Councillor hopeful youth centre funding will be approved

THUNDER BAY -- A city councillor is optimistic $129,000 in funding for a youth centre in Victoriaville will be approved at Monday’s council meeting.

The youth centre is located just inside the West Victoria Avenue entrance of the south side mall and the Wasaya Group Inc. is providing the funding for an 18-month lease.

The funding to be voted on by council would pay for operating costs, staff and some supplies for the 18-month trial period for the centre.

Westfort Coun. Joe Virdiramo has been working on implementing a youth centre in the city since he was elected in 2003 and said this is a first step.

“We’re going to try to meet youth needs and hopefully use this is as a template for other youth centres in the city,” he said, adding he hopes to also set up a youth centre in the north side of the city.

The centre also has a youth advisory board to help run the centre and Virdiramo said working with youth at their level delivers the best results.

“It’s going to be youth-oriented, youth-run with some city staff support, hopefully if the rest of the members of council vote this evening to have the funding for it,” he said.

The centre was put together with input from city youth and Virdiramo said they’ve come to the city many times stating they wanted a centre like this one.

The programming at the council would also be dictated by the youth and would include educational and social programming.