New Indigenous youth council will enhance homeless supports in London

For years, Vincent Bressette slept in bus shelters and alleyways around London. 

Today, the 24-year-old is using his experience to bring positive change for Indigenous young people trying to find safe places to live in the southwestern Ontario city.

He's part of a new Indigenous youth council running out of Youth Opportunities Unlimited that's identifying and breaking down barriers to culturally safe care. 

Indigenous people in cities across Canada experience homelessness at a disproportionately higher rate than non-Indigenous people, according to the Canadian Observatory on Homelessness. The council is part of a larger research project at Western University aiming at preventing an end to youth homelessness. 

For Bressette, from Chippewas of the Thames First Nation, being part of the youth council is a big priority.

"It's definitely one of those things that helps keep my mind straight and keeps me focused, keeps me going through my day. I have something to look forward to, something to do and be a part of," he said. 

But the work is not always easy. Sharing difficult experiences and coming up with ideas for change brings up a lot of emotions. Troubling incidents of racism and prejudice are just some of the barriers he said he has faced while on the streets for nearly a decade, leaving him feeling disconnected from the community. 

"No matter how polite or how good your manners are, you're always going to receive criticism just for the fact that you are Indigenous," he said.

But those experiences are now being used as fuel for change. 

Even after only meeting a handful of times, the group of about 10 young people is already making an impact. 

"It's been absolutely incredible," said Sarah Palmer, a youth development counsellor at YOU and one of the researchers on the project.

"We have these incredible discussions about their experiences, and it always ends on a positive note," she said. "It just gives such a sense of hope, and it's just very empowering to be able to speak with youth about their experiences and figure out what changes can be made right now to make things better for others." 

After hearing how emotionally exhausted a young person felt after being interrupted while completing a smudging ceremony and having to regularly answer cultural questions, the group created posters to hang around the shelter to explain smudging and specific First Nations close to London so others can take a few minutes to read the answers instead, Palmer said.