Peter Thomas
Peter welcomed Rotary to the Community Room which they offer to groups like Wendat as a way to contribute to the community. He said he wanted to give a bit of a behind the scenes view of what several agencies are doing to help those in need in ways that the general public may not be aware of.
The Simcoe County Alliance to End Homelessness is composed of 6 chapters and in Midland it is at the Community Reach which hosts the Housing Registry and works with landlords and renters. But it is only part of a 'housing continuum'. 15 years ago the idea of a shelter was introduced but it was soon apparent more was needed because the County only funds a bed for an individual for 28 days which isn't enough. So Shelter Now was created and the Community Outreach, which is 2 guys working 20 hours a week. These guys can identify those in need and steer them to the right place. Shelter Now works to settle people, not just place them, and get them into permanent situations from which they can continue to improve their situation. Because there is communication and a stream for people to follow there is little duplication and little competition for funding.
People often turn up at the food bank in need of other assistance and Peter would suggest they go to Community Reach but he never knew if they went and they didn't know to expect them so they developed an on line referral system or alert that tracked these people. This is being reviewed by the County for wider implementation and may be introduced at the Provincial level.
Someone taken from the jail to a hearing at the Midland courthouse and released is immediately no longer a responsibility of Corrections which means they can't be put on the vehicle back to the jail. They have to get there themselves to pick up their papers, meds and belongings. So they would turn up at the Salvation Army. Or they used to. Through a local initiative that is now Provincial practice the individual is now given 'a day less served' which leaves them in the hands of corrections officers who are then allowed to take them back and release them properly.
Another problem like this was that a person out of jail had to re-register for services in Orillia but they had no way to get there. Now, the papers are available at the local MPP's office. Sue Skelton won a provincial award for this initiative.
It's difficult to put a number to local homelessness - people are always on the move. But the numbers are hard. Ontario Works gives a single person $612.00 and an average one bedroom costs about $700.00. Even a rooming house is as much as 500. Now they can go to the Guest House for meals and get help with moves and problems from the street team and get help gettin back on their feet. The question Peter says he gets is "why can't they change?" and the answer, often, is cheap values. Generations of poverty have predestined the next to different values than we accept as the norm.
There is a disconnect between our area's need for housing and the County's plan for building it. Barrie, Collingwood, Bradford WG, Wasaga and Innisfil are getting most of the funding because they are growing the most but it is north Simcoe, with the jail and Waypoint that has the higher mental health population.
Ralph thanked Peter for his talk and for his support of Rotary - helping with the food drive and at the Party on the Dock. He suggested Peter should join the Club.