Since 2021, Rebound Child & Youth Services (Rebound) has seen the number of unsheltered youth it works with double each year. The Northumberland County agency expects a similar scenario for 2025.
That’s why the not-for-profit organization that works with Northumberland children, youth, and families is grateful for the recent launch of The Home Depot Canada’s Cobourg store’s fundraising campaign in support of local at-risk and homeless youth.
From now until Sunday, June 22, customers can donate at the Cobourg Home Depot’s checkout or online at orangedoorproject.ca. All donations to the Cobourg location (store 7251) will go to Rebound for youth homelessness prevention and youth mental health services.
Sam Rockbrune, executive director of Rebound, shared her thoughts and hopes with kawarthaNOW about the importance of the campaign.
“Our goal is always to raise the most money we can to support kids and youth in Northumberland County,” Rockbrune said. “Thanks to the amazing team at Home Depot, we have been able to raise an average of $5,000 per campaign. We are hoping to meet this goal again this spring.”
Through the Orange Door Project fundraising campaign, The Home Depot Canada Foundation (THDCF) supports 127 organizations that are committed to preventing and ending youth homelessness across the country.
As youth homelessness continues to be on the rise in Canada, isuses youth experiencing homelessness face daily “are complex and require holistic approaches and wrap-around community support,” according to a media release.
“They need a safe place to live. They need access to support services that will help them create healthy pathways to exit homelessness.”
Locally, Rockbrune is seeing the same to be true.
“Funds help us in responding to this increasing need and getting youth housed and connected to services in the county,” she said.
Rebound is one of the few resources for youth who are at-risk or experiencing homelessness as Northumberland County does not have a youth homeless shelter.
“Our youth homelessness prevention team has been working hard at finding new and creative solutions,” Rockbrune explained.
One example is Rebound’s “Nightstop,” an innovative program to prevent youth homelessness in Canada that currently operates in three communities.
“Funds from this campaign will support our team in facilitating these and other responsive and innovative solutions,” she said.
This spring marks Rebound’s sixth fundraising campaign with Home Depot Cobourg.
“We are grateful to be working together again to support at-risk and homeless youth in Northumberland County,” Rockbrune noted in the release. “Already in 2025, we have worked with over seven unsheltered youth.”
Rebound is an incorporated, charitable organization that has been providing community-based programs and services to children, youth, and families in Northumberland County since 1997.
THDCF is a registered charity committed to preventing and ending youth homelessness in Canada. Through community partnerships, THDCF strives to remove systemic barriers youth face and foster healthy pathways for change.
In an effort to create new paths for youth experiencing homelessness, THDCF is investing $125 million by 2030, according to the release.
For more information about The Home Depot Canada Foundation and the Orange Door Project, visit orangedoorproject.ca.
