Staff are preparing to partially reopen the iHuman Youth Society after a burst pipe dumped more than 1,100 litres of water into the support centre.
At approximately 4:40 a.m on Jan. 2, a fire suppression pipe inside the iHuman Youth Society burst, pouring water down onto the computers below. Water rushed out through the doors and flooded the building.
A fire crew was on scene within 15 minutes to try and quell the flow of water but they were unable to prevent any damage to the building.
The flood damaged half the 5,000-square-foot building on 102A Avenue, closing the centre for a week.
“It’s an unfortunate thing that the freeze-thaw weather wreaked a bit of havoc on our pipes,” Catherine Broomfield, executive director of iHuman, told CBC News.
The society’s insurance company is still measuring the extent of the damage but estimates the full building will not be operational for at least two months, Broomfield said.
Cramming staff into half the space
iHuman is a youth centre that offers mental health support, counselling, clothing and other services to the city’s most vulnerable youth.
Broomfield said her staff works with at least 150 young people every day.
“Now we have an extra week where we hadn’t planned — haven’t made accommodations — so we’re worried that some of the youth may be struggling or may be in need,” Broomfield said.
The flood affects some of the building’s critical services, including laundry facilities and a shower that will not be reopened until the building repairs are complete.
iHuman posted this note outside its doors to remind youth that the centre will be closed for the week. (CBC)
By next week, other services will reopen to youth, including the society’s mental health clinic and outreach teams.
To get these teams up and running, the society plans to build temporary walls inside the building to separate the mental health clinic from the rest of the space.
‘We need man-hours’
Staff were cleaning the youth society’s building on Monday, coming back to work for the first time since the flood.
“Last week we had no water, we had little power in the building,” Broomfield said.
Christopher Weiss, iHuman’s community engagement manager, said Edmontonians have been actively helping to get the society back on its feet.
Bags of clothes, donated by Edmontonias after the flood, were bundled up inside the iHuman building. (CBC )
“The outpouring of support has been incredible,” Weiss said. “We’ve already had plenty of people reaching out to us because they know how important this building is to our youth.”
Weiss said the society not only lost half its building in the flood but also its donations, including hygiene products, grocery store gift cards and clothing.
The centre is asking volunteers to donate these lost products or give some of their time to the rebuilding process if they want to see the society back in full force.
“What we need are man-hours,” Weiss said. “We have a big construction project coming up so we need people who are willing to get their hands dirty and help us through this.”