County councillors want more answers about HART hubs reach into county

A recent report from the regional Homeless and Addiction Recovery Treatment (HART) hub, and the data that goes along with it, has got a couple of Essex County councillors asking questions.

Amherstburg Deputy Mayor Chris Gibb wanted more clarity on what is being done for those who need help, specifically out in the county as part of last Wednesday night’s Essex County council meeting.

“Can you give us an outline of how the typical county resident who becomes a client of the Hart hub, of what the process is?,” asked Gibb.

Information provided indicates that at least 21 per cent of clients who look for assistance with homelessness, addiction and mental health are from the county.

Answering Gibb’s query, Nancy Brockenshire, executive director of the Windsor-Essex Community Health Centre, who presented the report along with Hotel-Dieu Grace Hospital’s Tammy Kotyk, noted that the 21 per cent is probably higher.

It was noted through the presentation from HART hub representatives that between September and November of last year, there were 141 referrals for assistance and of that the average age was 41 and 71 percent identified as male.

“We know the objective is to reduce ED (emergency department) visits and we are starting to put together a comprehensive scorecard to watch this data,” said Brockenshire.

Essex Mayor Sherry Bondy continues to advocate for those individuals who live in social housing in the county but are vulnerable to those who move in and require assistance with mental health and addiction.

“There is no doubt we have a big problem in the county and I don’t think it’s getting enough attention from the service manager,” said Bondy.

Bondy added that those who live in social housing are becoming scared, frightened and have no quality of life.

“We are still setting people up to fail in county housing. The people that the city is putting in social housing in the county are not getting any wraparound services,” said Bondy.

According to Brockenshire and Kotyk, since the Hart Hub began last year, there have been 23 new supportive housing beds created including those at Brentwood Recovery and the House of Sophrosyne.

Responding to Bondy’s query about more services, Brockenshire said, “the project (HART) can’t take responsibility for some of these homes that have problems.”

There are now 27 HART hubs across Ontario and they are funded by the provincial government. Windsor-Essex will receive $6.3 million each year for three years of which $1.3 million is earmarked for supportive housing.

County councillors want more answers about HART hubs reach into county

By Fred Groves