Review: Here At Home

I've recently been made aware of a really cool project by the National Film Board of Canada (NFB).  Filmmakers decided to follow the At Home project, a four year study funded by the Government of Canada to learn about the effectiveness of a "housing first" approach compared to traditional programs and supports in place to address homelessness.

I have written about some housing first strategies before.  It's a model that I strongly believe in.  The basic premise is that by providing people with an affordable place to live (by subsidizing the rent) and bringing supports to them, individuals are more likely to recover from mental illness and addiction, and be less of a drain on expensive services such as hospitals and homeless shelters.

The Here At Home film project starts as a website that shows you a map of the cities where the study is being conducted and provides stats about homelessness.  When you click on a city, there will be an associated video you can watch.   When one video finishes, it will direct you to the next one.  Videos chronicle  the stories of study participants including tenants, support workers, and people in the traditional stream of homeless services.

These people are extremely familiar to me, but may not be to most Canadians.  I work in a supportive housing program (not one involved in this study) and the stories in the videos show a good reflection of the people and issues I see every day.  The filmmakers have not glossed over anything, and I think they have done a good job of showing the successes and the service gaps, the happy stories and the sad.

The best part is that this project isn't over.  The study will be completed in March 2013.  More videos are being posted in real time as the study continues.  The website also features a blog about the project, a timeline of Housing First in Canada and information about the study.  The site is interactive and engaging.  If you have a chance, I strongly encourage everyone to check it out.  I will be following along for the next year or so, and eagerly await the report when the study is completed.

Canada is the only G8 nation without a National Housing Strategy.

What it's worth, will it work?

Sometimes (often) we feel we just can't do as much as we'd like for clients.

One client of mine was facing particularly difficult financial straits this month for reasons outside of her control.  I offered to provide some grocery gift cards to help bridge the gap.  I was only able to get a $25 card, and felt a little sheepish giving it to her - I mean, you have a $0 bank account balance and need to eat for a whole month - how far is $25 bucks gonna go?  When we met again she told me she really appreciated my help and the card.  The day she went to the grocery store with it they had a "dollar sale".  How perfect!

Sometimes we worry that the situations our clients are facing are too difficult, and we worry about the barriers they face.

I helped this same client make a call for emergency rent bank help.  We were both surprised to find out how long it would take to complete the assessment and get help approved and processed.  She let them know the homeless deadline she was facing and they actually called her back really quickly.  She got in for an interview and to receive her money.  She called me several times that day distraught because it was a very dehumanizing experience for her.  But she got the money.  Got it to the landlord and secured new housing.

The next day the workers who called her back so quickly and processed her request went on strike.  If someone had not deigned to give her priority, what would have happened?  Sometimes when we think we face the impossible, the improbable happens.

When we work hard, sometimes it just might work out.

Tony, We Never Knew You

I would like to take this opportunity to say ‘good-bye’ to Tony. I never knew him personally, but I’d kind of hoped I might run into him someday if I was in his neighbourhood. I’ve profiled his blog here before, Homeless Man Speaks.


Tony died on Tuesday. Pictures of memorials to him are on his blog, and there was an article in the Toronto Star today about him.

Tony added a great perspective to all the social issue and Toronto blogs out there. He sent humour and reflection straight from the street. I hope he’s rockin’ some new pants out there in the universe.

Mental Health in the News

The Ontario Medical Association is set to present a new ad campaign, and have already released a list of “key health priorities” in advance of the provincial election later this year.

The summary of the list contains a couple of mentions to mental health care specifically. The OMA points out that people with mental illness tend to have complex health needs, and require health services more often, however only 1 out of 3 gets the care they need. They also highlight service gaps for young people and the negative effects this has on families. The ad campaign is said to focus heavily on mental health issues.

