marks fifth anniversary

PALMERSTON – Young people are unanimous in their feedback on the Palmerston youth hub: it is welcoming, non-discriminatory and comfortable; they feel safe at all times; they know at least one trusted team member; and they would recommend the hub to a friend. 

That’s according to a Youth Wellness Hub survey, on which officials say 100 per cent of youth answered “yes, definitely” to the above.

The hub is celebrating its fifth anniversary on Sept. 24 with a community event at noon that is planned in part by youth. All are welcome to attend.

Youth Wellness Hubs Ontario Wellington-Guelph executive director Jeff Hoffman and manager Tiffany Fagan attended Mapleton and Minto council meetings on Sept. 8 with an annual update on the hub.

“It’s amazing to think about, just in five years, what’s happened around our hub here locally,” Hoffman said, noting it is the busiest of the 35 Youth Wellness Hubs in the province. 

“That’s in large part due to your leadership here,” he told Mapleton council. 

The Palmerston hub is at 390 Main St. E., next to Norwell District Secondary School. There are also hubs in Fergus, Erin and Guelph. 

Hoffman painted a picture of what happens when someone walks into the Palmerston hub. 

First, they may be greeted by two public health representatives, there to connect with youth and offer education. Then they might wave hello to Minto-Mapleton Family Health Team nurse Jodi Colwill before chatting with Mallary, McKenzie, Sarah, Liz or Dana, who offer a range of supports including mental health and outreach work.  

The hubs support youth aged 12 to 25 with mental health, education, employment, housing, substance use, disordered eating, primary care, training and access to community and social services. 

In 2025, there were 8,305 visits to the Palmerston hub. That’s upwards of 50 youth every day, but down significantly from 2024, when there were almost 20,000 visits to the site. 

Provincially, data about youth mental health has improved in recent years, Hoffman noted: “We are seeing trends reducing around the number of young people presenting with real significant mental health concerns. 

“There’s good news stories and we should absolutely be celebrating.” 

Fagan said some people just drop by the hub to hang out, play pool or grab a snack, while others are there to access educational, employment, primary-care, substance-use and mental-health supports.

“You don’t need to be ill to come out the hub – this is about wellness, and lots of young people are there because its a positive place.”

While there, the youth make connections with staff, “and through those connections, through that trust, through that rapport – that’s when they access help when they need it,” Hoffman said. 

“No one is the wiser to what you are there for,” Hagan added – something that makes youth more likely to show up to ask for help. 

Of the youth who came in 2025, a quarter were new visitors. That means young people and their families and schools are hearing about the hubs and showing up, Fagan said.

The top five reasons youth access wellness services are mental health, navigation, interpersonal relationships, education and substance use.

“Although those can appear to be separate reasons, they’re all very intertwined,” Hagan said, and the Youth Wellness Hubs thrive at offering wraparound supports. 

Mental health remains a significant concern. Among youth accessing clinical wellness services, 77% described their mental health as fair to poor, while 41% disclosed challenges involving suicidality or self-harm.

When youth come in seeking support, 88% access wellness services within 24 hours.

That could mean connecting with counselling, navigation, employment or educational services, and it’s significant, Hoffman noted, as there are long wait lists for mental health supports across the community mental health space. 

The hub also provides support while youth wait to access longer-term services elsewhere in the health-care system.

Asked where they would go if it weren’t for the hub, 20% of youth answered “nowhere/wouldn’t get help” and another 16% answered “not sure.”   

The Palmerston hub works with schools, public health, the CMHA and the Minto-Mapleton Family Health Team, among other partners. Nurse practitioner services are also offered on site twice per month.

Hagan shared a couple youth success stories, including one who had visited while in high school, and was able to access counselling services through the hub after graduating and work through their mental health needs with a counsellor thanks to those connections they made during school. 

Another two high school students found out at the hub that they’d enrolled in the same post-secondary program, and are now roommates at university and helping to support one another there, thanks to that connection they made at the Palmerston hub.   

“We’ve got really busy places that are impacting young people every single day,” Hoffman said. “Young people feel seen, feel heard, are definitely welcome in the spaces and the services are having an impact on these youth in the hubs.” 

He added, “The idea when we opened these hubs here was about bringing services locally here for young people that were not available in the community where they are every single day.” 

Along with their community partners, the Wellness Hubs are “on a path to eliminate wait times for young people to access help,” Hoffman said. 

“We believe we can do it. By working better together we can have faster access for young people who are waiting for community health supports ... And we are able to do that across Wellington County and Guelph because of the infrastructure that we’ve developed, the partnerships that we’ve got across the community, and the community that is willing to step forward to help more young people.”  

He said the County of Wellington and Township of Mapleton have been “at the forefront of leading that work. 

“Young people here are better today because of this commitment from this council, from your  predecessors as well, who stepped forward to make this happen.” 

When the Palmerston hub opened in 2021, Mapleton and Minto both allocated up to $20,000 to support the hub, with each municipality using those funds to cover half of the rent, utilities, and operating costs of the space.

Now, Minto and Mapleton each provide $32,500 annually to the Palmerston Youth Wellness Hub.

This money goes towards rent, utilities, cleaning services, program supplies and equipment repair and maintenence, Mapleton director of community services Matt Lubbers told the Advertiser.  

The CMHA provides staff and arranges for other agencies to be on site to provide services, and the rest of the hubs funding is from senior government programs and community donations. 

Mapleton Mayor Gregg Davidson said he’s “unbelievably grateful that we have this for the kids – for those that are struggling.” 

“To have 88% within 24 hours get their first appointment – we probably couldn’t even imagine that five years ago ... it’s so incredible.” 

Minto deputy Mayor Jean Anderson asked how the organization connects with hospital emergency departments when young people arrive experiencing a mental-health crisis.

Hoffman said formal pathways exist from hospitals in Palmerston, Fergus and Guelph, often involving CMHA’s crisis team.

Fagan said the organization has also built personal connections with nurses to make sure they know where young people can be directed for additional support.

“When a young person walks in and they think, ‘You’re not ready for (the)hospital, there are other resources for you,’ … they can say, ‘I’m going to call Tiff and we’re going to get you over there,’” she said. 

Mapleton councillor Marlene Ottens asked about the hub’s hours, and Hagan said while they are open from 11am to 6pm Monday to Friday, when youth need to be seen outside of those hours “We will always find a way to support them outside of that.” 

Mapleton councillor Amanda Reid said she hears from youth that they keep returning to the hub because its a place where they feel seen, heard and welcome.