Youth homelessness spotlighted in outside sleepout night this Friday; Chilliwack has more homeless youth per capita than Abbotsford or Mission

When Bentley was 10 years old, his mom and grandma did not have the resources to care for him and he was placed in foster care. There, he experienced some disheartening living experiences. After losing his housing as an older teen, Bentley ended up homeless in Mission.

However, throughout the past 17 years, Trevor did not walk alone. An outreach worker, Calvin Williams, from Surrey-based Youth Unlimited has been a mentor and father figure to him throughout it all — and it has made all the difference.

Image: Supplied by Youth Unlimited / Calvin Williams (right) has been a mentor and father figure to Trevor Bentley, who has endured seven years in foster care and two years of homelessness.

Bentley, now 27, remains a bright light of joy and strength as he gives back to youth and the community and helps advise on issues of homelessness and trauma.

Bentley survived those years of living on the streets and is now thriving relationally and mentally. While it’s still challenging to make ends meet, he is a part of Impact, helping with YU’s Young Guns mechanics program and is constantly giving back and supporting others. But he can still vividly recalls what the cold and desperation felt like.

“My biggest worry,” Bentley said, “was, on a cold night was I going to get hypothermia and die in my sleep? It scared me, it scared me a lot.”

“I never had a tent. I just had a blanket and I used my backpack as a pillow. I think I got the blanket from the youth house. I used that blanket 99 per cent of the time,” Bentley said.

The “youth house” is called the Mission Youth House, endearingly known as ‘My House’, a partnership program with Youth Unlimited, the City of Mission and a number of other groups. It has been a place of refuge, tangible support and hope for the homeless youth of Mission for many years.

The public is invited to join Bentley and hundreds of others to sleep outside this Friday in Chilliwack or Langley.

“Chilliwack has more homeless youth than Abbotsford or Mission per capita,” said Ken Neufeld, the Youth Unlimited area director who started up programs in Chilliwack over five years ago. “This was part of why I came to work in Chilliwack. Everyone thinks of it as this quaint little farm town, when in fact, it’s not to tiny anymore. It has some of the bigger issues associated with bigger towns, but not yet all the support needed.”

In any given year across the Lower Mainland, thousands of youth are faced with unsafe home lives, hidden homelessness, and/or absolute homelessness, Youth Unlimited reports. This does not include youth who may be at risk in other vulnerable situations, such as gang initiation, human trafficking, sexual exploitation, or suicidal ideation. Since the pandemic, this number has grown.

More information about the One Night Out event can be found at https://www.youthunlimited.com/yunite.

by Mike Vanden Bosch

Youth homelessness spotlighted in outside sleepout night this Friday; Chilliwack has more homeless youth per capita than Abbotsford or Mission

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