Threshold Housing Victoria | Supporting Youth & Preventing Homelessness
More Than the Basics: Supporting Youth at Threshold Housing Victoria
About Threshold Housing Society
If you’ve lived on Vancouver Island for a while, you’ve seen how complex youth homelessness can be. It’s not always visible—but it’s there.
That’s where Threshold Housing Society comes in.
Threshold works with young people who are at risk of homelessness or already experiencing it. Many are navigating incredibly difficult situations—aging out of care, leaving unsafe homes, or trying to find stability after periods of uncertainty. What they need isn’t just a roof over their heads. They need support, consistency, and people who genuinely believe in them.
Threshold provides safe housing, but it goes far beyond that. It’s about creating a sense of community—somewhere youth can land, take a breath, and start figuring out what comes next. With the right support in place, young people can begin to heal, build life skills, and move toward a more stable future.
At its core, Threshold is working toward something simple but powerful: a community where all youth have the chance to thrive.
And the way they get there is just as important—by offering not only housing, but also the support and relationships that help prevent homelessness in adulthood.
At Kia Victoria, we’ve had the chance to get to know the team at Threshold through local initiatives, and what stands out right away is how thoughtful and hands-on their work is. It’s not just about programs—it’s about people, and the long-term relationships that help young adults build stability over time.
How We Got Involved
We were first introduced to Threshold through our 10,000 Socks Campaign with Cool Aid. Brad and I were delivering socks in November 2022 to an unremarkable storefront at the corner of Fort and Oak Bay—a place we had driven past countless times.
At the time, we thought we understood the need—warm socks for people already experiencing homelessness. It’s something we see every day in Victoria, and it can feel pretty overwhelming. Socks felt like a simple, accessible way to offer a bit of comfort.
But meeting the Threshold team shifted things for us.
They’re not just helping people once they’re already on the street—they’re working earlier, trying to prevent that from happening in the first place.
That idea really stuck.
Why This One Hit Home
One of the things we learned is what happens when youth age out of care.
In some cases, they’re given very little—sometimes just a bag for their belongings on their 18th birthday—and expected to figure things out on their own.
It’s hard to wrap your head around.
As parents, Brad and I think about plans we have for our own four sons. It has always been simple: they stay as long as they need to get through school, get on their feet, and go from there.
That kind of support feels normal—expected, even.
But not everyone gets that.
And when you realize that, it changes how you see things.
The Kia Closet
After getting to know Threshold a bit better, we wanted to find a way to support what they’re already doing.
That’s where the idea for the Kia Closet came from.
Threshold already covers the essentials—housing, meals, support, life skills. But there are other things that come up, especially for young people trying to build confidence and feel like they fit in.
Things like:
- Getting ready for graduation
- Joining a class or activity
- Replacing worn-out clothes
- Picking up something creative, like books or art supplies
They’re not big things on their own, but they tend to come up at important moments.
The Kia Closet is just a way to help when those things happen.
The Kia Closet, a collaboration between Kia Victoria and Threshold Housing Society, helps youth in Greater Victoria access more than just the basics—providing opportunities for confidence, creativity, and belonging.
Where This Fits
We’ll keep doing things like the 10,000 Socks Campaign. There’s still a real need there, especially in Victoria.
But if there’s a way to support earlier—before someone ends up in that situation—it feels just as important, if not more.
Threshold is doing that work.
And like a lot of things in this community, it’s not one organization or one effort that makes the difference. It’s a lot of people, doing what they can, where they can.
Final Thoughts
This isn’t something that gets solved overnight.
If anything, spending time around it makes you realize how complicated it is.
But it also shows you that there are people working on it in thoughtful, practical ways—trying to make things better for the next group coming up.
If there’s a way to support that, even in a small way, it feels worth doing.
The Kia Closet is a small, quiet sponsorship for us—but it’s one that means a lot. It’s probably my favourite thing we do, and something I’m genuinely so proud to be part of.
Thanks for reading,
Bethan