Former Homeless Youth to Speak of Experiences in Whitehorse Next Month

Wednesday, 30 August 2017 15:20

Joe Roberts rose from a drug addicted homeless youth in Vancouver to a successful business person.

A former Indigenous entrepreneur, turned youth homelessness advocate is bringing his message of hope and possibility to Whitehorse next week. Joe Roberts has walked across Canada with the mission to end youth homelessness for his organization Push For Change.

30 years ago, Roberts was a young homeless person on the streets of Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside, at the age of 15 and addicted to heroin at 19, pushing a shopping cart. He recalls how he got there. “I was a decent kid from a relatively good mom, but I had these strikes going against me. Once I left home at 15 I didn't have that support, I didn't have that oversight and the city just gobbled me up and spit me out.” “I left home at 15. I wasn't ready to fend for myself at 15 years old, had the beginnings of substance abuse.”

He says there are several reasons why youth become homeless. “When you take a young person, who comes from a compromised background, lets face it not all homes and families and childhoods are created equal, and you have an individual whose got some early trauma or grows up in an environment where there's a lot of addiction or can't get along for whatever reason at home, that young person will leave that home and that safe small community and they may end up in a larger community. Its in those moments where that person came from, maybe a safe environment is now in a very dangerous environment.”

In 1989, Roberts hit rock bottom and decided now was the time for change. He says he called his mom and she flew from Toronto to Vancouver to fetch him back to Ontario, where he entered drug and alcohol treatment. This led to a college education and then the business world. Roberts says he was the success story of what happens when a youth has supports and investments to succeed.

“When I look at my story I am a community investment gone correct. I'm the example of when we invest into an individual’s possibilities. I had access to treatment, I had access to housing, I had access to education, which lead to me being able to get out of the system.” “I'm not special! I didn’t do anything on my own to get here. I'm that community investment that went well. I'm here today because I had access to all of those pieces. It's an amazing thing that happens when we invest in young people to give them tools to be successful.”

Roberts warns there is an investment gap for youth, which leaders need to re-examine. “Some of the gaps that exist within prevention and housing first for youth across this country are in need of a second look. We have an opportunity in Canada to better prevent people from becoming chronically homeless, but we failed to invest into those resources and infrastructure, which continues to see the problem grow.” “The need to better invest in youth homeless prevention is really one of the keys to eventually seeing an end of homelessness as we know it.”

Roberts message to youth would be to believe in yourself and to take risks. “Take some risks and believe in yourself. For years, I didn't do big things in my life because I was afraid, I had low self-esteem. Inside each and everyone of us is an unlimited, untapped possibility and potential. Often times we don't succeed not because we don't have the tools for success, but because we don't believe in ourselves and we don't take those steps forward. When we do have the courage to take those steps forward, amazing things can happen.”

While in Whitehorse, Roberts will be walking from the Healing Totem on Front Street at 4:30 p.m. before sharing his story at the Kwanlin Dün Cultural Centre at 6:00 p.m. A complimentary dinner also begins at 5:30 p.m. with entertainment following Roberts's keynote address.

(Dan Jones Whitehorse Aug. 30, 2017)