Co-op Housing
YOUTHLINK has four houses in Toronto for youth aged 16- 21 that offer safe, affordable housing and a friendly, supportive atmosphere that helps youth to prepare to live independently. A live-in mentor and a full-time youth worker help residents to set and pursue their goals for education, employment and independence.
Tour the Co-ops:
Danforth & Pape
This Female Co-op has three beds and is close to Pape subway station. Rent is $335/month and includes cable TV and phone. Laundry facilities are available. This is an independent co-op (no live-in mentor).
Birchmount & St.Clair (Elfreda Co-op)
This Male Co-op has four beds and is near Warden Subway station. Rent is $335/month and includes utilities as well as cable tv and phone. The co-op is air-conditioned and offers a live-in mentor.
Runnymede & Annette
This Female Co-op has six beds and is close to Runnymede Subway station. Rent is $335/month and includes cable tv and phone. The co-op is air-conditioned and offers a live-in mentor.
Queen E & Parliament
This Female Co-op has three beds (one room is shared) and is a short walk to the Queen streetcar. Rent is $335/month and laundry facilities are available. This co-op offers a live-in mentor.
Who is this program for?
Youth stay in our houses for many different reasons. Some residents have just turned 18 and are no longer eligible to live in foster care or group homes. Others have left the family home and may be homeless, living with friends or in a shelter. The co-op housing program provides critical mentoring and support so that these youth can successfully transition to living independently.
How does the program work?
Residents may stay for periods up to 12 months and must be attending school or working during the day. Youth pay monthly rent and our youth worker helps them set and follow through on educational and/or employment goals. Three co-ops have live-in mentors who meet regularly with the youth. The fourth co-op for young women uses a senior resident model. We focus on developing personal responsibility, rather than imposing strict rules, so that young people understand the consequences of their choices.
We also provide priority access to our counselling service for co-op residents and their families which can address deeper issues such as mental health concerns, substance abuse and family conflict.
Admission is based on availability of space and suitability of applicant.
Meaghan's Story
Meaghan was 17 years old when she moved into YOUTHLINK’s Treatment Residence in August 2004. She left home due to conflict with her mother and stepfather. Prior to her admission to the Residence, she had been sleeping in a park at night and showering in the morning at her friend’s house.
Almost a year after entering the Madison Residence, Meaghan applied to our Co-op Program, expressing a need for a “safe and stable place to live” where she could focus on school without “stress.” In May 2005, she moved into our co-op house. After a year, Meaghan was ready to take that next step towards independence and moved to the co-op house with no live-in mentor.
Meaghan is fiercely independent. Like many of the youth in our co-ops, she learned to be self-reliant at an early age. She supports herself completely by working full-time while attending school and has never applied for social assistance. She has worked at the same place for three years and each month she puts money into savings and an RRSP.
Meaghan recognizes the decisions that helped her as well as the choices that slowed her down. Meaghan consistently strives to achieve the goals she has set for herself and plans to finish high school within the next year.
