This holiday season we have decided to donate to the CMHA Hamilton Branch Street Team
(cmhahamilton.ca) who are helping to transition the homeless into safe housing.
#justonehourhamont
Seasons Greetings!
Thank you for taking the time to review this letter today, a donation request from the Canadian Mental Health Association, Hamilton Branch (CMHA Hamilton). This week a long-standing professional property management company within the Hamilton community, The Enfield Group, Inc. generously donated $5000 to the CMHA Street Team, our newest program! This is because Enfield is acutely aware of the current housing crisis and the challenges associated with sustainable housing for individuals with unmanaged psychiatric disabilities. Our hope is that you will also support our important work this year to reduce homelessness.
COVID-19 has brought Hamilton’s housing crisis further to light and the opioid crisis in our city compounds. More than ever, the voices of individuals living with addictions and mental health issues unable to afford housing are clearly articulated in the media. Despite best efforts to find housing before the winter sets in, there are still at least 100 individuals living in tents spread across the city with high acuity needs. Reducing barriers to accessing equitable mental and physical health supports tailored to the unique needs of those living in encampments is critical to enabling them to secure and maintain housing. This need is identified by housing providers, by health and social service providers, and by those with lived experience alike.
In response, CMHA Hamilton created from already stretched resources, the CMHA Street Team. This is an extension of our primary healthcare clinic, which provides accessible primary, mental health and addictions care to individuals experiencing homelessness. Initiated in July 2020, one registered nurse and four peer support workers visit encampments across the city. They provide mental health and addictions support, nursing care, and connect individuals living in tents virtually to physicians, addictions medicine specialists, and psychiatrists to treat and stabilize their health. In addition, the Team facilitates access to housing, supports transitions into housing and ensures continued support to prevent eviction and institutionalization. This is a win for both the individual in need and the housing provider. (See Hamilton Spectator: https://www.thespec.com/news/hamilton-region/2020/07/16/mental-health-couldnt-be-policed-so-barton-village-opted-for-something-else.html)
This new program has no base funding from the Ministry and is dependent on generous donations in order to continue this essential work. Please consider the CMHA Street Team this holiday season! Feel free to contact me directly with any questions. Any gift toward this life-saving initiative is greatly appreciated.
Sue Phipps (She/Her)
Chief Executive Officer (CEO)