Outreach ‘workers are there to form relationships and build trust to keep people safe and well, and ultimately support them to find housing,’ says official
Linda GoodallJul 24, 2023 1:15 PM
Outreach workers at The Lighthouse visit various encampments in Orillia in an effort to help those living rough in and around Orillia.Supplied Photo
This is the seventh in a series of columns written by staff from The Lighthouse to help the community better understand people experiencing homelessness and those who support them. This column will appear every other Monday. (Click here to read the first column. Click here to read the second column. Click here to read the third column. Click here to read the fourth column. Click here to read the fifth column. Click here to read the sixth column.)
The Lighthouse outreach team connected with a woman living in a tent. She was unwell and discouraged. She wasn’t doing well. They provided her with support and basic hygiene supplies, water and snacks. The team was able to complete an intake form and get her on the triage list for shelter. Eventually, she moved to stay in the shelter and began to work with the housing workers to look for housing.
Homelessness is at an all-time high. That’s a fact all across the country, including in our small city of Orillia. But what is anyone to do about it?
Is it possible to work through the difficulties to support people experiencing homelessness and living in encampments while showing respect and giving dignity?
We built our new facilities at The Lighthouse at the same time as the economic and housing market crisis, and thankfully as a community we are able to shelter 78 individuals every single night. That includes eight youth and 50 adult men and women in the emergency shelter as well as up to 20 supportive housing participants.
However, there are still many people looking for shelter and no shelter beds available when The Lighthouse is full
Where do you go when you have nowhere to live? All across Simcoe County emergency shelters are at capacity. A bed may become available, but will be filled almost immediately with many individuals on triage lists. A triage list is similar to a wait list, but it takes into account the acuity of each unique individual. For example, an 80-year-old man in a wheelchair will be brought to the top of the list because his need is most critical.
That leaves many people on the street finding shelter in tents, couch surfing, or precarious and unsafe housing.
A couple of months ago, the County of Simcoe funded a pilot program in Orillia through The Lighthouse for outreach. It has been successful in working with the city of Orillia’s bylaw, officers, OPP and, ultimately, working to keep people on the street safe and healthy while supporting them to move toward housing.
At the beginning of the outreach program pilot, we met with the City of Orillia to come up with a plan to work together. If the city receives a complaint, bylaw officials will contact The Lighthouse outreach team. Then our team has 24 hours to go out, check out the situation and offer support. They report back to the bylaw department or OPP in case further action is needed. Overall, this process has worked well.
Individuals are not legally allowed to stay on public property. If bylaw officials are aware of an open bed somewhere in Simcoe County, they will remove the individual with the expectation that they will make their way to the open bed in a shelter. This can often mean travelling to another community that has a shelter.
However, that approach is flawed.
Can you imagine packing up your life and putting it on your back to move communities? And how do they get there? What about their local supports they are working with, such as mental health workers, The Lighthouse or even possibly methadone clinics?
Let’s not forget about housing. And through it all, experiencing incredible exhaustion from finding their meals every day, and possible addictions that keep people trapped.
There is no denying that there have been some issues with encampments in Orillia. We know there have been fires and other unsafe conditions. Our outreach workers are there to form relationships and build trust to keep people safe and well, and ultimately support them to find housing. If there are safety risks, we work with bylaw officers and the OPP. Safety of the community and each individual is our priority.
People living on the streets/living rough have the opportunity to work with our outreach team, as well as an Empower Simcoe housing access worker. We all know housing is almost impossible to find these days, let alone safe, affordable housing when your credit score, substance use, physical challenges or income can act as barriers. However, we work with individuals every day to look for housing options to support their personal housing success plans.
To work through the issue of homelessness, organizations, municipalities, provincial and federal governments and our community need to work together. We need short-term solutions, as well as long-term solutions.
The only way to end homelessness is housing. Period. People can only move out of an emergency shelter if there is housing, and people can only move off the street to stay in an emergency shelter if there is space available because others have moved out.
People can’t move out of shelter when there is no housing, and therefore, people on the street can’t move to stay in shelter for a time. It’s a vicious cycle.
But there’s good news!
Short term, the outreach pilot project at The Lighthouse has been officially extended. This is great news for our community. Do you have a concern about someone living on the street/living rough? Email outreach@orillialighthouse.ca and our team will check on the individual(s) within 24 hours. Of course, if there is a safety risk, call 911 immediately.
Long term, the City of Orillia hired a housing coordinator. Dedicating a staff member to research new and innovative ways to establish affordable housing in Orillia in partnership with local organizations benefits the whole community by promoting the safety and wellbeing of everyone.
Working together collaboratively will be the key.
Remember that every person you come across is a human being who deserves to be treated with dignity and respect.
Linda Goodall is the former executive director at The Lighthouse for further information contact Dalel Rowe, Executive Director at dale@orillialighthouse.ca