EST. 2008 · MINISTRY-LICENSED CHILDREN'S RESIDENCE

The past does not
define the future.

A home for young people who have been told too many times that they're hard to place. We've been opening that door for eighteen years.

Refer a young person See our programs
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The Language We Refuse

The labels other places used to close the door. We use them to open it.

Every young person referred to Fresh Start arrives with a file. Sometimes the file is thicker than they are. We read it, and then we read past it. Here is how we translate the words that have followed them.

01
Complex
Specific.
02
Aggressive
Unheard for a long time.
03
Disengaged
Waiting to be safe enough to try.
04
Treatment-resistant
Tired of being treated like a problem.
05
Hard to place
Worth placing well.
06
At risk
Asked to carry too much, too young.
Two Truths, One Roof

Lived experience and clinical care are not opposites. They are the same work, done well.

Lived Experience

"They know what 3 a.m. sounds like in a group home."

Our staff include people who have walked the road our youth are walking. They know which silences mean "leave me alone" and which silences mean "please stay." That fluency is not a soft skill. It is the skill.

Clinical Care

"Every placement documented, every plan of care signed."

We are a Ministry of Children, Community and Social Services–licensed Children's Residence. Our staff are trained in CPI, ASIST, trauma-informed practice, and harm reduction. The structure is what makes the warmth possible.

Since 2008

Eighteen years. Seven chapters. One belief — that no young person is too far gone to begin again.

2008
We opened our first home — a 7-bed program in Whitby. Over 100 people showed up at a town hall meeting to try and stop us. The house was too small… but the vision was not. So we kept going.
2009
We moved forward — opening a 9-bed program in Pickering. We closed Whitby and planted roots where we could grow.
2012
We became known for something that couldn't be taught — building real, meaningful family connections with our young people.
2016
We expanded — creating placements tailored to individual needs. We opened a 6-bed home in the Greater Toronto Area. They called our youth "spoiled rich kids." We called them young people who finally felt safe — and finally seen.
2020
When the world shut down, we didn't. We remained open through COVID — when other placements closed their doors.
2024
We had now cared for hundreds of young people across multiple homes.
2026
And we are still here. Still standing. Still believing the same thing.
A Family-Centered Environment

You can feel the difference at the front door.

A Fresh Start home is not an institution. It is a house — with a kitchen that smells like dinner, a couch that has held a thousand hard conversations, a backyard, a curfew, a calendar on the fridge.

There are rules because there is care. There is structure because there is hope.

The first night is hard. The hundredth night is home.

A note about the photographs on this site

We don't show our youth. Their stories are theirs to tell, when and if they choose to. The faces on this site are not the young people in our homes — they are stand-ins, chosen with care. Privacy is not a footnote. It is the work.

The Work, in Plain Figures

Eighteen years of work that's hard to do — done well.

18
years operating, continuously, since October 2008.
24 / 7
staffed care, every day of the year, including the days no one wants to work.
100%
youth who leave Fresh Start with a stable next placement, family reunification, or independent living plan.
1
Program Director per home. Every relationship. Every week. Every year.
The number we are most proud of

is the one we don't measure: the moment a young person stops flinching when someone walks into the room.

What You Came Here to Do

One door. Wide open.

If you are here to make a referral, you are in the right place. Every request receives a direct human response.

01 · Refer

Place a young person.

For CAS placement coordinators, MCCSS, and partner agencies.

We accept referrals for male and female youth ages 12–18 with complex needs. Each youth receives an individualized program designed with their unique needs, strengths, and goals at the forefront.

Begin a referral →

Use the form to share referral details. We will respond within one business day.