Scarborough's Second Base youth shelter benefits from makeover

Scarborough's Second Base youth shelter benefits from makeover. The Second Base Youth Shelter in Scarborough recently received a renovation and new furnishings. Photo/COURTESY

In 2011, it got both, thanks to dozens of handy volunteers.

The Kennedy Road shelter - Toronto's second-largest for youth and the only place they can go for an emergency bed in Scarborough - is on a much better footing now than a year ago, its management says.

The building south of Eglinton Avenue behind the Church of the Epiphany is 20 years old and showing wear and tear, said Beth Cook, chairperson of the Second Base board.

"There was a time last winter where there wasn't heat in some of the rooms and we were actually threatened with closure," she said. "That's not occurring this year."

Cook said Second Base, which has 56 beds and can add 10 more during the city's cold weather alerts, is doing more regular maintenance and tackling expensive repairs one by one.

But the common areas where the young people eat, lounge and try to do their homework also needed help.

They were "plain, cold and institutional," and felt depressing, said Karen Sealy, an interior designer whose work is often featured on the television show CityLine.

"It was like a big industrial gymnasium," Sealy said she concluded after seeing the youth and their environment. She thought they deserved a place that was more like a "big hug" - safe, cozy and nicely furnished.

"These are kids that have had a tough time and these are kids at risk," Sealy, whose company office is in Birch Cliff, said. "We're not giving these kids enough credit."

WINC, or Women In Construction, worked with Sealy for weeks to co-ordinate the project and recruited around 40 volunteers to make "a feel good holiday story" happen last month.

The volunteers put in lighting and half-walls covered with carpeting. They installed seating around windows in the common room, Sealy said, so youth eating their meals would feel more like they were sitting at Starbucks than in some basement cafeteria.

Indigo sent nine boxes of books, she added.

The makeover has made quite a difference.

Marika Goode, the executive director, "said the kids used to come down in winter jackets and not take them off," said Sealy. "The kids are taking real ownership."

Cook agreed the place has a nicer feel, and that the young clients, who are from ages 16 to 21, seem happier there.

"It's homey, it's comfortable, it's supportive," she said.

The shelter a year ago faced added challenges because it had an all-new board and no executive director, said Cook, who gives a lot of credit for its turnaround to Goode, who stepped into the role. "We've come through quite a bit."

She also said Second Base wants to attract more community involvement and to get more involved in the community.

There are seats open on the board for community representatives, and for a young person in particular, Cook said, but the shelter is also seeking volunteers for its herb garden.

It could also use help getting funds together for TTC tokens many youth use to get to jobs, and to provide milk, a writing program and a high school diploma course called the GED.

"We are working very hard to build the resources necessary to sustain, support and guide our at-risk youth through very complex social issues," Goode added in a statement.

"Offering a warm, safe bed, a hot meal, and clean clothing is just the tip of the iceberg, it's often just the beginning of building a relationship on which we can layer some hope and positive outcomes."

Sealy, meanwhile, said she'd like to return to lead more interior renovations. "I'd like to do all the rooms. And the bathrooms," she said.