A fundraiser kicks off in Winnipeg's West End for a 24-hour youth shelter. Volunteers are giving away coffee and muffins outside the Spence Neighbourhood Association until 9 a.m. on Wednesday. (CBC ) new crowdfunding campaign by the Spence Neighbourhood Association will hopefully help to create a 24-hour safe space for youth in Winnipeg's West End.

The goal is to establish a space where all youth in the area can feel at home, said Ibraham Mohamed, a youth leader with the Spence Neighbourhood Association.

"So the kids can have a place to be and not think that they're alone; somebody cares about them and they want them to be safe," said Mohamed.

The Spence Neighbourhood Association began asking community members for donations about a year ago, not long after the death of Tina Fontaine. Fontaine, 15, was found dead in the Red River in August 2014.

The organization has so far secured $5,000 in private donations and hopes to raise an additional $25,000 through a GoFundMe campaign.

"We had hoped the powers that be would step up and support this initiative right away, but it seems to be taking a little longer. So what we heard from the community is let's get out there and start raising funds ourselves," said Jamil Mahmood, executive director of the Spence Neighbourhood Association.

There is broad support in the community for an all-day and all-night youth shelter in the area, said Mahmood.

"We have kids in the neighbourhood that don't go to safe spaces at night. They're choosing to either be on the street or to go to an unsafe environment, whether it be a drug house or wherever they can find a couch to sleep on. Even if one kid is doing that, we're not doing the best we can," he said.

Money raised through the GoFundMe campaign would help pay for at least two staff positions: an elder or grandmother figure and a youth who has needed a safe space, said Mahmood.

"So we'd have … people that have been there in the same position, and also that loving care you get from an elder," he said.

The Spence Neighbourhood Association will be handing out free coffee and muffins to draw attention to their GoFundMe campaign at their office, on the corner of Ellice Avenue and Maryland Street, on Wednesday from 7 a.m. to 9 a.m.