Youth outreach van in contact

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A new outreach program has been making the streets a little friendlier for youth in Prince Albert since it began this past December. The program is being run by the Prince Albert Outreach Youth Project out of a second-hand van that patrols the streets and alleys of the city three nights a week.

Donna Gamble, 33, a former runaway, street kid and prostitute herself, is the resource person who brings a little bit of caring to Prince Albert's street youth in the form of hot chocolate and sandwiches on her nightly rounds.

Gamble says she deals a lot with hungry, under-clothed children on the street and teenagers trapped in the sex trade. The purpose of the program is to provide support to youth in the form of the food offered, the toques, mitts and scarves available to them and the condoms that are offered to the sex trade workers.

"I've been waiting for this for a very long time," Gamble said of the program. "I'm hoping this will explode into something where a real impact can be felt. Right now it's just the tip of the iceberg."

Peggy Rubin, coordinator of the Prince Albert Outreach Youth Project, said the outreach van made more than 200 contacts with youth in just three weeks in December, and made 432 contacts in January. Originally, Saskatchewan Justice funded two youth workers for Prince Albert with a mandate to help street youth. Saskatchewan Government Insurance funded the city's new downtown youth centre, but that made it necessary to hire two more workers. Once the funding for those workers came through from Social Services, the street van project was able to get up and running. Rubin said they eventually hope to extend the van project to more nights of the week.

On a typical night the project workers first visit the YWCA where they make sandwiches and hot chocolate and prepare the van for the night. They then start making circuits of the city to areas where they know youth congregate or walk the streets. The downtown area will see the most tours of the van, as the workers search for prostitutes. Gamble said she will make referrals for young people looking for help with their situation if they ask - either to Social Services or the YWCA or Prince Albert Mobile Crisis.

Rubin said one of the purposes of the van is to get an accurate read on how many children are working as prostitutes in the city. Right now they think there are about 30 working the streets, with between five and 10 being young boys.

"People don't want to admit it happens," she said.

Gamble said family situations where drinking and gambling are problems are to blame for many of the situations where children are working as prostitutes. Both Rubin and Gamble said it is most often not for drugs or alcohol, but to earn enough money to feed their younger brothers and sisters that the children take to the streets.

Gamble says she is not there to judge or preach to the clients she sees, but to offer a kind word and help where she can. The program seems to be garnering support in the community. Gamble said the Prince Albert City Police are very supportive of the program and since the community has learned of the outreach van, offers of volunteer time and food donations have been received.