The project is called Bridge to Stability, and it was launched in Barrie on Friday afternoon.
A 40-unit bridge housing project on Tiffin Street near Innisfil Street that will house people experiencing homelessness with complex needs, who are facing multiple and often overlapping barriers to permanent housing.
“Communities across Canada are facing surging homelessness, especially unsheltered homelessness,” said Tim Richter, President and CEO of CAEH. “Simcoe County and the City of Barrie have been tackling this issue head on, which makes this the perfect place to test a promising new rapid response to unsheltered homelessness that we hope to see scaled across the country.”
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The Bridge to Stability is receiving nearly $1.7 million over the next year from the federal government, through the Homelessness Reduction Innovation Fund (HRIF), which is a $45 million initiative led by the CAEH to fund innovative projects that rapidly and measurably reduce homelessness in communities across the country.
“Everyone deserves a safe and stable place to call home. Through the Homelessness Reduction Innovation Fund, our government is supporting innovative, community driven solutions that help make that a reality,” said Jennifer McKelvie, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Housing & Infrastructure. “The Bridge to Stability project will have a significant impact on reducing unsheltered homelessness in Simcoe County and represents an important step forward in ensuring people can access the housing and supports they need.”
What Bridge Housing offers is a short-term, service-intensive model providing a safe, stable place for people to regroup and recover, receive health care, connect with addictions and mental health supports, and then move into their permanent home. The participants receive individualized support to resolve practical issues that prevent them from securing housing - whether that's getting a birth certificate, applying for income assistance, or connecting with health services.
“We are proud to launch the Bridge to Stability program that will help ensure that no one seeking a safe, warm place to stay is left out in the cold,” said County of Simcoe Warden Basil Clarke. “This is one of our many innovative investments in Barrie and throughout Simcoe County aimed at addressing homelessness and housing shortages. We thank the Government of Canada and our partners at the CAEH for working with us to build up our communities.”
The goal is to move the first cohort of people who access the program into permanent housing within one year.
The project in the County of Simcoe is a pilot Bridge Housing model that could become the norm across the country. CAEH will provide one-on-one coaching and support to the county to adjust systems, collect data, and track progress.
“Through our 10-point Homelessness Prevention Strategy, we are deeply committed to finding new and innovative ways to prevent and reduce homelessness. The much-needed Bridge to Stability initiative complements this strategy by lifting people with the most acute needs, sleeping outdoors and in encampments, into housing,” Warden Clarke said.
