Toronto: From Streets to Homes

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Toronto From Streets to Homes

• May 2, 2005

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Homeless Services in Toronto

• Street Survival
• Engagement Referral (high support)
• Drop-ins
• Shelters supports services
• Housing Help
• Housing
• Eviction Prevention
• Supports follow-up/employment/others

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Context What Changed?

• Then
• vacancy rate very low
• no affordable units
• 10-year drought in new social housing
• Options
• shelters or streets so help people survive

• Now
• record high vacancies
• some affordable units in private market
• new affordable housing production growing
• Streets to Homes models
• Options
• now include housing

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From Streets to Homes

• Feb. 1 3, 2005
• http//w3.toronto.ca/legdocs/2005/agendas/council/c
  c050201/pof2rpt/agendain.pdf
• City Council make a commitment to ending street
  homelessness by working with other orders of
  government, private sector landlords, such as the
  Greater Toronto Apartment Association, and
  community partners to implement an outreach-based
  and rent support-based Homelessness Strategy to
  assist homeless persons find permanent housing.

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Four Areas/Key Recommendations

• Outreach Services
• City outreach team
• counting and needs assessment
• mobile health-based outreach
• Access to Public Space
• City by-law no sleeping
• enforcement outreach support protocol

• Affordable Housing
• 1,000 unit per year target
• vacant lands/buildings
• partnership with other levels of governments
• Govt Collaboration
• coordinate efforts of City and related
  ministries
• funds for supportive/ alternative housing
• convert provincial per diems to housing/supports

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Streets to Housing

• Three recent initiatives
• Tent City - streets to housing with rent
  supplements
• Next Steps - making more room in shelters
• Bathurst Bridge - streets to housing on social
  assistance

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Tent City
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(No Transcript)
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Tent City New Housing

• Rent Supplements Personal Supports
• eligibility tent city resident, 16 (112
  tenants/108 hhs)
• private landlords guaranteed 3 months last
  months rent
• housing support workers
• rent supplement personal supports not tied to
  one unit
• People could move without losing their rent
  supplement or their personal supports

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Evaluation Findings

• Health Impacts
• The best method of harm reduction is housing.
• Quality of Life
• returned to school 17
• working full-time 2
• part-/short-term work 11
• seeking employment 11
• addiction treatment/rehab21
• volunteering 23
• Less Expensive
• http//www.toronto.ca/housing/pdf/tentcity5.pdf

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Less Expensive
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Tent City Summary

• Lessons learned
• link rent supplements and personal supports to
  individuals instead of units
• do not need to spend months or years preparing
  the individual for housing
• more compassionate and costs less
• DO IT AGAIN!

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Building on Success Next Steps Project
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Bathurst Bridge
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Bathurst Bridge

• immediate health and safety
• demolition of adjacent building
• basis for enforcement/support protocol
• Council approved in streets to homes
• no new program or , no rent supplements
• What does each person need to help them
  from streets to housing?
• How can we align existing resources and
  entitlements to make it happen?
• How can we do it fast?

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Edward Street

• On cold alert nights, we usually pick up 2 maybe
  3 people who will go to a shelter. During the
  last cold alert, we picked up 12 and a dog.
  With Edward, we had something real to promise
  them.
• Survival Outreach Team member

• Winter Plan
• 24/7 service model
• assessment and referral services
• 8 pm to 8 am
• on-site shelter
• linked to outreach teams
• extended drop-in hours
• singles and couples
• low threshold/pets

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How many people are Homeless?

• street count vs. assessing needs
• definitions absolute homeless, in shelters,
  hidden
• season? when? who?
• how the results are to be used?
• longitudinal
• program assessment and redesign
• advocacy and education/public relations
• Methodology recommendations due to Council
  this summer. Stay tuned!

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Nathan Philips Square By-law