By Stephanie Mancini
Published in December 2021
Our work, as it has been lived during the pandemic, has been hard and deep, relentless and beautiful, as we have stood with people who are left out in so many ways – of housing, of indoor spaces, of bathrooms, of safety, of work. Many of the updates in Good Work News reflect the breadth and depth of the activities we have engaged in, but these stories have not been enough to convey the depth of the numbers of people affected. We have:
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Opened our doors at St. John’s Kitchen to those who are unsheltered, supporting access to bathrooms, showers, food, community and healthcare supports;
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We serve 600 meals a day to people needing access to food supports;
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We support 70+ people in motels offering interim shelter based on health and mental health issues;
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We support 80 people at University Ave interim housing;
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We problem solve the income support and work related issues for people who are teetering on the edge of homelessness;
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We have participated in consistent strategic problem-solving tables focusing on youth homelessness, adult men homelessness, adult women homelessness, unsheltered homelessness.
Our work has responded to the basic needs of people before us for food, tents, sleeping bags, support, problem-solving complex mental health and health access, job searching, income support conundrums. A person at a time, a situation at a time. Each important and teaching us about the challenges before us as people in our community face deeper hardships, particularly centred on the lack of affordable housing.
The Record article about the Point in Time Count, which reported the efforts to draw attention to this issue stated “hundreds of people are living in the roughest possible conditions, have been homeless for months on end and struggle with other serious health issues while also being without a permanent home.”
Waterloo Regional Councillor Jim Erb stated, “‘I think it’s a wake-up call for all of us in the community to recognize how widespread this is.’ Hundreds of people living without access to shelter or housing, and cold winter weather approaching.”
See the highlights of the Point In Time Count on page one of Good Work News.
How do we make sense of this as a Waterloo Region reality? Now what?
There are long-term systemic strategies that are important, and we keep at the work of this change, but it does not reflect the urgency and importance of short-term responses now.
Every day in our work we see hardship, a poison drug supply, deep physical and mental health issues and breakdown, people who are becoming more disenfranchised, stealing from one another to support a pervasive drug dependency, people looking for work that can support the increasing cost for housing/shelter.
Every day in our work we see beautiful acts of solidarity as people gather to share a place, watch to keep each other alive, ally with us in creative ways to create community, humbly walk through the challenges they face.
Every day in our work, we see the importance of small, strategic, steady acts of radical kindness that work to unravel the deep challenges that mire people in a web of complexities.
There are many stories, people, moments that could be shared in Good Work News. Two stories will highlight the risks faced by people who are off-grid and homeless, and those who are at risk of losing their housing.
Holding on to Housing
J was a man who had built a life supporting a disabled partner. He had about $250/month in income but worked as her live-in care-giver in subsidized housing. Unfortunately, COVID took her away this Spring, and he descended into depression, overwhelmed by his situation and the world around him. As she had gotten sicker, they had fallen behind in rental payments and owed arrears. After she died he receded from the world and was unable to face the realities around him, thus leading to an eviction notice. A chance meeting with an old friend, a Working Centre housing worker, helped to start to open up the story, followed by an email to ask – what can we do?
A beautiful series of events ensued. J was connected to our Money Matters team, where we explored his potential for a social income, for access to benefits through completing a couple of years of income tax returns, and helped him to receive survivor benefits through OAS. An application to Trillium Drug Benefits helped him to receive support for his medication expenses. He was connected to Ontario Works emergency benefits, helped to access supports for an eye exam, and we are working to help him get the coverage he needs to get new glasses. He will have back payment coming to him that may be close to the amount he owes in arrears. The eviction notice still looms and our housing team stepped in to problem-solve. Conversations with his landlord have determined the process has to continue at this time as planned, but we will walk with him through the RTA hearing and hope to strategize a way he is not evicted, and can come up with a payment plan for arrears. He turns 65 soon and will receive more income at that point.
More than anything, he feels heard, feels like he has allies around him, and the problems don’t feel as daunting as they were. Complex, inter-related issues leave people feeling so overwhelmed that they become frozen and unable to act. Patient listening, unravelling of the knots, improving access and feeling the support of a community – these are the stepping stones through the rapids that threaten people’s well-being.
A Christmas Story
And now for our “Christmas story”, which layers this story in myth, but also reminds us that these are moments that can be lost so easily in the blur of the day-to-day busy-ness.
We currently support around 70 people in emergency motel situations – places where life is hard, often dangerous, but provides shelter when people have medical/mental health situations where living outside is no longer possible. These rooms are a scarcity – motels are full, funding is limited, so many people seek access to these spaces every day and we need to make hard decisions about how to shepherd this resource.
A call came from one of our outreach nurses – a couple has approached me today, they have been living in the woods for a year, but she is pregnant and he has a painful back issue – I would like to help them to access a motel room, can we do this? We are facing this decision at the same time as a deep pressure to reduce the number of motel rooms – the COVID funds that have supported these motel rooms is ending, and we need to reduce the number of motel rooms by half. Urgently!
Ethic of right action confronts responsible brokering of community resources. The answer should be no. There is no room at the inn. Literally. The next issue is before us, new priorities demand attention, the moment could be missed.
But we didn’t. Instead, we said right action says we need to support this couple who are becoming a family. In retrospect we have such gratitude that we said yes. The baby was born early, the next weekend after they came to the motel, on the floor of the motel room, and then whisked off to hospital with a community of support around them.
We are grateful for grace, for the personal action that holds each person as important, for the gathering of resources that help us to do right action. Understanding that it is so easy to miss important moments, so easy to let other pressures distract us. Grateful for the solidarity and creative problem-solving that helps us to be present with people in harsh, complex and heart-breaking circumstances.
This is the web of relationships, connections and responsiveness that holds each person as important, loved and respected. It takes a community to do this work. We are grateful for you, who help us to make this work possible.
