HART Hub expected to launch in Barrie by July
On Wednesday, city council received an update from the County of Simcoe, detailing its homelessness strategies to date, including what stage the Homelessness and Addiction Recovery Treatment (HART) hub will be ready in the city.
The County was approved to set up a HART hub in Barrie this past winter, alongside 26 other locations across the province. The hubs will also replace outgoing consumption and treatment service sites scattered across cities in Ontario.
On Wednesday, the County told city council it was making major progress towards finally opening the services to the region's most vulnerable.
The County said it is currently in what it calls a 'soft launch' phase of a four-phase process with the new treatment option.
'We're scheduling some wellness clinics between May and June to get out there in the community, meet folks who may be eligible for heart hub services, and get started right away with some specific services,' said Amy Marshall, Community Support and Wellbeing director at the County of Simcoe. 'Not the full launch, but some services that are more available immediately.'
The County said the hub would include a wide range of mental health and addictions services, including treatment, recovery, supportive housing, primary healthcare and social and human services.
The HART hub will also work in tandem with existing services throughout the county, to look at expanding the services throughout the region.
'That integrated approach is really what's going to be useful for folks,' Marshall added.
The county also updated city council on other measures it is taking to tackle homelessness in the city, including the controversial clearing of an encampment at Berczy Park last summer.
According to the county, since crews moved in to help offer support, 75 per cent of those living in the encampment have now transitioned into permanent housing.
'Of those who are in and out of shelter, they're still being supported with our traditional supports,' said Mina Fayez-Bahgat, the County's Social and Community Services Manager. 'it's a very good pilot of what a 'Streets to Homes' model looks like, where you take someone literally from outside, consistently work with them to ultimately result in housing, permanent housing.'
Councillor Jim Harris asked how the County's work on tackling homelessness relates to ongoing affordable housing projects, such as on Rose Street.
Fayez-Bahgat told council that while the two are not directly tied together, supportive housing can provide an avenue for those going through the HART hub system to find housing that's more appropriate to their needs.
'The idea is by creating net new housing, you can start to move around your properties to create openings so that you can dedicate it for more specific health-based service,' he said. 'We knew that we need to end homelessness using these units, but we want to do it in a strategic way that allows people to come with supports – we create it through the creation of more housing.'
The County said its next steps are to look at creating more transitional and supportive units, such as modular rapid-rehousing programs that it has currently set up across the region.
Over the next decade, it will look to create at least 1000 affordable county-owned units across Simcoe County, as part of its affordable housing master plan.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
CBC
an hour ago
- CBC
Suffering in silence no more: How peer support helps people with chronic pain
Janice MacMillan recalls driving home from work trying to breathe through a flare-up of excruciating chest pain, all while contemplating this heavy question: "What's the point of living if this is my life?" MacMillan has suffered from chronic pain for more than 45 years. She once felt hopeless, alone and invalidated — until she found a new purpose. The 62-year-old woman has made it her life's mission to help people with chronic pain in a province where people wait years to see specialists and where pain clinics are understaffed. "I was meant to be here and I'm fighting hard so that every person on the South Shore, even Nova Scotia, not be left behind," said MacMillan, who is originally from Ontario but moved to Liverpool, N.S., in 2021. MacMillan's experience is not unique. More than 20 per cent of Canadians live with chronic pain, an invisible condition advocates say is still widely misunderstood by not only the public but even doctors and nurses. After experiencing barriers to the health-care system first-hand, MacMillan started a grassroots support group for people with chronic pain on the province's South Shore, just as similar groups are cropping up in other areas of the province and across Canada. These advocates want people with chronic pain to know they're not alone 1 hour ago Duration 3:35 Peer support groups for people with chronic pain are starting to crop up across Canada, as advocates work to break down the stigma surrounding the invisible condition. The CBC's Aly Thomson has the story. MacMillan was diagnosed with fibromyalgia — a