Our Story

PAYES began with the experience of a local man who spent most of his teen years on the street and in foster homes. He knew from his own experience that there is a need for a safe place when young people are facing challenges in their lives. He had a dream that one day a youth shelter would open up in the Parkland area and shared this dream with Gladys Adams. Together, in 2004 they started to make this dream a reality.

Their first contact was with some of the churches in the area. A number of volunteers came forward and started to work toward this goal. Gladys also started a lunch program at the Memorial High School Outreach Center that continues to this day and has become an extension of PAYES. Over time the group changed but Gladys, who was determined to offer support and assistance to the youth of the Parkland area, has kept the dream of a permanent youth shelter alive.

In support of PAYES, a Drug Strategy Community Needs Assessment was conducted in February 2007 and identified a potential need for a youth shelter in this area. In 2008 Nick Molesky, a Grant MacEwan student in social work, conducted a further needs assessment through the Stony Plain Youth Center. This also identified a need for a shelter with services for the youth of Parkland County. As the PAYES organization has been developing, these studies have helped determine some of the needs in preparing to open a Shelter.

In July of 2007, the Parkland & Area Youth Emergency Shelter- PAYES Foundation was incorporated. In 2009 PAYES received charitable status with the Canada Revenue Agency to enable our donors to receive income tax receipts for their gracious contributions to our development.

During the months of January to June of 2011, PAYES operated a pilot project to better understand the need for a Youth Shelter in the Parkland area. This pilot project was totally funded by PAYES during the duration of the project. The concluding report was presented to the Board of Directors and the decision was made in the fall of 2011 to further develop a strategy towards the establishment of a permanent youth shelter program. The report is available upon request of the Chairman.

Today Gladys Adams remains a tireless worker with a dream. PAYES has committed Directors, Committees, Coordinators, Members and Volunteers working together to achieve the dream that started with a young man and a caring Granny.

PAYES goal is to have an Emergency Youth Shelter up and running in the near future. The Shelter would provide a safe, secure, short-term place for ages 15 to 21 and would offer support and services to assist them in becoming productive members of the community.