Council backs proposed homelessness and addiction treatment hub

City councilors are enthusiastically supporting a proposed Homelessness and Addiction Recovery Treatment (Hart) Hub.

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Councilors on Tuesday voted unanimously in favor of the proposal being led by SOAR Community Services. The social service agency is applying to the provincial government to be one of 10 new HART Hubs to be established across Ontario by early 2025.

“I’m really thrilled to support this,” Coun. Mandy Samwell (Ward 5) said. “It’s going to have such a huge impact on our community and I look forward to a positive result from the application.”

If the application is successful, the city will finally have true wraparound services for those who need help, Samwell said.

“I’m looking forward to the time when people who need help will have someone walk beside them, holding their hand every step of the way making sure they get the services they need.”

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Samwell said she is especially pleased to see that the proposal includes 24-hour, seven-day-a-week access to showers, laundry, bathrooms and shelter intake.

The provincial government is planning to spend $378 million over four years to create the HART Hubs.

The hubs would connect people with complex needs to a comprehensive, locally-based approach to treatment. They will provide a range of services including primary care, mental health and addiction care, social services and employment support.

As well, the hubs will increase availability and access to supportive housing to promote stability for clients and communities.

Formerly known as St. Leonard’s Community Services, SOAR has been delivering housing, employment, justice, addictions and mental health programs in the community for more than 56 years.

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Coun. Richard Carpenter congratulated the government for listening to those who have advocated for this approach.

“Everything I’ve read has said treatment is not successful or is rarely successful if there is no housing attached to it,” Carpenter said. “After treatment, the individuals go back to where their last friends were and the drugs are right there.”

Carpenter said he hopes the proposal will lead to an actual treatment center that includes housing so that services are readily available.

Coun. Brian Van Tilborg said the proposal represents a much-needed change of direction in response to the opioid and homelessness crisis.

“This is the start, this is the start that we need,” Van Tilborg said. “We were failing and everyone could see it.

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“But we couldn’t do anything about it because we didn’t have the tools.”

The proposal lays the groundwork and provides the tools and logistics needed, Van Tilborg said.
“We’ve all heard about people who fall through the cracks and end up going back to where they came from,” Van Tilborg said. “Or those who miss the opportunity to get into a (treatment) bed because it just wasn’t there.”

Only a few would get treated and that’s not enough in an opioid crisis, Van Tilborg said.

“Every municipality needs this support,” Van Tilborg said.

Mayor Kevin Davis said the community is lucky to have an agency like SOAR Community Services that can come up with a strong proposal in a short period of time.

The leadership at SOAR was at the starting line, ready to respond to the government’s proposal even before it was announced, Davis said.

“They realized that this was likely to happen and they were ready to respond,” Davis said. “It’s amazing that they were able to put this together with so many other stakeholders.”

The SOAR proposal is supported Brantford Native Housing De dwa da dehs nye>s Aboriginal Health Centre, Grand River Community Health Center and Brant Community Health Centre.

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