Point in Time executive director Marg Cox welcomed Ontario’s associate minister of mental health and addictions, Vijay Thanigasalam, for a tour of the Haliburton Youth Wellness Hub Oct. 23, saying the space has served as a refuge for hundreds of struggling teenagers since its opening in 2021.
The facility, operated by Point in Time, was one of 10 youth hubs funded through a provincial pilot four years ago. Since then, demand has spiked – Cox shared how the centre, located on Dysart Avenue, has gone from seeing 139 youth in 2020-21 to 168 in 2024-25. Service visits have climbed from 440 to 879, with enrollment in skills and wellbeing activities quadrupling, from 593 to 2,292.
“We were one of the first out of the gate and have been operating with only one minor cost of living increase. We know what inflation has been doing… we’re really interested in sustaining the model of youth hubs and being able to stabilize the operation of existing hubs,” Cox said.
The hub offers mental health, substance use and general supports to youth aged 12 to 25, Cox said.
After recently purchasing a four-acre property on County Road 21 in Haliburton, Cox said the organization is trying to gather support for a new building. She asked Thanigasalam if the Ontario government would support the project.
“We’re seeing double the number of youths from when we started – and we know there’s lots more that would like to utilize the hub, but we don’t have any other space,” Cox said. “We’re trying to create a community hub in Haliburton. We want to provide integrated services for infants right up to the age of 25.”
Thanigasalam was non-committal at the meeting but acknowledged there is money available to support program expansion for mental health and addictions services.
Pam Weiss, a former board member at the youth hub, said the facility – open 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday, Wednesday and Friday and noon to 8 p.m. Tuesday and Thursday – has been lifesaving for some local youth – including their own child.
“I have a gender-diverse child who has been diagnosed with anxiety, depression, bipolar, borderline personality, ADHD, and OCD. We started with Point in Time when they were eight years old and they’re 25 now,” Weiss said. “In April, they will turn 26 and age out of the youth hub, which has been like a second home these past four years.”
Weiss said her child utilized the space for employment services, counselling, to see the nurse practitioner, and to learn how to cook. It was one of the only places in the community they felt comfortable socializing, Weiss added.
“Without the hub, I’m not sure what we would have done… there would be a lot of kids that would have been lost, including mine,” Weiss said.
Cox said the current plan is to sever the new four-acre property, a process she expects will take about a year. She’s hired an architect and surveyor to assist with design and will soon be commissioning a traffic brief.
“All of those will help us determine what it is we want to build and where. Then we’ll be reaching out to the province, foundations and the community to raise the money to build the thing,” Cox said.
Thanigasalam declined an in-person interview following the visit, while his office did not respond to follow-up questions as of press time.
