Julian Atigikyoek is a 24-year-old youth from Yellowknife and in less than a year, he will no longer qualify for youth services.
This is Atigikyoek’s last chance at an opportunity for housing before he ages out of the system.
This comes after Home Base YK bought Yellowknife Apartments on 53 Street, which will soon give eight vulnerable youth a private space to call their own.
When moving to B.C. three years ago, Atigikyoek was lonely and relied on things like drugs, alcohol and the party lifestyle to fill the gaps in himself.
“Eventually it just got to the point where it was every day that I was partying, drinking and using drugs,” he says.
After a few hospital visits and broken relationships, Atigikyoek was ready to call it quits on his addictions.
“I just got tired of it,” he says, “one day I just woke up and was like this is not for me anymore.”
That was just a year ago.
In that time, he moved back to Yellowknife and has been using Home Base facilities on-and-off ever since.
Atigikyoek incurred over $13,000 in debt from his previous lifestyle.
“It’s hard to get a place when I have that much damages to pay off,” he says.
He felt his only option was to move again and try his luck back in his hometown.
“It’s an opportunity to start over and possibly start a family of my own,” he says, “that’s what I’d like to do.”
Atigikyoek is excited to be given a second chance and start a new life. As preparations for the new building are underway, Atigikyoek is staying at the Salvation Army and says, “it’s pretty hectic some nights there can be fights…A lot of fights actually.”
He realizes that his environment contributes negatively to his overall well-being and entices him to fight, amongst other things, he said with a broken jaw from an altercation a couple of weeks ago.
“It’s hard some days. People really get on your nerves,” he says.
Services provided by organizations like the Salvation Army and Home Base are essential, he says, especially when you have nowhere to go.
“I don’t really have family to depend on here,” he says. “I have more help with street family.”
Like many youths without homes, he says he relies heavily on the company of other vulnerable residents.
But the clock is ticking for Atigikyoek and if he wants to make the best of this opportunity, he’s gonna have to make some changes and learn new habits.
He admits he’s scared, “the other shelters don’t really help out like this,” he says.
“And the adult shelters can get pretty violent some nights.”
Atigikyoek has been in and out of the system for a few years and this reality has become his norm.
He acknowledges the changes he needs to make to secure a healthy future for himself are difficult but necessary, especially if he wants a second chance with his former partner.
This includes setting healthy boundaries, ending toxic relationships and abusing substances.
“I want to make sure I don’t do anything dumb to screw up this chance,” he says.
Atigikyoek says he’s also going to be a little more choosey as to who he lets into his new apartment as he sets healthier habits for himself and begins to look for work.
Much like Atigikyoek, Tyrone Thrasher is ready to learn new life skills and be on his own.
Thrasher is a 20-year-old-youth, originally from Inuvik. He found himself in Yellowknife to be with friends and family. But that didn’t last long.
After getting kicked out of a shared home with his brother, Thrasher learned a lot about family and the uncertainty of his living situation.
Thrasher has been on the streets for roughly two years now and has been using Home Base services since.
He says it felt good knowing he was one of the lucky few to receive a unit.
Thrasher says he is looking forward to living independently for the first time and taking the next steps in life.
In the near future, Thrasher is looking forward to joining the Canadian Armed Forces.
The Dorms
“Trauma contributes to homelessness and that homelessness can be traumatizing,” says Kristopher Jennings, Home Base’s housing manager.
Jennings will be responsible for overseeing the program and the new tenants.
“We want to be there for them. So they’re able to get up on their feet and not continuously be going through homelessness for the rest of their lives,” he says.
He acknowledges the difficulty with youth seeking help as he says they can be resourceful, living on a friend’s couch or empty stairwell, just to avoid the stigma.
“Sometimes they come from homes that are unsafe, or they may be exiting out of foster care and just have nowhere else to go,” he says.
Although youth come seeking services for different reasons, the need for housing is the same.
In the coming months, the boys are looking forward to renovating the space and calling it their own. Each bachelor unit will be furnished.
A 2021 survey reported that one in five youth in Yellowknife is experiencing homelessness. With over 90 per cent of the vulnerable adult population being overrepresented by Indigenous peoples.
The report explains that affordable housing and low-income jobs are the most common reasons for not having housing. This statistic remains unchanged from the last survey in 2018.
With the help of organizations like Home Base, youth like Julian Atigikyoek and Tyrone Thrasher will get the opportunity to start anew.
Home Base says the units should be prepared to move in by the new year.
In addition to the building, the organization also bought the large empty lot beside it to build more housing units in the future.
This new building will complement the other housing services offered at Home Base on 52 Street.
