Zebra Child and Youth Advocacy Centre building new facility to help more children
Posted April 4, 2024 4:03 pm.
It’s a construction zone right now, but soon the space will be the new home to the Zebra Centre, as the organization has seen an 85 per cent increase over the last five years in the number of children they serve.
The Zebra Child and Youth Advocacy Centre helps children who have suffered abuse. They say their current downtown location not only lacks free parking, but is bursting at the seams as the organization helps more than 4,000 kids each year — that’s double what their current space is designed to support.
“The new Zebra Centre will better serve the most vulnerable members of our community with more child forensic interview rooms, more family meeting rooms, more space for on-site counselling,” said Emmy Stuebing, the CEO of Zebra Child and Youth Advocacy Centre.
“We believe the growing numbers is actually a bit of a good news story, because it means more people are reporting abuse. If we don’t know about it, we can’t help.”
Stuebing adds that having a larger Zebra Centre, will allow for more kids to get support and a more customized experience.
The Zebra Centre will be moving into the new space in the fall. The organization is about halfway to its fundraising goal of $6 million to finish construction and make this space operational.
