We provide housing search and subsidy services and our own supported housing.

Aunt Leah’s puts housing first. The affordable housing crisis in Metro Vancouver puts futures at stake. Without adequate housing, no progress toward a successful, sustainable life is possible. When we successfully support a young person in finding a home, their lives improve.

We founded Aunt Leah’s House in 1988. Since then Aunt Leah’s Properties steadily and dramatically increased our ability to operate, purchase, and build housing for young people leaving foster care.   

We also help with housing search and government subsidy programs for participants. There were fewer participants this year because they needed subsidies for longer. We are coping with the fact that BC Housing has limited subsidies to our existing recipients and will not expand the program. 

Many of the young people we serve need supported housing and the opportunity to learn essential life skills enables them to gain stability and meet their core needs. Others may thrive with an affordable housing stepping stone that helps them on their education and employment path. 

Our supported housing includes safe, secure homes for women with children in our three Thresholds houses where they can prepare for independence in the community and their next step forward as parents and providers.  Because of the lack of affordable housing, we continue to see a decrease in the number of women who can move on within a year. The average length of stay is 13 months.

Two Lale Houses offer shared accommodation. Often youth leaving foster care choose Lale as their next home.  At Lale, they enjoy independence with the opportunity to learn essential life skills and turn to staff whenever they need support.The average length of stay in the Lale Houses is 22 months.

Support Link is our Ministry of Children and Families-funded semi-independent housing for youth under the age of 19 who want to take the next step toward living independently with our staff’s support.  This year, 10 participants were housed through this program.

Through our Link program, 146 individuals were helped by our staff with housing services and 124 found a place to live.

We offer education navigation services and emergency financial support to increase education engagement by foster youth.

Our education programs fill a crucial gap for youth from foster care. BC government policy enables former youth in care to receive tuition waivers until the age of 27. Additionally, there are now housing subsidy options for those who meet qualifying conditions. However, there is still a need for systems navigation services,  emergency funds, and bursaries for living costs.

“While education is widely considered a key determinant of health and a human right, we continue to see those with experience in the child welfare system in Canada experiencing a disproportionate burden of low educational attainment. With this burden comes lifelong disadvantages in terms of health, social, and economic outcomes.” –  Dr. Jacqueline Gahagan, Associate Vice-President of Research, Mount Saint Vincent University in Halifax, Nova Scotia.

We see consistent numbers of young people who turn to us for support to navigate changing education and housing support systems. Many will not meet all government program requirements, and others need short-term support through life crises so they can remain in school.

Total Participants in Education Services: 81

Essential skills and pre-employment learning opportunities.

Employment Services supports youth connected to care as they build employment readiness, explore career goals, and pursue opportunities for education, training, and employment. Supports are individualized based on each participant’s goals and stage of readiness.

Many participants who join our employment programs need intensive life skills and pre-employment learning opportunities. Often learning personal and practical self-management skills are the first step. While they have benefited greatly from these opportunities, employment as an outcome may be beyond the reach of these young people. 

Others may be ready for career exploration, job search and digital literacy support.

This past year, Employment Services experienced staffing transitions that affected service delivery and participant engagement. To maintain support, Resource Centre staff provided individualized coaching, volunteers assisted with resume development and applications, and online learning resources were introduced. 

These challenges highlighted the importance of consistent employment coaching and strengthened our focus for the coming year. We will actively recruit former youth from care from outside our programs and have set our goal at 30 participants. We will also continue to offer pre-employment skills to Aunt Leah’s current participants.

Aunt Leah’s Resource Centre offers a welcoming space where participants find assistance to meet their basic needs – food, clothing and shelter and support from our staff to address more complex challenges and longer-term goals.

Our Resource Centre is a space where participants can connect with our partners who provide health, mental health counselling, income assistance navigation, and culturally appropriate services.

Our intake workers are available to assess longer term needs and goals like appropriate housing, education and job readiness coaching. Participants then meet with staff to develop effective plans and find assistance to manage day to day realities.

We attend to basic needs with an emergency food cupboard, weekly meals, and grocery distribution. The Wednesday meal and grocery program has become an important failsafe for many when their financial resources are stretched. Youth gather to pick up essentials.

We are grateful for our new partnership with the Greater Vancouver Food Bank and have benefited greatly from their funding and regular donations of food.  

Meeting Changing Needs: Our Mental Health Journey

Holistic support means adapting when the landscape shifts. Last year, capacity limits with our partners at Dan’s Legacy led to a temporary dip in recorded mental health visits at Aunt Leah’s. We hold immense gratitude for Dan’s Legacy and the vital care they provided our youth during a challenging time across the social services sector.

Growth often follows transition. We are excited to turn the page with a vital new partnership alongside the First Nations Health Authority.  Together, we are introducing enhanced mental wellness and health programs tailored to wrap our youth in culturally responsive, whole-person care.

Total Individuals Served at Resource Centre: 240