Every night, more than 250 Calgary youth will find themselves without a place to call home. With so much uncertainty in their lives, they don’t get to be teens. Safe Haven Foundation, a non-profit that offers safe housing for young women, wanted to remind Calgarians of this, sad but true, fact. But how do you reach them, when they’re largely unaware of the youth homeless problem to begin with? You capture the realities of youth homelessness and share them in an unavoidable way — through the familiar lens of social media. 

The ‘StreetFluencer’ campaign does exactly that. The campaign includes a :60 second TV spot entitled ‘Bedtime Routine’, parodying a YouTube influencer video. But from the POV of a homeless teen girl, who’s providing tips for sleeping on the street. Out-of-home digital billboards showcase youth in Instagram-esque shots paired with evocative headlines. While a city-wide guerilla stunt draws attention to where some 250 Calgary youth rest their heads each night; using familiar bedroom signs in unfamiliar settings, to make a poignant point.  All to communicate a simple message: Help teens stay teens. 

In 2021, the Safe Haven Foundation celebrated 25 years of keeping homeless and at-risk youth safe. Their key program, Haven’s Way, provides a healthy, caring family environment for girls who don’t  have child welfare status and would otherwise call the streets ‘home’. For more information, please visit  www.safehavenfoundation.ca