condition that causes widespread pain in muscles and soft tissues — in her late 20s. At the time, there were no treatments, and she was often dismissed by health-care professionals, given the condition was not yet widely recognized. She was denied medications and had no information about how to deal with her lifelong affliction, which — to this day — can be debilitating. So she suffered. "I don't think people understand what chronic pain can do. It's like someone taking a chisel and chiseling a part of you little by little," said MacMillan, who was an ICU nurse before her condition forced her to stop that line of work. "My family didn't believe me and the world didn't believe me. They treated me like I was an idiot or I was not mentally all together." Her pain was made worse by a head injury resulting from a fall in October 2015 and from being hit by a truck in January 2016. These accidents caused brain damage and impacted her short-term memory. 'The silent screams' Four years ago, she decided to leave her life in Ontario behind and move to the Maritime province where her ancestors came from. She also left behind her pain specialist. Unable to access one in a timely manner in Nova Scotia and discovering Yarmouth Regional Hospital did not have a staffed pain clinic, she had an epiphany. "Long ago, I said I wanted something good to come out of all the pain, all the silent screams and all the tears," she said. "I had to go through all that so I understood what other people have gone through." She decided to organize a support group for people with chronic pain, funding the startup costs with her own savings. The South Shore Chronic Pain Support Community — which was recently incorporated as a non-profit — holds monthly meetings where people come together in an empathic environment to share experiences and learn coping strategies. They also invite guest speakers, such as acupuncturists, to offer tips on pain management. Peer support groups for people who suffer from chronic pain are gaining traction across Canada, where roughly 7.6 million people will suffer from chronic pain during their lifespan. In 2019, Ottawa created a task force that looked at the state of chronic pain, finding it has a "tremendous impact" on the economy, with direct and indirect costs that totalled nearly $40.3 billion that year. The task force's work resulted in an action plan, where 150 recommendations were made and six overarching goals were outlined to improve care and support. Those included having equitable and consistent access to care and legitimizing and destigmatizing chronic pain, which can be brought on by everything from injury to disease. It also recommended providing resources to further develop and scale peer-support initiatives across Canada. Maria Hudspith, co-chair of the task force and the executive director of the advocacy groups Pain Canada and Pain BC, said peer support is a crucial piece of the puzzle in someone's pain management. "When people are living with pain, they don't just need a doctor — they need coaching, they need peer support and to feel understood by other people living with the same condition," said Hudspith. "If you think about any experience in your own life and then you think about the value of somebody who shares that experience, whether it's losing someone and grieving, whether it's getting fired … you just think about when you connect with somebody who gets that, it's so important." Pain Canada tracks the progress of the action plan on its website. Only one of the report's recommendations has been completed as of June, but as many as 120 recommendations are in progress. The recommendation related to peer support is listed as ongoing. Hudspith said British Columbia has the most robust peer support network, with 14 biweekly groups. But groups are also getting off the ground in Alberta and Quebec, as well as the Atlantic region. Virginia McIntyre, 61, has been living with chronic pain for more than a decade after injuring her shoulder, eventually forcing her to leave her career in diagnostic imaging and preventing her from doing activities she enjoyed like running marathons and playing soccer. Her mental health suffered. That is, until she learned how to manage her pain after seeing a pain specialist and going through Nova Scotia Health's self-management program. She wanted to help others, so she started the People in Pain Network in 2017, which offers virtual peer-support meetings and in-person meetings in the Annapolis Valley and Sydney, with plans to expand into Newfoundland and Labrador. McIntyre said managing pain has a multidisciplinary approach that involves an array of professionals like primary care providers, psychologists and social workers. But it can take years of waiting to get that kind of holistic care, all while the person is still in pain. "We build connections. We decrease that isolation," said McIntyre in an interview from her home in Coldbrook, N.S., where the walls are decorated with photos of her two daughters and grandchildren. "For some people, they say this is the only time they get