Isabelle directs young people to key ressources.
Isabelle joined the Dans la rue team a little over 18 months ago, having previously worked as a street outreach worker. Now serving as a liaison and support counsellor, she acts as a bridge between internal and external resources to facilitate access to services. Due to increasing demand and the complexity of the work, Isabelle is one of two employees in this role.
“I’m impressed by their resilience and their determination to move forward.”
As a second-line worker, Isabelle collaborates closely with the front-line and program teams to identify young people in need of specific support.
Her own team meets regularly with partners to ensure youth are referred to the services they need. Initially, the liaison and support role focused on youth 26 and older. However, with the growing emphasis on prevention, they now intervene much earlier in young people’s journeys — sometimes right from
“The Day Centre is where we first connect with youth, welcoming them and assessing their needs,” says Isabelle.
Her goal is to prevent homelessness by identifying early on which youth could benefit from referrals and assistance from a liaison worker, beginning the process long before they turn 26. Ideally, this preventive support would start even earlier, in schools and other institutions.
“I enjoy being the bridge to the various community and government resources, creating pathways to make it easier for youth to access the services they need.”
Isabelle finds great satisfaction in being out in the field, observing and speaking with youth, and building informal relationships. She engages with the young people she meets, asking thought-provoking questions about their lives, guiding them to appropriate resources and helping them aspire to self-sufficiency.
Her message is simple but powerful: “Youth need to recognize their inherent value and build their self-esteem. But if they’ve been through one problem relationship after another, this self-esteem will be lacking. Anything they build on top of that will be on a broken foundation. We try to repair that foundation, help them explore their passions and goals, and encourage them to believe in their own potential. We assure them that their efforts will be worth it.”
