The Council supports the proposed homeless and addiction treatment center

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City councilors are enthusiastically backing a proposed Homeless and Addictions Recovery Treatment Center (Hart).

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

“I’m very excited to support this,” Coun. Mandy Samwell (Ward 5) said. “It will have such a huge impact on our community and I look forward to a positive outcome from the application.”

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

“I look forward to the time when people who need help have someone by their side, 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 the proposal include 24/7 access to showers, laundry, restrooms and shelter intake.

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

The centers would connect people with complex needs with a comprehensive and local approach to treatment. They will provide a range of services including primary care, mental health and addictions care, social services and employment support.

In addition, the centers will increase the availability and access to supportive housing to promote stability for clients and communities.

Formerly known as St. Leonard’s Community Services, SOAR has been providing housing, employment, justice, addiction and mental health programs to the community for over 56 years.

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

“Everything I’ve read has said that treatment is not successful or rarely successful if there is no housing attached,” Carpenter said. “After treatment, 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 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 we need,” Van Tilborg said. “We were failing and everyone could see it.

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

The proposal lays the groundwork and provides the necessary tools and logistics, Van Tilborg said.
“We’ve all heard of people falling through the cracks and ending up back 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 be treated, and that’s not enough in an opioid crisis, Van Tilborg said.

“All municipalities need this support,” Van Tilborg said.

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

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

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

The SOAR proposal is supported by 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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