People were in a celebratory mood as they gathered for Outloud North Bay’s 3-year birthday bash Saturday.
Located in a 4,000-square-foot facility, Outloud provides a safe space for youth between the ages of six and 19.
“We see a lot of youth that come from different schools in our community that are being bullied,” explained founder and executive director Seth Compton.
“Some kids struggle with food insecurities, some kids deal with trauma outside of school, and this is just a fun, safe environment.”
Compton brings 15 years of experience working with youth at risk in southern Ontario in group home settings to the position.
When Compton created Outloud three years ago, it was geared towards supporting LGBTQ youth and providing parents with resources to help aid those identities.
“But we opened two weeks before COVID and quickly realized that every kid needed a safe space,” said the founder.
“Right now a lot of students or youth who use the space are straight-gender kids just looking for a fun safe place to hang.”
It has been a busy and, at times, difficult three years trying to fulfill the vision.
“Through COVID I managed to create a safe space, a board of directors, and establish my charity status. It has been a lot of work, a lot of blood sweat, and tears, but my reward is just to see them happy and healthy, “ explained Compton.
“We have a lot of people in our community who are adults that have come through my door and say ‘Wow, I wish I had a space like this when I was a kid.’ I’m going to be 48 and this is everything I needed as a kid under one roof.’”
Looking around the space, Compton can’t help but be proud of the way Outloud had grown.
“This is what I envisioned. There is something for everyone here. We’re only a few days away from finishing up our (indoor) skate room. We have video games and we bust out the old board games and we reconnect with kids. We do movie nights, we do karaoke and open mic, we do art therapy, there are so many things that we provide here as a mental health outlet, as a fun safe space and that is what it’s all about, just bringing the kids together under one roof.”
Compton has an extensive background in helping youngsters looking for a safe place to land.
“I have a passion to help people. I do a lot of work with other organizations too. I’m an advocate for a lot of things that require attention. And what requires attention right now is how our system is failing our kids; mental health, substance abuse, food insecurities, all of those things matter. And we’re working very hard to be able to provide those services so that our kids don’t go without.”
The goal is to keep Outloud around for many years to come.
“I have kids who come to me and say that they are not safe at home. In my long-term plan for Outloud I have safe beds. I haven’t manifested that quick enough,” stated Compton.
“And I’m reaching out to other organizations to make sure that those youth have somewhere safe to go, outside of my business hours. I don’t necessarily have any youth that is homeless that I know of, but all their basic needs are being met for the kids that do utilize the space.”
The monthly cost to keep the facility going is $ 45 hundred.
“That’s just my bills to keep the doors open,” Compton sighed.
“The money comes from everywhere. We charge a small membership fee, so each youth pays $22.60 a month. If we fall short, we pray that donors come in. We have a lot of donors that have registered to pay monthly.”
Outloud gained registered charity status in August of 2021.
“My family has funded a lot of this space. I have put in over $ 400,000 in the last three years to keep this space operating.”
Paige Lockton, who is currently in university studying social work, expressed an interest in joining the board’s fundraising committee.
“They do amazing work in this community for all youth, but particularly for the most vulnerable. And Seth has been operating this place largely out of his own pocket for much of it with some great help, but he really needs more and I really want to promote what they’re doing and get him what he needs to run this place sustainably.”
One young person who has benefited from Seth’s vision and dedication is a high school student named Isabella who is a two-year member of Outloud.
“I was really struggling and I just came in and got an overwhelming sense of welcome. I felt there were people who liked me here. I just felt understood and I have stuck around since then,” shared Johnson.
“I feel like I’ve formed really meaningful friendships here. Some of my best friends I’ve met here. My self-confidence has grown because there’s no bullying, nobody cares what you look like, they just know that you are kind and that’s what matters.”
Based on her personal experiences with Outloud, Johnson would like to go on to study psychology to “help people with shared experiences, because I understand what it is like to struggle with not knowing who you are.”
Johnson went on to say, “I would describe this as a safe place in the community. It doesn’t matter if you are straight or gay, it just matters that you are human. I think it is a good place for anybody to be.”
Outloud is operated with the help of 35 adult volunteers with various skill sets.
“A lot of those volunteers come from Canadian Mental Health, we have Children’s Aid, we have Hands (TheFamilyHelpNetwork.ca), we have teachers, we have 911 dispatchers, we have police. It is a great group of people,” said Compton proudly.
“We are partnered with a lot of different agencies in town, so if I feel the kids need something specific, or if they come to me and ask me for something specific, we’re able to tap into other organizations to come in and do workshops to make sure we’re able to provide those professional services for the kids.”
Compton would like to expand the list of services offered.
“I spent the day with public health yesterday and we were talking about practitioners and those that can specifically deal with trans care. Right now we’re sending youth or families out of town to Ottawa, Toronto, London, and Sudbury because we don’t have anything available here. So the most important thing would be to be able to provide those services for our kids right here and take care of them here in our own community.”
Compton is most proud of the team that has been assembled.
“I’ve put a lot of love and energy into what I do but I can’t do it by myself, so I appreciate the work the volunteers do for me because this space doesn’t operate without them. And then we also have a youth crew, a junior crew. Those are high school students that put in community hours here. We do different events outside of this space. We do markets, we go into schools where we set up tables and they’re putting in the work. So it is a team effort.”