Abandoned North Battleford basement becomes safe space for teens

Welcome to the Shared Spaces. Here in the basement, we have plenty of stuff. Natalie Voigt is no stranger to spending time at one of the Battleford's hottest teen hangout spots. The 17-year-old has been participating in Big Brothers Big Sisters of the Battleford Shared Spaces Project since she was 14. I'm starting to speak now. The free program offers kids the chance to talk about important issues, a home base for field trips, and a place to build community. But spending their nights in a safe place with friends and supportive adult allies wasn't always an option. And the program leads as teens from the Battlefords were paying the price. We lost six youth beginning of 2018. And that's when we really were like, OK, we really need to figure out what's happening here because it's impacting our youth in a really big way. Sperling says the dire situation prompted her to meet with a group of six local teens. Her question for them was simple. What are us adults missing? They basically said after the age of 12, there's nothing for us here in this community. We're basically left to our own devices. There's no place for us to like actually hang out. There's nowhere that we know that's specific for youth to be able to get access to safe caring adults. The group started searching for a place that could be converted into a safe hangout. They eventually found it in the basement of a 1909 house, and it wasn't a pretty sight. But with kids calling the shots on design and layout, the place was transformed. While this grade 11 student says the space is great, she says having access to caring adults like Sperling is really making a difference. She basically became like one of those aunties you have that aren't related but they're always there. She helped me through hard times like moving out or even just school drama. Voight is getting ready to graduate from high school and has plans to go to college in another city. But she says eventually, she'll be back. It's always great to come back here. To a space where I can, I'm not in charge. I don't need to do, there's no expectations of what I do. I just have to come and hang out. And that really, you know, is a great base for going off and knowing that there is spaces like this. And if it's here, it's other places. And you'll find our main snack area. Emma Stewart-Kiss, CBC News, North Battleford.