The Youth Outreach Program serves youth ages 12 -24 years.  The program engages high risk,marginalized youth to address riskfactors.  Youth Outreach Counsellors assist youth by providing support, counselling, advocacy, and sharing their skills and knowledge.  The Counsellors help youth to stabilize their lives and plan for their future. The program strives to minimize the harmful effects of poverty, homelessness and substance abuse experienced by youth in Whitehorse.  The program provides a continuum of care from help with basic needs like housing, employment and food;  to in-depth therapy.  Youth Outreach Counsellors also provide family counselling and assist with parent-teen conflict resolution, mediation, parenting coaching and support.  Youth Outreach Counsellors will also refer youth in need to other appropriate or complementary services and provide advocacy, support and accompany the youth to this new service when requested or needed.

Youth Outreach Counsellors reach out to youth where they are at – on the streets, at school, incommunity settings and at youth serving organizations.  The Counsellors staff the No Fixed Address Outreach Van service three nights per week to provide counselling, support, food and harm reduction for youth and adults living on or near the streets of Whitehorse. Short term and long term counselling is available to address issues like addictions, trauma, grief and violence. Counsellors provide supportive counselling and less formal support like meeting for coffee with young people who need to talk about immediate issues but don’t want to engage in longer term counselling.  Counsellors assist with crisis intervention when possible and assist in the development of safety plans for the youth to reduce the risk of harm to self or others.

The Youth Outreach Program also actively engages in educational activities on youth issues in Whitehorse.  Workshops can be provided on various youth issues including:  healthy decision making, sexual harassment, drug and alcohol use, suicide prevention, crime prevention and prevention of violence.  The program also provides support and information to other youth workers and professionals in Yukon.  The Youth Outreach Program promotes and participates in collaborative partnerships with other organizations and governments in Yukon. 

Youth Outreach Counsellors - Whitehorse

Kate Mechan, BSW, Child Welfare specialization; MSW

Kate has had the privilege of working alongside youth since she was a youth herself. Over the past 8 years, her professional experience has offered her the opportunity to work with youth from all walks of life. She is passionate about encouraging and celebrating positive and healthy youth presence in her community. Kate is equally committed to supporting those youth who may feel silenced through experiences of poverty, mental illness, violence, family disconnectedness, and substance use. She embraces strengths-based approaches and believes strongly in the art of harm reduction to engage youth in a process of making informed choices. Kate extends her support to anyone and everyone, including family or community members. In particular, she encourages you to connect with her anytime for the support you feel you need.

Michael Knutson BTH, MSCP-(in progress)

Michael is a youth outreach counsellor trained in person centred, cognitive behavioural, and existential counselling. Working with youth across Canada and around the world, in prisons, on streets and in schools, has given him an in-depth understanding of a variety of issues and challenges that youth of today are facing. Michael recognizes that each individual is uniquely shaped in character by a mixture of diverse experiences, and that each individual has the potential to fully understand and creatively fulfill their unique purpose. He is here to assist youth in making healthy choices, in clarifying strengths and to encourage youth to engage in life while setting positive goals for the future.