Foundry
Unprecedented challenges for youth
For a strong future, we need vibrant and healthy young people living full, productive lives.
Youth are full of promise and potential, but face many stressors and challenges to their wellness – including a global pandemic, climate change, an overdose epidemic, and racial injustice.
In Canada, 1 in 4 young people aged 15-24 report experiencing mental ill health or substance misuse in any given year. Yet only 25% receive appropriate care. And rates for depression and anxiety are on the rise since COVID-19.
Mental illness and problematic substance use strike early. Ignoring health needs will have lifelong implications for young people: physically, spiritually, and emotionally.
Young people and their caregivers need a place to go where they can feel safe and find the appropriate help they need, when they need. Our communities need coordinated, accessible, and low-barrier services to support youth in living a good life.
Enter Foundry.
What is Foundry?
A new model of youth wellness in BC.
In 2015, Providence Health Care (PHC) opened the first purpose-designed space in North America where all the services that young people need are co-located and integrated: mental health care, substance use support, physical and sexual health, youth and family peer support, and social services; including employment and education services.
Foundry is transforming health care for young people ages 12-24 by removing barriers, improving access to services, and increasing the quality of supports. It’s a made-in-BC health and social service model designed by young people, for young people.
Beginning with a single location in Vancouver on Granville St., Foundry has expanded into a world-renowned collaborative network of over 17 centres open across the province, with more locations in development. The aim is to have 35 centres open by 2028.
Young people and families/caregivers anywhere in BC can also access safe and inclusive services by accessing Foundry’s provincial virtual services using the free Foundry BC app.
Each centre is operated by a lead agency that brings together local partners, service providers, young people and caregivers.
Foundry is a provincial program of Providence Health Care, with St. Paul’s Foundation serving as the registered charitable partner for PHC. Foundry works hand in hand with St. Paul’s Foundation to raise philanthropic funds for Foundry’s provincial initiatives.
The important things in life are done in partnership. Foundry is possible thanks to meaningful partnerships between youth and caregivers, donors and funders, community organizations and health authorities, First Nations, school districts, and governments.
Foundry by the numbers
- 17,000+ individual youth attended 83,000+ Foundry visits last year
- 18 Foundry centres, including Foundry Virtual BC, with 18 more centres in development
- 1 in 4 youth in need would not have sought help if Foundry didn’t exist
- 18% of youth accessing Foundry across BC self-identified as Indigenous
- 1 in 3 youth self-identified as bisexual, gay, lesbian or queer
*Data from 2024-25 fiscal year
“I think the biggest breakthrough that has come out of my experience at Foundry is that I don’t need to be afraid. I don’t need to fear or evade hard emotions, because I’ve been given the tools and resources I need to better sail through life’s storms.”
Danny
Foundry youth
How it all started
A proven concept for integrated health and health and wellness services for youth.
Initially a demonstration site, the Foundry Vancouver-Granville (FVG) team began by working with youth who were marginalized or unhoused. But soon after opening, young people from across the Lower Mainland were coming for help.
The success of FVG inspired a call from communities across BC for a network of centres, with a transformed service delivery system, so that no youth is left without access to help.
Foundry Vancouver-Granville now supports one of Canada’s largest and most diverse municipalities. And yet, at only 4,500 sq. ft., it is our smallest centre.
Since 2018, FVG is proud to have supported over 4,000 unique youth. But with a larger space, this number would be significantly higher. With the current and growing population of young people seeking help downtown, FVG urgently needs a new purpose-built space.
Our goal is to acquire and build a new centre in downtown Vancouver, twice as big as the current space, with increased resources and double the number of youth and families served. The location will be close to transit and easily accessible, safe and welcoming to everyone.
A space where no one gets left behind.
“Wellness is what happens when you add ‘we’ to any illness. Which is exactly what being a part of Foundry does. Foundry helps turn our mental illnesses into wellnesses. Seeing them as obstacles instead of failures. Before Foundry I had no idea what it meant to be well. Wellness is thriving, instead of just surviving and with Foundry, I feel like I can finally begin.”
Jess
Foundry youth
Now more than ever, every young person and caregiver across BC deserves a place to go where they can feel safe and find the help they need, when they need it – online and in their communities.
Integrated youth services
What if a young person could go to one place, either at a physical location or virtually, and get help for all of their concerns?
