Paul Jalbert, Executive Director of Canadian Mental Health Association Cochrane-Timiskaming (CMHA-CT), and Paul Ethier, Interim Executive Director of North Eastern Ontario Family and Children’s Services (NEOFACS), have issued the following joint statement regarding Living Space:
We would like to acknowledge the enormous efforts made by Living Space to bring together stakeholders to collaborate on the local strategies to end homelessness. These efforts have resulted in a significant shift in the will of community partners like ourselves to support collaborative programming.
The Living Space shelter location on Spruce Street South will provide a community hub with multiple areas for service partners to meet with people experiencing homelessness and work toward housing and recovery.
Research and data indicate that unemployment, lack of housing, and food insecurity play an important role in family crises that lead to involvement with community and social services. These findings show that effective prevention starts with ensuring that adequate economic and social supports are in place so that individuals and families can thrive.
At CMHA-CT and NEOFACS, we each strive to provide person-centered and collaborative service delivery that is offered at the right time, in the right place and using the right intervention or support. As community partners of Living Space, we collectively encourage active referrals to mental health, addictions, medical and various other supportive services in the community; ensuring the required wrap-around supports are in place to support guests.
Being able to operate at the Living Space Community Hub allows for a system of care that provides holistic, wraparound services that aims to address service gaps for our shared clients in Timmins.
The new meeting rooms at Living Space will provide our workers with enhanced opportunities to meet and provide support and preventive services to those experiencing or at-risk of experiencing homelessness with the services required to achieve and maintain stable housing. Access to these preventive services is critical for mitigating risks and improving outcomes.
Preventing Homelessness Requires a Collaborative Approach
Homelessness isn’t someone else’s issue; it affects all of us. Together we can break the cycle of homelessness, one person at a time.
According to Statistics Canada, upwards of 235 000 individuals residing in Canada experience homelessness in any given year, and 25 000 to 30 000 individuals may experience homelessness on any given night. These statistics continue to increase and suggest that homelessness in Ontario has been worsening over time, affecting younger cohorts while shifting geographically to smaller but rapidly growing municipalities.
The individuals who are guests at Living Space are our neighbours – they may be accessing services today but their past, and more importantly their future circumstances, may be different.
Contrary to many assumptions, homelessness does not only happen to a certain type of person. Homelessness is usually situational and can be caused by many factors such as a relationship breakdown, addictions, trauma, loss of job, lack of affordable housing or coping with various physical and mental health issues.
Solving the problem of homelessness will require increased action on the part of all of us. Just as there isn’t one single cause of homelessness, there isn’t one single organization or agency that can solve it alone.
We’re Here to Help and Be Part of the Solution
In partnership with other stakeholders, we continue our efforts to promote the need for supportive housing, as well as the need to reduce barriers to housing and supports.
The Canadian Mental Health Association (CMHA) Cochrane-Timiskaming Branch is part of Canada’s longest standing mental health organizations. CMHA-CT is a non-profit charitable organization offering community mental health services to individuals living with mental illness to support them in living fulfilling lives. CMHA-CT also creates awareness and understanding of mental illness in our communities through advocacy, education and campaigns.
North Eastern Ontario Family and Children’s Services (NEOFACS) is an integrated agency providing a range of services to children, youth and their families. At NEOFACS, we bring together the resources and opportunities that prepare youth and young adults to become confident, responsible and successful individuals. Our goal is to help youth transition to full independence. As a child welfare agency, we also play a significant role in reducing housing precarity and increasing educational and social stability for young people who rely on social supports or residential services. Improving the quality, stability and appropriateness of housing and other supports for youth in care is an important way that we can contribute to the prevention of youth homelessness at the prevention level.
We still have a lot of work to do as organizations, however we remain unwavering in our journey to work collaboratively with the community to develop a wide range of pathways to improve homelessness.
Reaching out for support can be difficult. But no matter the challenges you’re facing, there are people and services in our community that you can turn to at any time to help keep you and your family safe and supported. Let’s work together to abolish stigma and help members of our community.
Learn More:
To learn more about the community-wide initiatives working to end homelessness in Timmins, visit timmins.care.
For more information about Living Space, visit livingspacehub.org.
For more information about CMHA-CT, visit cmhact.ca. For additional information regarding our programs and services, please contact our Timmins office at 705-267-8100.
For more information about NEOFACS, visit neofacs.org. If you need help or know a young person or family in need of support, or if you have concerns about the safety or well-being of a child or youth under 18, you can reach NEOFACS by phone 24/7 at 705-360-7100 or toll-free at 1-800-665-7743.