One of several plaques with positive messages in the J Bar J Canal House in Redmond.

REDMOND — An old house in Redmond could soon see new life sheltering youth and families in crisis.

J Bar J Youth Services on Wednesday received its first donation of seed funding to remodel one of its existing properties to be used as a host home and emergency housing for youth experiencing homelessness, a resource sorely lacking in the city.

Kindred Connections, the branch of J Bar J that focuses on supporting families in crisis, will use the property as a Redmond hub. Previously, different branches of J Bar J used the building to shelter survivors of human trafficking and youth transitioning out of shelter.

“The Kindred Connections center is going to warmly welcome youth and their families with a space,” said Jana Hill, the nonprofit’s agency and church liaison. “I feel the most important thing is they’ll find belonging.”

The building needs some work before it’ll be ready for its new use. Hill said the nonprofit plans to knock out a few walls to expand a space for volunteers to meet with youth and families in crisis, and to expand the kitchen to make it suitable for family cooking classes.

Kindred Connection’s main goal is to keep families together, preventing youth from running away from home and becoming homeless in the first place, according to Eva Gill, a spokesperson for the nonprofit.

“It’s prevention,” Gill said. “A lot of times we’re able to help a family prevent that child from running away.”

The nonprofit does that largely by building connections with youth and families. Volunteers build relationships with youth, and staff mediates disputes between family members that might be driving youth to leave the home, and, for some families, the lessons learned can encourage them to rebuild the relationships in their own families.

Once renovated, the nonprofit’s building — right across the street from the Homestead Park Bike Pump Track, which Hill hopes will help attract families who might be using the park — will serve as a place for initiating those connections.

Volunteers and staff will meet with families for mediation and to help navigate services, and the facility will be open after school hours to offer youth a safe place to be outside the home. Hill said volunteers will also schedule programs to teach life skills, like cooking classes and resume creation workshops.

“The hope is that volunteers will create programs and events that kids can be a part of,” Hill said. “We’ll utilize all the experience the volunteers have to teach kids and build belonging.”

The facility will also house two emergency, temporary shelter beds for youth experiencing homelessness and awaiting placement in a host home or at The LOFT, J Bar J’s Bend youth shelter. Redmond currently lacks a permanent youth shelter of its own.

All told, the nonprofit expects the renovations to cost just over $130,000, with Wednesday’s $25,000 donation from Subaru of Bend laying the groundwork for future fundraising and grant-seeking efforts. Hill hopes renovations will be completed and the facility opened this fall.

The Kindred Connections building is just part of J Bar J’s expansion of family services into Redmond. The nonprofit received funding earlier this year to open a “basic center” in the city to provide family mediation and homelessness prevention services.