Foundry offers young people aged 12 to 24 and their families/caregivers access to free and confidential services. It provides culturally safe, non-judgmental care, information and resources, and works to reach young people earlier – before health challenges become problematic.
By integrating these services, young people don’t have to get referrals, go to new places or repeat their story. Instead, they can go to the same place and work with service providers who know them until their concerns have been addressed.
Foundry’s five core services
-
Free walk-in counselling to help address small problems before they become bigger ones.
-
Prevention, counselling, harm reduction supplies and medication, system navigation all in a non judgmental environment.
-
Family doctors and nurse practitioners provide physical health, sexual health, gender-affirming care, substance use support and more.
-
Youth and caregivers with lived or living experience, trained in peer support, available to help young people and their families understand services, navigate the health care system, and advocate for improved support.
-
Depending on the needs of the community, social services may include employment, education, wellness activities, and recreation, all meant to empower youth in living a good life.
Online Mental Health Services
70% of mental health concerns in Canada begin in childhood or during the teen years.
More than 200,000 young people in BC struggle with mental health every year. But fewer than 25% are receiving the mental health services they need.
In the early days of the pandemic, Foundry’s partners pivoted to offering all services virtually, so that youth continued to access supports when and where they needed them.
Foundry’s innovation led to the creation of the free Foundry BC app: a communication tool like no other. Co-designed by young people, in partnership with the BC government, it allows young people and their caregivers to access free virtual services through video, audio, and chat options, seven days a week from anywhere across BC.
Foundry Virtual BC offers all the same services available at a Foundry centre through the Foundry BC app. Our virtual services are available for BC youth ages 12 to 24 and their caregivers who experience barriers accessing in-person services or do not have a local Foundry centre, particularly in rural and remote communities.
With online services, we can support young people in a space that is safe and comfortable for them, whether from their bedroom, out on a walk with their dog, from a community park, or from school. Help us serve the entire province better.
Before and after
We’re helping more young people access life-changing services throughout BC, and it’s working.
At the time of a young person’s first visit:
- 82% are experiencing high levels of distress
- 76% rate their mental health as fair or poor
- 50% have thought about suicide in the past 90 days
- 25% would not have sought help had Foundry not existed
After accessing Foundry services, youth report:
- 95% were satisfied with Foundry and its services
- 95% agreed that having services in one place at Foundry made it easier to get help
- 97% would suggest Foundry to a friend
- 91% feel well-equipped to manage their health situation because of Foundry
- 84% say Foundry had a positive impact on their ability to cope
- 78% feel Foundry improved their ability to perform day-to-day activities such as studying, working, and self-care
Foundry Research
Providence Health Care has a lengthy history of groundbreaking and innovative research. Foundry continues this tradition.
Foundry Research brings together researchers, trainees, staff, service providers, community members, young people, and families/caregivers. We all share the goal of making positive change in the lives of young people, families/caregivers, and communities by centering their voices in research.
Since 2021, Foundry Research has conducted 30 studies across BC, contributed to 45 peer-reviewed publications, and supported more than 30 research students, with over 20 research studies co-created with youth.
Research centres youth voices by asking what matters most to them, and explores how to improve services and reduce barriers for young people and their families.
The Future of Foundry
We have a bold vision to build and expand to every corner of the province.
Foundry has come a long way since opening its first centre in 2015. While thousands of young people have benefited, the work is far from done – especially in rural and remote communities. Thousands more need help to overcome life’s challenges.
Our vision is for every young person in BC, their families and caregivers, to have access to support no matter where they live, either in person or virtually using our Foundry BC app.
But we aspire to do more than improve access. We aim to innovate, creating quality and timely services so that young people receive effective support early.
Provincial expansion is Foundry’s number one priority. To meet growing demand, we are expanding to 35 centres across BC by 2028. We are doubling our Foundry network to double the number of youth accessing services each year. Together, we are transforming health and social services so all young people across BC can easily access the support they need, when they need it.
“For the first time in years I feel my daughter is in the right place, and so does she. We are so grateful.”
Shannon
Caregiver
Your support fuels Foundry’s innovation and expansion, so we can help empower more youth to achieve their best life.
Read more
-
-
Youth Mental Health
1.5 million more reasons for young people across Canada to feel hopeful and optimistic
Subscribe to our enewsletter
Subscribe to our enewsletter to read heart-warming stories on care, compassion, and innovation, and to learn more about our events and the new St. Paul’s medical campus.