Child and Youth Centre Opens in Langley

October 2025 marked a first milestone for Langley’s most vulnerable young people with the opening of the Langley Child and Youth Advocacy Centre (CYAC), a home-like space where they can find support and advocacy through what can be an intense emotional and legal process.

In BC, one in three children experiences some form of abuse. Of more than 22,000 potential victims in the community, only about 2,000 report their abuse, and even fewer receive the care and support they need.

In its first six months of operation, the centre provided direct, coordinated care to 30 children and youth who had experienced sexual and physical abuse.

“Before the CYAC, especially if there was a crime where police and child protection would need to be involved, interviews were happening in many different places, and one of those places was almost always the police detachment,” says Kristin Coyne, Senior Clinical Manager at Encompass Support Services Society, which operates the Langley CYAC.

At the centre, rather, children are welcomed into a space designed specifically to make them feel at home, furnished with a living room, kitchen and play area for a sense of comfort during one of the most difficult experiences of their lives.

In 2025, Langley Community Health & Hospital Foundation donors helped to grow the collaboration that defines Langley CYAC’s approach to care. Professionals from policing, child protection, victim services and community agencies provide coordinated support so that children don’t have to repeatedly share their experiences in new and intimidating environments.

“It really does have an immeasurable impact on the family to have these service providers collaborating and working together and the families having a more coordinated service where they’re having to share their story less often, with fewer people,” Kristin says. “It’s easier to put your head down and fulfill your own role. Working together is a harder thing to do, but it’s much more effective.”

Much of Langley’s generosity toward the centre came about through two of the year’s cornerstone fundraising events tied to LCHHF. Guests and donors at the DRIVE Gala on October 4 raised $242,600, while East to West Group’s 10th Anniversary Gala in November raised a further $225,655, with net proceeds contributed to support the centre’s work.

“DRIVE Gala guests gave with great compassion for Langley’s most vulnerable children,” says Leanne Laurin, longtime Foundation supporter along with her husband, Mike. “It was an honour for Mike and I to be lead sponsors of such an important cause.”

Foundation Executive Director Heather Scott says the success of both LCHHF’s DRIVE Gala and East to West Group’s 10th Anniversary Gala reflected the strength and compassion of Langley’s donor community.

“Even in this uncertain economy, donors led with their hearts and gave with compassion to children living through unimaginable trauma,” she says.

For Kristin, donor support and the centre’s success in its first six months are inextricably linked.

“We wouldn’t be able to operate the services and have the staff required without donations. That generosity is essential.”