Sarnia eyes falls summit on homelessness

Service providers and community members in Sarnia are eyeing September for a community conversation about homelessness.

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“We need to cut through the ‘we’ and ‘they’ and help foster an ‘us’ approach,” said Jim Curran. “A whole community approach.”

Curran is one of about 20 people who met at downtown-Sarnia drop-in centre Nightlight recently, after he and a few others visited London to learn what the city has been doing in its approach to help homeless people and manage encampments.

London’s plan for a series of service and shelter hubs and highly-supportive housing — together laying out a framework for helping people in encampments move to housing — started with a big community conversation, said Rayjon Share Care’s John Barnfield, another member of what he called Outreach Group.

“We’re in a situation where there are so many different groups and different initiatives going on,” he said about the various efforts to help address homelessness in Sarnia-Lambton.

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“One of the things we’re trying to do is to bring those groups together so there will be a sense of collaboration and a sense of cooperation … which is exactly what London did about 18 to 24 months ago,” when some 200 groups met over three months to come up with the city’s plan, he said.

“We don’t need to copy it, we don’t need to duplicate it, but let’s at least learn from the good things that they have been doing,” he said.

That whole community approach includes people living in tents, like those in a 50-person encampment in Rainbow Park, and people unhappy with encampments in their neighbourhood, he said.

“They need to be part of the dialogue.”

Among those at the Nightlight meeting were Lambton County and Inn of the Good Shepherd representatives, Michael John Kooy, who is part of a group looking at longer-term supportive housing solutions, Sarnia city councillors Anne Marie Gillis, Chrissy McRoberts and Adam Kilner, and Sarnia Mayor Mike Bradley.

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There was agreement to hold the whole-of-community meeting — when and where haven’t been determined — to come up with a made-in-Sarnia solution.

But the meeting should focus on engaging people, not presentations from service providers, Bradley said.

“It needs to be real community engagement,” he said, warning that “will be painful … but it really has to be true engagement and not too many talking heads.”

The county’s Anita Trusler noted she’s working with the Sarnia-Lambton Ontario Health Team to compile a database of all service providers, what they’re doing in terms of helping with homelessness in Sarnia-Lambton, where and when.

Plans are to make that information available at the town hall, she said.

“So we can say ‘this is what’s available in our community, now how do we do this from a whole of community perspective,’ while also avoiding duplication and identifying gaps, she said.

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Many people want to help but don’t know all that’s already being done, said Myles Vanni with the Inn of the Good Shepherd, noting stepping in to help without that information can sometimes have negative consequences.

“So I think if we could focus that whole community, in terms of supporting those organizations and agencies … rather than trying to take six meals down and you get into a scrap because there’s 30 people wanting a meal,” he said.

Some are understandably angry and want immediate action, but sustainable solutions are needed, said Sarnia Coun. Chrissy McRoberts.

“It may take a little longer, but this is how we’re going to win,” she said.

Outreach Group also agreed to continue meeting, keeping dialogue going between service providers.

“I think that’s vital,” said Sarnia Coun. Adam Kilner.

“If we’re even going to take baby steps, the only way we’re going to go forward is if we somehow keep connecting (with) each other.”

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