
Thorncliffe Park Youth Wellness Hub: FAQs for Youth
The following FAQs are for youth and young adults interested in accessing services at the Thorncliffe Park Youth Wellness Hub.
Are you a provider looking to refer a client or patient to the hub? Please refer to our FAQs for providers.
General FAQs
Our hub is a collaboration between Youth Wellness Hubs Ontario and several organizations from East Toronto Health Partners:
Wellness Counselling FAQs
Counselling can help you through a variety of challenges! You can bring any issue to us. Some of the most common topics we discuss include:
- Stress about school and tests
- Complicated relationships at home or with friends
- Feeling low and bad moods
- Fears
- Worries about the future
- How to manage a sleep schedule
- Relationship with food and body image
- Excessive time spent on phones, computers and video games
- Feeling paranoid or concerns about hearing voices
- Drug and alcohol use
Peer Support FAQs
Think of a peer support worker like a professional friend. They are trained to provide emotional and practical support for people who share a common experience - for example, difficulties navigating relationships, dealing with school stress, and managing worries and low moods. Drawing from their own experiences, peer support workers can connect youth to resources in the community, provide a listening ear, and can help them achieve their goals.
Tori Martin, Peer Support Worker and Dawit Teka, Community Support Worker/Care Navigator at the hub support the peer support programs.
Tori is available Tuesdays and Fridays from 12 to 4 p.m. As a previous client-turned-worker of LOFT Community Services – and now staff at the hub – Tori has detailed background in navigating the Canadian mental health system for over a decade to secure her own mental wellness support and establish her own circle of care. These lived-in experiences helped Tori in establishing her professional background and pursue a better understanding of addiction and harm reduction, trauma-informed care, dialectical behavioural therapy (DBT), community engagement and more.
Dawit is available Tuesday to Thursday from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. On Tuesdays he supports with the peer support group. The peer support group is facilitated by two workers: a peer worker and a community support worker. With background in social psychology and social work practices, Dawit has extensive experience in assisting youth encountering mental health challenges, family issues, psychosocial issues, and barriers accessing services. He also has experience working with transitionally aged youth, providing case management, housing support, crisis intervention, safety planning, and assistance with service navigation.
Peer support workers can help you navigate your goals or talk about any challenges you may be going through. No topic is off limits!
Topics may include:
- Stress related to school and/or the future
- Improving self-esteem
- Troubles with friends or other interpersonal issues
- Mental wellness
- Substance use challenges
Peer support workers focus on lived experiences and mutual learning to provide empathy, encouragement, and practical advice. Counselling is typically provided by licensed professionals.
Peer support offers a unique opportunity to connect with individuals who have walked a similar path. Through shared experiences, you can gain valuable insights and coping strategies that resonate on a personal level.
Peers are great at providing guidance, emotional support, and validation to youth who may be feeling overwhelmed and unsure of how to reach their current goals.
Where a counsellor’s professional background is based off their formal education and a clinical perspective, a peer support worker’s professional background is based off their lived experience and the steps they have taken to overcome their own personal barriers and reach their goals.
Peer support offers a casual and relatable avenue for youth concerned about formal counselling. Youth may have the option to complement their counselling and case management services with peer support. This integrated approach connects the strengths of each service, providing youth with diverse perspectives and support systems tailored to their individual needs.
The Thorncliffe Park Youth Wellness Hub has two peer support programs:
- Weekly peer support group every Tuesday from 5 to 6:30 p.m.
- Drop-in 1:1 peer support on Tuesdays and Fridays from 12 to 4 p.m.
There are many ways you can access our peer support programs:
- 1:1 peer support: Drop-in on Tuesdays and Fridays from 12 to 4 p.m., or email TMartin@loftcs.org to set up an appointment in advance.
- Peer support group: Visit the Thorncliffe Park Youth Wellness Hub during drop-in hours (Monday to Friday, 11 a.m. to 7 p.m.) and ask to speak with an intake worker.
Peer support group offers the opportunity for you to discuss challenges in a safe space with others also in need of support, with the goal of creating a shared understanding of one another and a chance to feel heard and understood from others in your community. Peer support group offers the opportunity to receive support from both leaders and participants. It also provides participants the opportunity to navigate other services.
1:1 peer support is a one-on-one session between a peer support worker and yourself, typically lasting anywhere from 45 minutes to 1 hour. 1:1 peer support is designated for those who may not be comfortable discussing their experiences and challenges in a group setting or are looking for a more direct approach with understanding how to process their emotions and/or problem solve.
Learn more about Youth Wellness Hubs Ontario

Youth Wellness Hubs Ontario is a network of 22 local hubs that provide integrated services addressing mental health, substance use and well-being. Services are co-designed with youth for youth, and are delivered in communities across the province.
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