After having posted the other day about the Toronto mayor’s anti-homeless attitude, I heard statements on the radio that afternoon from Ontario’s Minister of Health Deb Matthews, commenting on the need for more community and supportive housing to address homelessness and mental health issues in the province. At least, I’m pretty sure that’s what I heard. I’ve searched and searched, and can’t find any links or articles about this. She has discussed these issues in the past however, and has a good track record of linking poverty and health issues.

Speculation continues as to the mental health status of Richard Kachkar, the man accused of killing police officer Ryan Russel by running him down with a stolen snowplow. While this story and ones such as the Arizona shooting seem to have led to some discussions about preventative mental health care and assessing risk of violence, I fear they are sometimes drowned out by the fascination of spectacle and political rhetoric. It’s especially disappointing in both cases to hear such frequent use of terms like “psycho” “crazy” “nutbar” etc. as though those offensive labels somehow explain why a person would commit these types of crimes.

The CBC radio program The Current has been running a great series on mental health. It is available to listen to online, or as a podcast.

Extremely Cold Attitudes (Toward Homeless)

It's -27 celcius today, and snowing. Many of my client's find it difficult to get out of the house much at this time of year. I find myself less and less enthused about bundling up to get in the car and head out to see them.

My thoughts mostly are with the group I used to work with - the homeless and underhoused. An extreme cold weather alert has been called, but we know that some will still be outside.

An older gentleman that I support was distraught last year after his brother died on the steets of Calgary. He was found in a snowbank.

At least that city seems to have a plan in place to address the issue of homelessness, a plan that seems to be making progress.

Calgary's 10 Year Plan seems to be simple and straightforward. First, create permenant affordable housing for individuals and families. Provide support for mental health and addictions. Recognize the systemic issues that create homelessness, and acknowledge the economic toll that it takes on a community. It's great to see such an honest discussion of the problem occuring at a civic level. Several cities in the U.S. have similar plans and report largely positive changes so far.

I only wish that this was a conversation that City Hall in Toronto would have ears for. Instead, we have new Mayor Rob Ford's recent suggestion that social workers should be made security guards of the steets and force homeless people into shelters during extreme cold. Mayor Ford made no comments regarding plans for these folks once the weather warms (to greater than -15). As a city councillor, Ford made his feelings on the matter quite clear stating "People do not want government housing built in the city of Toronto. They want roads fixed, more police presence, but they don't want more government housing that will depreciate the value of their property."
He also cried that it would be "an insult" to his constituents to even discuss having a homeless shelter built in his ward.

So I guess it's up to us - front line agencies, community activists, and the people who need the housing around here to keep up the fight. To find the allies we undoubtedly have in city hall and elsewhere. Not that that is anything new.

Shout Outs

Someone recently pointed me in the direction of Homeless Man Speaks. I’ve been reading the archives, it’s great.

Also, thanks to cb for the mention in your “Weekend Links.” I’m working my way through some of the other bloggers mentioned.

Updates to the blogroll to follow!

I can't believe I made it to...

Seriously.  I really didn't know if I would stick to it with this blog long enough, but I'm glad I have.  I still find it cathartic and enjoyable to post into the great nether-world of the web my daily notions and mutterings to an audience of whomever happens to stumble across it.  That's good enough for me! 

I thought that to mark this special occasion, some good news was in order.  Edmond Place in the Parkdale neighbourhood of Toronto will be having an open house this week.  This remarkable housing project was completed in only three years due to community collaboration and support from the municipal government.  The project is named for Edmond Yu, a man with paranoid schizophrenia who lived in the building when it was a derelict rooming house in the 1990's.  He was evicted, and was later shot and killed by police when he caused a disturbance on a city bus.  The building suffered a fire in 1998 leaving many more homeless. 

I sincerly believe that supporting people with mental illness to stay safely housed can help to avoid such tragedies.  Of course there are other benefits as well - Saving money to the health care system, safer neighbourhoods, community and dignity for the people living there.

I look forward to seeing more projects like this.

