It gets better - really: LGBTQ youth centre to open Aug. 22 in Yellowknife

A non-profit support group, It Gets Better Yellowknife, is taking its name to heart by creating a youth centre specifically for its clientele the young LGBTQ community.

The Rainbow Youth Centre, set to open Aug. 22, plans to be a safe space for LGBTQ youth, to go to ask questions, take workshops and simply hang out.

It will be in downtown Yellowknife at 5112 52 Street, next door to Hope's Haven, a transitional home and emergency shelter for youth.

Jacq Brasseur, co-founder of It Gets Better Yellowknife, says the group started thinking about creating a youth centre in April after LGBTQ youth met with Yellowknife mayorMark Heyck.

"And the overwhelming consensus was: we need a youth space for us specifically that focuses on supporting queer and trans young people."

So Brasseur and other supporters set out to make it happen.

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Four months later, theso-called 'pipe dream' is coming true.The Department of Municipal and Community Affairs is donating $13,888 to the Rainbow Youth Centre, and the Yellowknife Health and Social Services Authority is giving $15,000.

"It felt like it was too easy, you know?" Brasseur laughed. "Like, there's something here that's going to happen to make this harder."

But instead, Brasseur says the agencies approached them withmore money than they expected.They initially asked the health authority for $5,000 before receiving$15,000.

"What YHSSA [the health authority] said is having a physical space is great, but if you're not able to offer programming, all it is is a space," saidBrasseur.

"So we want to give you more money than you've asked for and in exchange, we want you to use the rest of those funds and put it towards programming."

'Something I needed'

Brasseur says the youth centre is something they've been dreaming about since they were in elementary school.

"I remember going up to my school principal in Grade 3 or 4 and asking if I could host something for International Day Against Homophobia. And I was told no. And I felt in that moment quite defeated," Brasseur said.

But they say that was also the moment they decided to fight for what they believe in.

"Often the things that young people say they need, they're told that they don't need. And I think I had that thought in my head," Brasseur said.

"So... hearing almost 10 young people say, 'No, we want a youth centre'...15-year-old Jacq was reaffirmed."

Brasseur and fellow supporter Nicole Garbutt will initially volunteer to run the centre.

They'll have to continue to apply for funding each year, but know the$28,000-plus that's already been committedwill get them through a year-long lease.

They hope eventually they'll have enough money to offer honorariums to people who help run the centre.