In 1971, the City of Ottawa became the birthplace of Operation Go Home (now Operation Come Home). At that time, Reverend Norman Johnston recognized a unique need to assist runaway youth across Canada in returning home to their families. An ordained United Church Minister, Rev. Johnston believed in his community and its youth.
He held a special place in his heart for Ottawa’s street youth population. He began communicating with local runaways through the support of the local police service, the RCMP, the court system and social service providers. This network of agencies formulated the beginning of Operation Go Home (now Operation Come Home). His mission was to connect with young runaways and help them return home. This mission became a national mandate and was adopted in 1985 by a Board of Directors. Reverend Sterling Irvine was hired as the first Executive Director. With Rev. Irvine’s direction, OCH (at that time Operation Go Home) found office space with the YMCA of Ottawa-Carleton. Rev. Irvine continued to follow Rev. Johnston’s mission to assist young runaways while acting as a liaison between youth and their parents / legal guardians. In December of 1986, Viking Rideau Corporation graciously donated office space to Operation Go Home (now Operation Come Home) in the Rideau Centre parking garage. This was instrumental to bringing the program closer to the downtown market area where the street youth population often congregated then, and still does today.
In 1990, Operation Go Home (now Operation Come Home) elected a committee to form a National Organization. In September 1990, due to their hard work, National Operation Go Home was launched.
Throughout the next few years Operation Go Home (now Operation Come Home) began to open new offices across the country, with the first office opening in Toronto in 1992. Offices then opened in Vancouver in 1993, Winnipeg in 1994 and Halifax in 1995. Unfortunately, due to lack of funding, the Vancouver, Halifax and Toronto offices eventually closed.
On June 18th, 2009, Operation Go Home changed its name to Operation Come Home in an effort to better articulate our mission and mandate to the community. Over the years we have grown into an innovative organization that offers a multitude of comprehensive programs and educational opportunities to clients. Located in downtown Ottawa, Operation Come Home helps hundreds of at-risk and homeless youth access the services and support they need in order to make positive changes in their lives.