The Whole Story

Ontario is having municipal elections this year. I read this article this morning about one of the leading candidates in Toronto, Rob Ford. While I’m not sure who I’m going cast my vote for yet, I can’t say I’m a big fan of Ford. His general platform seems to be of the ‘cut taxes, cut services’ variety, and to be frank, he seems like a real blowhard. Not exactly my style.

I bring this up because I think the article does a good job highlighting some of the challenges that come up time and again when trying to fund social programs. We know (or most people in social services know anyway) that things like poverty, addiction and homelessness are difficult issues to address. Positive change will only come from systemic changes in supports, programs, and people’s attitudes.

It may be very easy for Ford to rail against thousands of dollars being spent on cigarettes and “to give free wine to homeless people” but it is short sighted, and it definitely doesn’t tell the whole story. He gives a line similar to what we hear from those who oppose things like harm reduction, safe injection sites and the special diet allowance (an issue which Ford has also had his say on, and really made a mess)

I’m reminded of many stories, but one in particular of a woman I helped support when I was working on a homeless outreach program. She had been chronically homeless, had schizophrenia, diabetes, and crack addiction. Naturally, she had a long back story that I won’t go into here. After she stabilized somewhat during a lengthy shelter stay, we were able to find her suitable housing. The trick was making sure she got her injection of medication every two weeks so she stayed well enough to maintain that housing. The only way our nurse could guarantee to see her every two weeks was to bring her a coffee and a pack of cigarettes. Now surely this was cheaper than paying for her to be in a shelter, hospital, or detox clinic all the time? Surely this helped her to live a better quality of life!

I really wish some people would take the time to look at the whole picture.

The World Cares About Homelessness

As with most major events of its kind, when Canada hosted the Olympics in Vancouver a few months ago, there was much skepticism about the benefits of the event to the city. The population was divided between those excited to be on the world stage, and those who felt strongly that resources would be better put towards dealing with the highest HIV rate in North America, a growing homeless population, and other social issues in the city.

While I for one really do like to believe that these events can offer a chance for a positive legacy in a city, I was appalled but not totally shocked when I read this article about the “affordable housing units” that are now up for rent in Vancouver. They were constructed as part of the Olympic Village development plan, and were promised to be turned into badly needed “social housing” for the city.

Please tell me how teachers, paramedics, police, and public sector workers are being discriminated against by landlords, or facing chronic rates of homelessness? Why on earth would these professionals be the target population for any “social housing” project? And can even they afford the $1600 rent (for only 640 sq. ft.)!!!!!!!

Canada has been "working on" a national housing strategy to end homelessness for 17 years now. Is this as far as we've come?

In related news, street children in South Africa are being forcibly moved to remote areas prior to the World Cup tournament.

Maybe I'm Not Such a Bad Influence

My six year old (blessedly) has learned to get up on her own on weekends. I can usually count on her entertaining herself for an hour or two before I need to get out of bed. So this Saturday when I awoke particularly late to a quiet house, I knew she must be really engrossed in something. My first thought was “what kind of mess am I going to walk into downstairs?”

I arrive in the living room to see that she has been setting up a “store”. She was very thoughtful and attentive to detail, setting up displays, keeping a little broom and dustpan for cleanup, making a sign for the store (“Baby Fiatt” which apparently is her creative spelling for “Baby Fit” as it was all her baby doll stuff) and getting out her toy cash register.

Next to the register, she had a little bowl to which she had taped a sign (I’ll spare you more creative spelling): Please help the homeless people.

When my sister came over later with my baby nephew, she was made to “shop” the store, and instructed to put her “change” in the bowl.

I know you!

I received a new referral this morning, and the name was strikingly familiar.

You know it’s a sad story when I’ve encountered the same person in the three different sectors I have worked in – women abuse, homelessness, and now mental health. Of course, they are all connected, so it’s not uncommon. At least from what this referral says, it looks like she’s left her abusive ex.

Well, c’mon in honey, sit down. I genuinely hope we can help.