Hunched over in concentration as the other youths chat in the drop-in centre, 18-year-old Melanie Callaghan rifles through an array of donated beads inside the supply room at Operation Come Home.
There are hundreds to choose from – all different shapes, colours and sizes.
Callaghan is looking for the perfect piece to complete the necklace she’s creating at BeadWorks, a program that allows homeless and at-risk youth to design jewelry at the downtown drop-in, then sell it at the youth shelter’s re:Purpose boutique on Gloucester Street.
For youths aged 16 to 25 who are in need of support, OCH is a safe haven offering food, warmth, clothing, and various other services such as addictions counselling, housing services, and education and employment programs.
“All these people have been coming for seven months, and just by the way I can see how they interact with OCH and the other programs in the building, they love coming here,” says Audrey Hayes, who runs the program but has been participating in BeadWorks since she first started visiting Operation Come Home at the age of 18.
Now 24, Hayes is giving back by teaching other youth to hone their creative abilities. As the newly appointed peer-to-peer coordinator at BeadWorks, Hayes is the first OCH youth ever hired to run one of their programs.
Natalie Elliott, co-manager of operations at OCH, says she hired Hayes at the beginning of January for the full-time position.
“It took a very special person who really grew from the time I met her four years ago to where she is today,” Elliott says of Hayes, who left home at 18 to escape a troubled life with schizophrenic parents who were involved in drugs.
Scared and alone in downtown Ottawa, Hayes found refuge in a women’s shelter before eventually finding her way to the services at OCH. After her pregnancy one year later, BeadWorks became a place where she could bring her newborn daughter and find solace in making jewelry.
OCH established BeadWorks in 2008 with the help of community donors like Telus Mobility. In 2009, and again in 2010, the mobile communications company donated $20,000 to get the program off the ground.
This January, Telus donated another $14,000 to the re:Purpose boutique, a social enterprise established in 2012, where youth and other artists sell their handiwork for 60 per cent of the profits. The remaining 40 per cent of profits and the recent donation support the cost of programming and salaries of youth who run the boutique, Elliott says.
“They’ve grown so much in such a short time,” says Shannon Gorman, director of community affairs for Telus in Ottawa. “I have to say, we really admire the work they’re doing and the benefit it has for the youth in our community.”
Hayes says many of the youth remind her of herself when she was 18 or 19, and that she is proud to know she can give them things she never have when she became involved in BeadWorks several years ago.
Because of her role as co-ordinator, youth can now get help with their designs, practice business skills, and have someone to talk to about their problems, Hayes says. It’s also an opportunity to suggest other OCH resources to youth who might need them.
Elliott says these changes are keeping youth off the streets. Whereas only two or three youths participated in BeadWorks per week in past years, Hayes now sees about 12 youths each week.
Hayes says the youth keep coming back because she has her own stories to share with them.
“I can cry with them and I can laugh with them, and I can still be that youth,” she says.
“It’s cool to see that this is how far its come and I’ve been a part of the process the whole time,” Hayes says. “It’s such a great feeling.”