{"id":5753,"date":"2017-10-18T11:08:10","date_gmt":"2017-10-18T15:08:10","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/bluedoor.ca\/?p=1610"},"modified":"2023-08-03T16:12:22","modified_gmt":"2023-08-03T20:12:22","slug":"1610-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bluedoor.ca\/1610-2\/","title":{"rendered":"Newmarket youth shelter named after ‘privileged white guy’"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

Sep 25, 2017\u00a0by\u00a0Lisa Queen<\/a>\u00a0<\/i>\u00a0Newmarket Era<\/h4>\n<\/div>\n

With his parents welcoming about 100 foster children into their home as he was growing up, Kevin Kennedy has always been aware of the struggles facing vulnerable youngsters.<\/p>\n

\n

It\u2019s that understanding that inspired his career in social work.<\/p>\n

While at Seneca College in 1989, he did a placement with Blue Door, then called Men\u2019s Support Services.<\/p>\n

From that placement, he worked his way up from counsellor to assistant manager to program manager, always advocating for York Region\u2019s often invisible homeless population.<\/p>\n

When he returned to Seneca as a teacher, now serving as program co-ordinator for the social work program, Kennedy didn\u2019t leave Blue Door behind.<\/p>\n

He became a volunteer, board member and board president and in 2014 won an award from the United Way of Toronto and York Region for his devotion to social work.<\/p>\n

On Sept. 21, Blue Door\u2019s youth homeless shelter on Gorham Street in Newmarket was named Kevin\u2019s Place in Kennedy\u2019s honour.<\/p>\n

In his typical self-effacing way, Kennedy jokingly referred to the shelter being named after \u201ca privileged white guy.\u201d<\/p>\n

But then he talked about how the staff has focused on treating vulnerable people with respect.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe call it being decent to people. That\u2019s the way I was oriented to this field, that you do what\u2019s in the best interest of the people. You meet people where they\u2019re at,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
\n
\n

Executive director Anne Stubley praised Kennedy for his leadership and commitment to delivering progressive emergency housing.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is an honour for us to name our youth shelter after Kevin. It\u2019s a great place, a creative place, a welcoming place, it\u2019s a can-do place, a dedicated place, a caring place. That\u2019s the spirit of this place. That\u2019s the spirit of Kevin,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

\u201cKnowing Kevin,\u00a0success for him will not be measured on a plaque\u00a0or having something named for him. It\u2019s the work. It\u2019s every kid, every person\u00a0who is welcomed, who had a good stay, who engaged with staff and community, who moved from homelessness to a home.\u201d<\/p>\n

Blue Door, a nonprofit organization and the largest provider of emergency services in York Region, also operates Porter Place for men and Leeder Place for families.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

\n
\n

\"Lisa<\/p>\n

\n

by\u00a0Lisa Queen<\/a><\/u><\/h3>\n

Lisa Queen is a reporter for YorkRegion.com and its sister papers. She can be reached at\u00a0lqueen@yrmg.com<\/a><\/strong>. Follow her on\u00a0Twitter<\/a><\/b>\u00a0and YorkRegion.com on\u00a0Facebook<\/a><\/b>.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Newmarket youth shelter named after ‘privileged white guy’ _ YorkRegion<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Sep 25, 2017\u00a0by\u00a0Lisa Queen\u00a0\u00a0Newmarket Era With his parents welcoming about 100 foster children into their home as he was growing up, Kevin Kennedy has always been aware of the struggles facing vulnerable youngsters. It\u2019s that understanding that inspired his career in social work. While at Seneca College in 1989, he did a placement with Blue […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2097,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_uf_show_specific_survey":0,"_uf_disable_surveys":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5753","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-articles"],"acf":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t