out of the house or they join us virtually to be in a space that they feel heard and call it their home base." McIntyre, who was able to return to her job after three years, said her network has partnered with other organizations like Pain BC and Pain Canada to develop a curriculum and train facilitators, so that people wanting to set up support groups in their community can do so based on best practices. Pain clinic wait times Nova Scotia Health Minister Michelle Thompson declined a request for an interview. In a statement, Nova Scotia Health said it offers a virtual group-based educational program for people living with chronic pain that does not require a referral and covers topics to self-manage pain such as body awareness, mindful movement and goal setting. Asked what the current staffing levels and wait times are at the province's 10 health-care sites with chronic pain services, spokesperson Jennifer Lewandowski said wait times vary from clinic to clinic, but would not provide specifics. "As with other areas of care, we have ongoing efforts occurring to improve access to care and better co-ordinate how we manage and deliver care to patients with these unique and complex needs," said Lewandowski. Here's what it's like to live with chronic pain 1 hour ago Duration 2:55 Living with chronic pain can be debilitating. Here's what it's been like for three Nova Scotians. Bruce Wentzell attended the very first meeting of the South Shore Chronic Pain Support Community last September and liked what he heard, so he became a board member. Wentzell was 67 years old and working as a transit driver when his foot became caught in the hydraulic arm of a bus, causing him to fall and unknowingly rupturing his spleen, leading to months of internal bleeding that caused permanent nerve damage in his legs and gut. Now 72, Wentzell said his family supported him as he navigated his new way of living, but knows not everyone has that kind of help. That's why this group is so important, he said. "I think that people sometimes, in the system that we're in, think that it's the government's job to fix them, to take care of them. But it's your job too," said Wentzell, his forearm crutches resting on the table beside him. "There are ways that you have to act to try and get help. And if your problem has got you so far down that you're just mad at everything, you have to change your attitude a little bit so that people can help you." MacMillan said while Wentzell's words ring true, politicians do have a role to play and more government resources should be devoted to chronic pain clinics in the province. She vows to fight for that "to my dying day." "I want the people that are making the decisions to come down here and hear the stories," said MacMillan, pausing to compose herself.
Globe and Mail
2 hours ago
- Globe and Mail
‘Carney may have caved, but the rest of us don't have to.' Letters to the editor for July 3
Re 'Like Terry Fox, RBC executive refused to be defeated by bone cancer' (Report on Business, July 1): Bravo to The Globe for the achingly beautiful story about the inspirational Chinyere Eni. Now, more than ever, Canadians need to celebrate our heroes. Chinyere is a master class in courage, grit, passion and determination. Like Terry Fox, she represents the best of the Canadian values our country was built upon. I first met Chinyere at the first Ride to Conquer Cancer event in 2008. Her daunting push to the finish line of the 100-kilometre hilly course brought thousands of riders to their feet and many of us to tears. Her story became embedded in the DNA of the ride, now in its 18th year of raising funds for cancer research at the Princess Margaret Cancer Centre. I hope we all get a chance to reflect on our Canadian heroes like Terry Fox and Chinyere Eni. Parents and grandparents, may I suggest you take a few minutes to share Chinyere's story with your kids this week. It is a made-in-Canada story about a transformational Canadian hero very much worth sharing. Paul Alofs, former CEO of the Princess Margaret Cancer Foundation Toronto Re 'Newfoundland A-G identifies potential fraud in travel nurse agency billings' (June 26): Better late than never, but why so late? Sixteen months after an admirably extensive and detailed Globe and Mail investigation ('Have nurses, will travel'), the Newfoundland and Labrador Auditor-General now reports findings that are, surprisingly, described as 'surprising.' Curiously absent in the long-overdue report is the typical ministry response. Audit best practices require management to acknowledge findings and commit to corrective actions with responsibilities, timelines and resources. A 2025 Ontario Auditor-General report on the safety of non-municipal drinking water contained 17 recommendations. Ministry of Health responses blandly agreed, but promises to 'evaluate,' 'consider' and 'explore options' proposed no timelines or accountabilities. This pattern of reluctance to confront problems until publicly exposed, then dodge responsibility, echoes federal disasters such as Phoenix and ArriveCan and serves as a