Elgin County held a forum 2.5 years ago through the United Way “E5-Elgin in 5 years” to identify areas related to community capacity building. Youth was identified as an area of priority and a youth committee was struck. The youth committee and the Y.E.C.C. took a lead and held 2 youth forums, inviting 20 students from each of the 6 county high schools. Focus of the event was to identify issues youth felt needed addressing. A youth centre was at the top of the list!
In September of 2004, the YECC purchased the building at 745 Talbot Street to renovate and establish a Youth Centre for the youth of Elgin County.