cautionary reminder of the challenges facing incoming clerk of the Privy Council Michael Sabia. Chester Fedoruk Toronto Re 'The false world of mommy influencers' (Opinion, June 28): Oh, to be very young, photogenic and rich so you can offer breezy advice on achieving your (mostly) fantasy life! I'm all for new, fresh voices joining the conversation about shaping society, but more than equal weight must be given to years of hard-earned experience. To quote that famous influencer RuPaul, 'You better work.' Mike Karapita Toronto Re 'When 'justice' is a joke' (Opinion, June 28): I read with some interest your columnist's take on the sentencing of the young woman who was convicted of being an accessory to Karolina Huebner-Makurat's tragic murder. And by inference her support of Ontario Premier Doug Ford's criticism of 'left-leaning lenient judges.' Most people, I am sure, winced about the details behind Khalila Mohammed's offence. But your writer's view of what an appropriate sentence is falls back on tired notions, particularly that incarceration is the only form of 'real' deterrence. I am not privy to the evidence and submissions regarding Ms. Mohammed's background for the sentencing, but I venture to say it revealed she was sincerely remorseful and that her rehabilitation was well under way. And it would be hard to underestimate the crushing public opprobrium and personal humiliation that resulted from the nationally publicized details concerning her arrest and conviction. There is also the very real risk that sending someone to jail endangers their progress and commitment to social values – in your columnist's parlance, the 'lie down with dogs, get up with fleas' principle. I have no doubt that Justice Russell Silverstein would not shrink from imposing a substantial jail sentence if that had been appropriate for the offender in front of him. But in this case he didn't do what was popular, to your columnist or to the Premier of Ontario, for that matter. However, I have to think he did the right thing, not just for the individual involved but for the people of Ontario. It's now up to Ms. Mohammed to show whether he was right or wrong. Joe Wright Toronto Re 'What is behind Carney walking back the DST?' (Report on Business, July 1): Like Taylor C. Noakes, I am sorely disappointed in Mark Carney for cancelling the digital services tax. In fact, I'm kind of in a rage. All I can think of to do is to 'tax' those big American companies myself, by boycotting them. I'm cancelling my Amazon membership, forgoing Prime, using local taxi companies instead of Uber. I urge all Canadians to consider hitting back at those American transnationals that won't even pay a paltry 3 per cent in taxes to the Canadians who pay them billions. Carney may have caved, but the rest of us don't have to. Audrey Samson Halifax Prime Minister Mark Carney has shown regrettable weakness in cancelling the digital services tax – and he may be disappointed if he thinks that concession will be enough to get trade talks back on track. As Taylor C. Noakes argues, there is a perfectly good policy basis for taxing the enormous profits that American tech giants make in Canada. Now what will happen when President Donald Trump goes after our dairy and poultry supply management system, about which he has quite legitimate grounds for complaint, given its protectionist and market-distorting nature? Will that become the hill the Prime Minister chooses to die on? Peter Maitland Lindsay, Ont. Re 'Carney 'caved' on DST, according to U.S.' (July 1): It pains me to find myself in agreement with both the White House and Pierre Poilievre that the Carney Liberals 'caved' on the digital services tax. We've just watched the spectacle of tech oligarch Jeff Bezos essentially buying Venice for his multimillion-dollar wedding extravaganza, but we don't have the stomach to insist that he pay a 3-per-cent tax on the business he does in Canada? Those tax dollars are needed to finance all kinds of public infrastructure and services that support Amazon's success. Bezos and his tech bros need to pay their fair share. What happened to the promise of 'elbows up' – standing our ground and defending our values? Susan Watson Guelph, Ont. For those who say Canada caved to President Trump when the DST was cancelled, I remind them that we were not obliterated. Peter Woolstencroft Waterloo .................................................................................................................................. Letters to the Editor should be exclusive to The Globe and Mail. Include your name, address and daytime phone number. Keep letters to 150 words or fewer. Letters may be edited for length and clarity. To submit a letter by e-mail, click here: letters@
CTV News
4 hours ago
- CTV News
ER closure on St. Joseph's Island this weekend
The emergency department at Richard's Landing on St. Joseph's Island will be closed from 8 a.m. Friday to 8 a.m. Sunday due to a staffing shortage. Ambulances will be rerouted to Thessalon or Sault Area Hospital. Health officials urge residents to plan accordingly.
